Create fields from XML for SharePoint Online

With the Office 365 PnP PowerShell extensions we have a very simple way to create new columns with the cmdlet Add-PnPFieldFromXml. The xml to use with this cmdlet could be taken from the Field-Element schema: https://msdn.microsoft.com/de-de/library/office/aa979575.aspx. So, to add new fields we just need to build the xml for the new column. Next some examples, tested as site columns:

Text field

<Field 
	Type="Text" 
	DisplayName="Document Title English"
	Description="Document Title in English"
	Required="TRUE" 
	EnforceUniqueValues="FALSE" 
	Indexed="FALSE" 
	MaxLength="255" 
	Group="Demo" 
	ID="{161ef8f6-e73c-4c56-8a5f-c6a8900f2fc8}"
	StaticName="TitleEN" 
	Name="TitleEN">
</Field>

Multitext field

<Field 
	ID="{B76B58EC-0549-4f00-9575-2FD28BD55010}" 
	Name="DemoDescription" 
	DisplayName="Description" 
	Description="A summary of the asset" 
	StaticName="DemoDescription" 
	Group="Demo" 
	Type="Note" 
	NumLines="5" 
	UnlimitedLengthInDocumentLibrary="TRUE" 
	Hidden="FALSE" 
	ShowInEditForm="TRUE" 
	SourceID="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/v3" 
/>

Number field

<Field
	ID="{f9e31c80-7de8-4577-8df6-d7821aff4bce}"
	Type="Number"
	Name="DSStatus"
	DisplayName="DS Status"
	StaticName="DSStatus"
	Group="Demo"
	Description=""
	Hidden="false"
	ShowInNewForm="FALSE"
	ShowInEditForm="FALSE"
	Min="0"
	Max="2"
	Decimals="0">
	<Default>0</Default>
</Field>

Currency field

<Field 
	Type="Currency" 
	DisplayName="Price" 
	Required="FALSE" 
	EnforceUniqueValues="FALSE" 
	Indexed="FALSE" 
	Decimals="2" 
	LCID="1033" 
	ID="{57717312-4640-4408-93bb-1cb8eabb8f9a}" 
	SourceID="{269f1ad3-0434-4032-8677-99e06e3e6a01}" 
	StaticName="Price" 
	Name="Price" 
	CustomFormatter="" 
/>

Choice field

<Field 
	Type="Choice" 
	DisplayName="Process Group"
	Description="Process Group" 
	Required="TRUE" 
	EnforceUniqueValues="FALSE" 
	Indexed="FALSE" 
	Format="Dropdown" 
	FillInChoice="FALSE" 
	Group="Demo" 
	ID="{cdc426f9-4db3-4d03-936c-e9986ade7254}" 
	StaticName="ProcessGroup" 
	Name="ProcessGroup">
	<Default>Process group #1</Default>
	<CHOICES>
		<CHOICE>Process group #1</CHOICE>
		<CHOICE>Process group #2</CHOICE>
		<CHOICE>Process group #3</CHOICE>
		<CHOICE>Process group #4</CHOICE>
	</CHOICES>
</Field>

Yes/No field (Boolean)

<Field 
	Type="Boolean" 
	DisplayName="ReminderEmailSent" 
	Required="FALSE" 
	EnforceUniqueValues="FALSE" 
	Indexed="FALSE" 
	Hidden="TRUE"
	Group="Demo" 
	ID="{CE1411F7-7B47-4EE3-AD4B-E70AE5FC21F9}" 
	StaticName="ReminderEmailSent" 
	ShowInEditForm="FALSE"
	ShowInNewForm="FALSE"
	ShowInViewForms="FALSE"
	ShowInDisplayForm="FALSE"
	Name="ReminderEmailSent">
    <Default>FALSE</Default>
</Field>

DateTime field

<Field 
	Type="DateTime" 
	DisplayName="Approved" 
	Required="FALSE" 
	EnforceUniqueValues="FALSE" 
	Indexed="FALSE" 
	Format="DateTime" 
	Group="Demo" 
	FriendlyDisplayFormat="Disabled" 
	ID="{2eb9160b-7f84-4f35-9834-5253ee84c292}" 
	StaticName="Approved"
	ShowInEditForm="FALSE"
	ShowInNewForm="FALSE"
	Name="Approved">
</Field>

Person field

<Field 
  Type="User" 
  DisplayName="Approved by" 
  List="UserInfo" 
  Required="FALSE" 
  EnforceUniqueValues="FALSE" 
  ShowField="ImnName" 
  UserSelectionMode="PeopleOnly" 
  UserSelectionScope="0" 
  Group="Demo" 
  ID="{c4994fe6-24fe-458e-b06a-b9ed9fcb5c39}"
  StaticName="Approvedby"
  ShowInEditForm="FALSE"
  ShowInNewForm="FALSE"
  Name="Approvedby"> 
</Field>

Hyperlink field

<Field
	Type="URL" 
	DisplayName="Review" 
	Required="TRUE" 
	EnforceUniqueValues="FALSE" 
	Indexed="FALSE" 
	ShowInEditForm="FALSE"
	ShowInNewForm="FALSE"
	Format="Hyperlink" 
	Group="Demo" 
	ID="{b30b37aa-c6ea-4e9f-a848-7e251a7571b1}" 
	StaticName="Review" 
	Name="Review">
</Field>

Calculated field

<Field
	ID="{111b0f4c-3135-4a8a-9d7d-d53daaf1931a}"
	Type="Calculated"
	ResultType="Number"
	Name="WorkflowStatus"
	DisplayName="Workflow Status"
	StaticName="WorkflowStatus"
	Group="Demo"
	Description=""
	Hidden="false"
	JSLink="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.11.2/jquery.min.js|~site/Scripts/Fields.JSLink.js">
	<FieldRefs>
		<FieldRef Name="IMStatus" />
		<FieldRef Name="ISStatus" />
		<FieldRef Name="ITStatus" />
		<FieldRef Name="FBStatus" />
		<FieldRef Name="DSStatus" />
	</FieldRefs>
	<Formula>=[IMStatus]+[ISStatus]+[ITStatus]+[FBStatus]+[DSStatus]</Formula>
</Field>

Lookup field

<Field 
	ID="{8e99027f-501b-4902-8ee4-97020d04df74}"
	DisplayName="Company"
	Name="DemoCompany"
	StaticName="DemoCompany"
	Group="Demo"
	Type="Lookup"
	Required="FALSE"
	EnforceUniqueValues="FALSE"
	List="Companies"
	ShowField="Title" 
/>

When defining a lookup field from xml, you must replace the listname (“Companies” in the example) by the guid of the list, before the xml could be used.

To create taxonomy fields, use the cmdlet Add-PnPTaxonomyField instead of the Add-PnPField cmdlet.

When you are not sure, which attributes you need in the xml, simply create the field in a library using the web interface, then execute the Get-PnPField cmdlet as shown in this example:

That’s it, really simple.

SharePoint and more…