Update: Document Sets in Modern Document Libraries

Microsoft

I am pleased to announce some updates on the plan and timeline for improving the Document Set experience in modern document libraries.

 

In January, we communicated a March delivery date for these improvements.  We apologize for missing that date.  We’re now planning on rolling out this change in May.  We will be making the official announcement to the Message Center very soon with exact dates.  Thank you all for your patience!

 

This change allows organizations to use the power of document sets to group related documents together with consistent metadata and structure without having to go back and forth between classic and modern experiences.  

 

DocSet2.gif

Document sets now look and feel like ordinary folders in modern libraries, and benefit from all the cool new features in modern.  This means that users can drag and drop content to upload to document sets, link to content that lives outside the document set, pin files to the top of the document set, start flows on document set items, and define conditional formatting on document set items.  It also means that the Document Set experience can be customized using SharePoint Framework Extensions, just like all other modern list views.

 

All the content management rules you can define on document set content types are still supported.  No business processes were harmed in the making of this change!  Document set metadata can be viewed and edited in the details pane while in a document set.  Shared metadata specified in a document set content type continues to work as it always has; values inside shared columns will be copied to items inside the document set.  Columns that are identified as Welcome page columns in the content type are sorted to the top of the details pane, so that users can find them easily.  Content and structure rules specified in the document set content type are also supported, including the default content and default view settings.

 

Document set versioning functionality will appear under the context menu on document set items in the modern list view, include “Capture Version” and “Version History.”  Other document set-specific actions from the Document Set ribbon are still there, but only in classic.  Just like any other modern list view page, you can click “Return to classic SharePoint” in the lower left hand corner to go back the classic document set experience back.

 

The one caveat is that customized document set welcome pages are not supported in modern.  This change will not affect document sets that use welcome pages that have been configured with custom HTML or web parts; those welcome pages will still be displayed in classic mode, as they are today. 

 

200 Replies
Thanks Mark, I was able to complete the project today using these tips.

Hi! I have a question about the welcome pages of the documentset. 

I checked this blog: https://mnaveedblog.wordpress.com/2018/09/19/enable-modern-sharepoint-view-for-a-document-set-in-sha...

 

My welcome pages works only in the classic view, is that correct? Even when i copied the new view as the new welcome page. 

@WackMac50 that is correct. That blog only shows you how to get the modern experience when inside a document set. The Welcome page and its webparts are only in classic mode today. I don't think Microsoft has any roadmap information on when modern will be available for the Welcome page.

For now, any metadata you have with your document set, they are ALL listed in the detail/info pane on the right. If you have 6 to 12, it is tolerable. If you have 80+, it is difficult to control the user experience. "Edit all" is a good way to open up a cleaner interface. But if the user only has Read access to the document set, they have to use the detail/info pane on the right to view the document set metadata. There is no "View all".

Hi @Lincoln DeMaris I believe we have discovered a bug when using modern document sets with the new flow action create folder. The action creates sub folders just fine under document sets however when you have any shared columns enabled the following error is generated in flow. "One or more field types are not installed properly. Go to the list settings page to delete these fields." Creating sub folder using the create file connector works fine with shared columns enabled however this is not desirable when your creating lots of sub folders as it leaves a file behind you have to deal with. Also the Plumsail connector works fine when creating sub folders with shared folders enabled. I have a ticket open with Microsoft and will share this information with them however its not clear this will get any traction. It would be nice to see this fixed as this create folder action is the correct way to be creating folders and the create file action is more or less a work around with undesirable results.

See here for more information

Yes, there is a workaround. I had the same problem, my solution is this.

This is the start of my flows for documentsets:

Recurrence and then Get files (properties only), click on advanced options and use Filter Query. I add a standard Yes/No column to my documentset and the default value is False, so my filter query is Status (this is the name of the column) eq 'False'. Now i will only receive an approval for the documentset and not all the documents inside the documentset.

 

If you use, When a file is created or modified, you can click on settings and then use Trigger Condition. I use the same column, Status so this is my condition:
"@equals(triggerBody()?['Status'], false)". Now you only receive the approval for the documentset instead of all the approvals.

Hope this will help you

@Lincoln DeMarisDeMaris has this functionality be released?

Hi @Lincoln DeMaris

 

I've noticed an odd behavior of the breadcrumbs when using a document set.

I have create a view "Filtered View" (not set to default) and added some filters.

I have also configured the document set welcome page to use the "Filtered View" as its default view.

When I opened the document library and switched to "Filtered View", my filtered document set list will show and when I click on a document set it will also open using "Filtered View" as the document set's default view.

