SOLVED

Content Type Hub- Column can not be found, already in use or reserved

Brass Contributor

Working on adding all company document types to the Content Type hub so that the content types will be available once we create new project sites.

 

For some reason there is a column "Type" that can not be added because the system says it's already in use or is reserved. I can not find  the column to use it and I can not add it. Am I missing something? Where can I find this column or is there a work around? Any help would be greatly appreciated! :)

 

@Chris Webb

4 Replies

@Chiara Gomez I am pretty sure Type is used for the file type (Word, PowerPoint, etc.). If you need a similar custom column, you just need to find a different name. 

best response confirmed by VI_Migration (Silver Contributor)
Solution

Hi @Chiara Gomez,
Depending on how you are creating your Site Column, the Internal name must be unique.

Option #1 - User Interface

  1. Having navigated to Site Settings > Site columns
  2. Click Create
  3. Enter the internal name (not the final display name) of your new field
    For example: MyCompanyLocation
  4. Select the type, group and apply other settings before clicking Save
  5. Back at the Site Columns page, locate the MyCompanyLocation field
  6. Click on the MyCompanyLocation name/link to edit
  7. Rename the file to something nicer e.g. "My Company Location"

Note: the U.I. will not let you rename the column to "Location", the message will say "The column name that you entered is already in use or reserved. Choose another". PowerShell does not have this limitation...

Option #2 - PowerShell
Setting the internal name using the PnP PowerShell cmdlet is easy, please see the example below adapted from Microsoft documentation:

Add-PnPField -List "Demo list" -DisplayName "Location" -InternalName "MyCompanyLocation" -Type Choice -Group "Demo Group" -AddToDefaultView -Choices "Stockholm","Helsinki","Oslo"

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/sharepoint-pnp/add-pnpfield?view=sharepoint-ps

In your case, @Chiara Gomez, I would give your column an internal name of DocumentType or MyCompanyDocumentType and set the display name to something more friendly...

@Susan Hanley Thank you for your reply. :) I will do that.
@Siôn Lewis Thank you for responding. That's a great idea. Thanks for the link and suggestions.
1 best response

Accepted Solutions
best response confirmed by VI_Migration (Silver Contributor)
Solution

Hi @Chiara Gomez,
Depending on how you are creating your Site Column, the Internal name must be unique.

Option #1 - User Interface

  1. Having navigated to Site Settings > Site columns
  2. Click Create
  3. Enter the internal name (not the final display name) of your new field
    For example: MyCompanyLocation
  4. Select the type, group and apply other settings before clicking Save
  5. Back at the Site Columns page, locate the MyCompanyLocation field
  6. Click on the MyCompanyLocation name/link to edit
  7. Rename the file to something nicer e.g. "My Company Location"

Note: the U.I. will not let you rename the column to "Location", the message will say "The column name that you entered is already in use or reserved. Choose another". PowerShell does not have this limitation...

Option #2 - PowerShell
Setting the internal name using the PnP PowerShell cmdlet is easy, please see the example below adapted from Microsoft documentation:

Add-PnPField -List "Demo list" -DisplayName "Location" -InternalName "MyCompanyLocation" -Type Choice -Group "Demo Group" -AddToDefaultView -Choices "Stockholm","Helsinki","Oslo"

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/sharepoint-pnp/add-pnpfield?view=sharepoint-ps

In your case, @Chiara Gomez, I would give your column an internal name of DocumentType or MyCompanyDocumentType and set the display name to something more friendly...

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