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up vote 1 down vote favorite

I wanted to know if it is possible to create a custom column that will get me today's date everytime without the need of updating an item in the list?

my end goal is to to be able to calculate how much time left or exceeded between a destination date and today's date.

I thought about a placing a code like this hidden on the page and then somehow referring to the innerHTML of the date div when I create a calculated column.

today = new Date();

   D = today.getDate();
   M = today.getMonth() + 1;
   Y = today.getYear();
   document.getElementById('date').innerHTML=D+"/"+M+"/"+Y;

   <div id="date" style="display:none"></div>

anyone has any thoughts about how this could be done?

share|improve this question
    
My colleague has written up a post explaining some of the ways we tried to do this that didn't work out for us - may be of help. blog.pentalogic.net/2011/08/… – Ryan Feb 14 '12 at 13:37
    
yea I have seen this page during my search after solution. I doubt there is no other solution other then buying the add-on he offers. especially for a problem that seems so minor. – Jake Feb 14 '12 at 23:17
    
Well I'll be waiting for you to tell me how he's wrong then, especially for something so minor ;) One thought - why not edit your q and tell us what you're trying to achieve rather than how your trying to do it - I think I can guess but am not sure - then there may be an alternative to how your approaching this. – Ryan Feb 15 '12 at 8:37
    
"my end goal is to to be able to calculate how much time left or exceeded between a destination date and today's date." – Jake Feb 15 '12 at 16:41
    
Opps - missed that! – Ryan Feb 15 '12 at 16:54
up vote 3 down vote accepted

You've said you want to show a count down/count up column to display the number of days between a date and todays date, e.g.

Task X | Due 20th Feb | Due in 5 days

You can not do this directly in a custom column as you can't ensure that server side code will run on a page view (e.g. your custom field type CODE will not run on a normal list view), but you can use JavaScript (with or without the custom column).

This post details 4 ways to get a countdown field working including two by Christophe of pathtosharepoint.com fame that sounds like it fits your requirements :-

You could take the idea here combine it with a custom column to output the javascript refs as shown by @Ivan or you can just add the javascript to a page via a CEWP.

share|improve this answer
    
Thank you. I think you pointed me at the right direction. I can't wait to try it! – Jake Feb 15 '12 at 18:09
up vote 2 down vote

You can create your own field type and set javascript for rendering, like this:

<FieldType>
...
<RenderPattern Name="DisplayPattern">
<HTML><![CDATA[<script src="/_layouts/MyDateTime.js"></script>]]></HTML>
<HTML><![CDATA[<div><SCRIPT>GetCurrentTime();"]]></HTML>
<div id="date" style="display:none"></div>
<HTML><![CDATA[");</SCRIPT></div>]]></HTML>
</RenderPattern>
</FieldType>

Then put MyDateTime.js with GetCurrentTime function definition into layouts folder and you're done. For more details on declaring custom field types see: http://www.spsamples.com/2011/06/sharepoint-indicator-field-type.html

share|improve this answer
    
your answer seems great the only thing I am having trouble with is where do I write a custom field type? do I need to use visual studio for that? or SP Designer is enough? I am sorry if my questions seem stupid. It's just that I haven't had any experience yet with the method you have just shown me. will you please be kind enough to elaborate on how to use this? thank you. – Jake Feb 13 '12 at 18:04
    
To create a custom field type you need to write a special xml file and you can do it even in notepad. Once you have written markup for your field type, you should name as like fldtypes_MyFieldType.xml (starting with fldtypes_ is mandatory - this is how SharePoint knows that this is field type definition) and put in Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\TEMPLATE\XML directory. Run iisreset and SharePoint will parse your new type and you can use it. Look this article for example of field type markup:msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg132914.aspx – Ivan Vagunin Feb 14 '12 at 6:07
    
Note, that you don't have to implement custom field class, because for you scenario it is enough to inherited class of standard field type (e.g. text field) – Ivan Vagunin Feb 14 '12 at 6:09
    
thank you for your solution. I am positive it will work in normal circumstances but unfortunately I don't have access to the sharepoint installation folder. our administrator has access to it but it doesn't seem like hes going to let me place this XML file in there for some obscure reason. so I am looking for a full javascript solution that I can place in a CEWP or edit in, in the SP Designer. – Jake Feb 14 '12 at 23:15
    
@Jake Is it possible your administrator will allow file deployments only through SharePoint Deployment Packages as suggested by Microsoft? You can read more about Deployment Packages here: msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee231544.aspx – Tom Resing Feb 15 '12 at 18:07
up vote 2 down vote 
Include a content editor web part in the page (newform.aspx / editform.aspx) and use jQuery (or just plain JavaScript) to handle the setting of default values.

Edit: some example code:


In the lists newform.aspx, include a reference to jquery. If you look at the html code, you can see that each input tag gets an id based on the field's GUID, and a title that's set to the fields display name.


now, using jquery we can get at these fields using the jQuery selector like this:

By title:


$("input[title='DISPLAYNAMEOFFIELD']");

by id (if you know the field's internal guid, the dashes will ahve to be replaced by underscores:

// example field id, notice the guid and the underscores in the guid ctl00_m_g_054db6a0_0028_412d_bdc1_f2522ac3922e_ctl00_ctl04_ctl15_ctl00_ctl00_ctl04_ctl00_ctl00_TextField

$("input[id*='GUID']"); //this will get all input elements of which the id contains the specified GUID, i.e. 1 element


We wrap this in the ready() function of jQuery, so all calls will only be made when the document has fully loaded:


$(document).ready(function(){
 // enter code here, will be executed immediately after page has been loaded
});


By combining these 2 we could now set your dropdown's onchange event to the following


$(document).ready(function(){
 $("input[title='DISPLAYNAMEOFFIELD']").change(function() 
 {
      //do something to other field here 
 });
});
share|improve this answer
    
Setting default values - how does this solve the OP's question? – Ryan Feb 14 '12 at 13:35
    
I think I have seen a similar method here:sympmarc.com/2009/05/20/… although I tried it and it didn't really work out.:( – Jake Feb 14 '12 at 23:08

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