But when I click the Document library link on the breadcrumbs to navigate back, the view will change to the document library default view "All Documents" not "Filtered View".

 

Note: This behavior does not occur on Folders and Folders inside document sets.

 

Please advise.

 

@Lincoln DeMaris 

 

Hi Lincoln

 

Is there a way to have calculated column values display in the details/information pane for modern document sets? 

I’ve tried adding the calculated columns as welcome page columns, but they don’t appear in the details/information pane. 

There are certain calculated column values that my users need to copy to clipboard and paste in documents (eg case reference no), and unfortunately this can’t be done directly from the column in document libraries (although you can in lists via right click).


I was hoping to have the calculated fields appear in the document set details/information pane so my users could highlight/copy/paste that way.

 

Dear@Lincoln DeMaris

 

Although the initial post said that functionality that would appear would 'include “Capture Version” and “Version History”', only Version History is currently appearing in the Modern interface. "Capture Version" is missing, although it still appears in the classic view.

 

When will this important element be added, please?

 

Thanks.

Can anyone provide me with some documentation on how to implement document sets? I can't find any Microsoft help articles for SharePoint Online.
Hello Andrew. You might find this helpful: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/create-and-manage-document-sets-c71d5796-d559-48de-b1b3-423...

It's for the classic interface, sadly. Not all the features mentioned in the first post have yet appeared in the modern interface.

@Lincoln DeMaris

I raised a support request regarding the missing Capture Version functionality and had the following response:

 

I really apologize for the inconvenience caused but the "capture version" feature is still not available in modern view. You still have a workaround to use this feature in classic mode. 

 

Despite the first post stating that Document set versioning functionality will appear under the context menu on document set items in the modern list view, include “Capture Version” it therefore seems that this functionality has not rolled out properly.

 

Would you please verify if this is just an oversight and advise when it will be rectified? Viewing the version history is pretty pointless if there is no way to capture a new version.

 

No Capture Version option availableNo Capture Version option available

@Lincoln DeMaris , Shared Columns does not synchronize when copying or moving files into a Document Sets. Is this normal?

Also adding the document sets name at the beginning of each file names does not work....

 

Can we get some feedback to know if modern document sets will be abandoned because this can't be used in production as it is right now.

 

Thanks.

@Lincoln DeMaris it would be great if we could specify more default content content types then just document, for example folder would be useful if you want to create a folder structure with no documents inside the folders.

 

https://sharepoint.uservoice.com/forums/329214-sites-and-collaboration/suggestions/39318622-empty-de...

@osborn_amy I loved the Welcome Page - we used it to great effect on our last project.  I'm just setting up a new project and was dismayed to see the Welcome Page isn't part of the new experience - I'm advising all users to click on the 'Return to Classic Experience', but frankly that's a nuisance, because you then have to click out of the document set and then back in to get the welcome page to show.  Not sure what the thinking was on this, but I think it was deeply flawed.

@SihussI share the same feedback. The info/detail panel does not serve well as the welcome page replacement. I am in the midst of a migration project (on premise to SharePoint Online [modern]). The missing welcome page is posing a challenge for the following:

1) Users with only View access must use a vertical view.

2) "Edit all" can bypass your custom form/validation logic (e.g. Nintex Forms)

3) You can't highlight summary information as the info/detail panel shows you everything.

 

I haven't seen/heard of any news that a welcome page equivalent is on the road map. If anyone has come across anything - please share.

@Sebastien Gagne @Lincoln DeMaris 

The MoveTO and CopyTO buttons are still not working properly, even though Lincoln stated this was "near the top of the roadmap activities". But currently a document set can only be moved/copied to another document SET instead of a library.

 

If a target library is configured to accept the same Document Set Content Types, it should be available as a target library for MoveTO/CopyTO. Basically a no-brainer, as the existing MoveTo/CopyTo don't make sense at all.

 

@Lincoln DeMaris could you please provide a status update? Or somebody else from the MS product team?

 

@Jan Klooster 

I would also want an  update on it. I would love to see Move to/Copy to another library with document sets enabled. Currently I use MS Flow to achieve that via _api/SP.MoveCopyUtil.MoveFolder REST service.

@UshkaOz and @Lincoln DeMaris 

 

I discovered an apparent document set bug trying to add default documents.

 

Despite # now being a legal filename character, and being able to upload files to a document set with # in the filename:

* When document set settings is displayed, SharePoint only includes the characters in the filename up to the #

* You get an access denied error when you try to edit and save any document set changes

 

The issue can be resolved by deleting the document set. Which is really tough if you've already added the content type to a library and added content.

I voted for this one