Work with SharePoint form fields in JavaScript

In this article, you can find examples of how to use JavaScript to make your forms more interactive by hiding, disabling, and making fields mandatory based on certain conditions. Learn how to work with specific field types via JavaScript in SharePoint fields section.

In order to access fields in JavaScript, you’ll need to use the fd.field() method, which expects a name of a field you want to retrieve. The name of each field on the form is unique. Select a field and copy its name from the Name property:

Name property

Note

You should place JavaScript inside fd events like spRendered() or spBeforeSave() to access the fields or controls that you target.

If you just add these scripts on their own or inside the wrong event in the JavaScript editor, they will not have access to the specified fields, or will execute at the wrong time. Read more about different events in the JavaScript framework basics article.

Populate field value
Set field’s hint with JavaScript
Set field’s title with JavaScript
Handle field change
Disable field
Hide/show field
Clear fields
Validate fields
Require field based on condition
Modify fields with Button control
Populate fields from external API
Populate fields from browser’s local storage

Populate field value

Set the field once the form loads:

fd.spRendered(function(vue) {
    fd.field('StartDate').value = new Date();
});

For some fields, such as Lookup or Person, you might need to wait until the field is ready, before you can assign a value:

fd.spRendered(() => {
    fd.field('Lookup').ready(function(field) {
        //set Lookup field value once the field loads
        field.value = 5;
    });
});

You can also populate field values from URL parameters, for example:

//https://domain.sharepoint.com/sites/sitename/SitePages/PlumsailForms/ListName/Item/NewForm.aspx?param1=abc&param2=xyz
fd.spRendered(() => {
    var queryString = window.location.search;
    var urlParams = new URLSearchParams(queryString);
    fd.field('Text1').value = urlParams.get('param1');
    fd.field('Text2').value = urlParams.get('param2');
});

Set field’s hint with JavaScript

Set the field’s hint once the form loads:

fd.spRendered(() => {
    fd.field('Name').placeholder = 'Enter your full name';
});

Set field’s title with JavaScript

Set the field’s title once the form loads:

fd.spRendered(() => {
    fd.field('Name').title = 'Full Name';
});

Handle field change

Set the field once value of another field changes:

fd.spRendered(() => {

    function setPercentComplete() {
        if (fd.field('Status').value == 'Completed') {
            // Setting the Percent Complete to 100
            fd.field('PercentComplete').value = '100';
        }
    }

    // Calling setPercentComplete when Status value changes
    fd.field('Status').$on('change',setPercentComplete);

    // Calling setPercentComplete on form loading
    setPercentComplete();

});

Disable field

Disable field once specific conditions are meant.

fd.spRendered(() => {

    function disablePercent() {
        if (fd.field('Status').value == 'Completed' && fd.field('PercentComplete').value == '100') {
            // Setting field PercentComplete to a disabled state
            fd.field('PercentComplete').disabled = true;
        }
        else{
            // Setting field PercentComplete to an editable state
            fd.field('PercentComplete').disabled = false;
        }
    }

    // Calling disablePercent when the PercentComplete value changes
    fd.field('PercentComplete').$on('change',disablePercent);

    // Calling disablePercent on form loading
    disablePercent();

});

Hide/show field

Hide/show fields once value of another field changes:

fd.spRendered(() => {

    function hideOrShowDueDate() {
        if (fd.field('StartDate').value) {
            // Show the Due Date field
            fd.field('DueDate').hidden = false;
        } else {
            // Hide the Due Date field
            fd.field('DueDate').hidden = true;
        }
    }

    // Calling hideOrShowDueDate when the Start Date value changes
    fd.field('StartDate').$on('change',hideOrShowDueDate);

    // Calling hideOrShowDueDate on form loading
    hideOrShowDueDate();

});

Clear fields

Clear fields once value of another field changes:

fd.spRendered(() => {

    function clearFields() {
        if (fd.field('Status').value == 'Not started') {
            // Clear fields of any value
            fd.field('StartDate').clear();
            fd.field('DueDate').clear();
        }
    }

    // Calling clearFields when the Status value changes
    fd.field('Status').$on('change',clearFields);

});

Validate fields

You can add custom validators to a field to ensure that the value meets certain criteria, and trigger validation when the value of the field changes:

fd.spRendered(() => {
    fd.field('Attachments').addValidator({
        name: 'Attachments validator',
        error: 'Do not attach more than 3 files',
        validate: function(value) {
            if (value.length > 3) {
                return false;
            }
            return true;
        }
    });
});

The field validator function can also be asynchronous:

fd.spRendered(function() {
    fd.field('Email').addValidator({
        name: 'MyCustomValidator',
        error: 'This email is already taken, try another one.',
        validate: function(email) {
            // check whether the email exists in another list using PnPjs
            return pnp.sp.web.lists.getByTitle('Contacts').items.filter("Email eq '" + email + "'").get().then(function(i) {
                if (i.length > 0) {
                    return false;
                } else {
                    return true;
                }
            });
        }
    });
});

You can validate fields once value of another field changes:

fd.spRendered(() => {

    function validateFields() {
        if (fd.field('Status').value === 'Finished') {
            // Make sure that fields have values if set as required, and check for custom validators
            fd.field('StartDate').validate();
            fd.field('DueDate').validate();
        }
    }

    // Calling validateFields when the Status value changes
    fd.field('Status').$on('change',validateFields);

});

Require field based on condition

Set field to required state if conditions are meant:

fd.spRendered(() => {

    function setDueDateRequired() {
        if (fd.field('StartDate').value) {
            // Set Due Date required
            fd.field('DueDate').required = true;
        } else {
            // Set Due Date as not required if there is no Start Date
            fd.field('DueDate').required = false;
        }
    }

    // Calling setDueDateRequired when the Start Date value changes
    fd.field('StartDate').$on('change',setDueDateRequired);

    // Calling setDueDateRequired on form loading
    setDueDateRequired();

});

Modify fields with Button control

Button, Hyperlink, and Image controls can execute code when on click. Add code to the control’s Click property, and it will be executed when a user clicks the control.

This can be used for variety of purposes and you don’t need to include JavaScript inside fd events as by the time the button has loaded, other fields have already loaded as well.

Add this code inside the Click property for the Button control to change the Title field value:

fd.field('Title').value = 'Hello, world!'

For the Hyperlink and Image controls, add event.preventDefault() before the rest of the code to prevent the redirection:

//prevent redirection
event.preventDefault();
alert('Clicked');

Populate fields from external API

When the form opens, you can make requests to an external API and retrieve values from the API. You’ll need to make sure that you have the key if it’s needed and that you follow the instructions from the API developers, but here’s an example of how it can be done with ipapi.co, an API that will help us determine person’s location and IP:

//make a request when the form opens
fd.spRendered(() => {
    $.getJSON('https://ipapi.co/json/', function (response) {
        fd.field('Location').value = response.city + ', ' + response.region_code + ', ' + response.country_name;
        fd.field('IP').value = response.ip;
    });
});

Populate fields from browser’s local storage

If you want to store some data in the browser’s cache, you can use local storage for that. For example, you can save some values while the user is working with one form, then retrieve them when the user opens up another form, like this:

//store values in local storage like this:
localStorage.setItem('value1', 'Hello, world!');
localStorage.setItem('value2', fd.field('Title').value);

//retrieve values from local storage
fd.spRendered(() => {
    var value1 = localStorage.getItem('value1');
    var value2 = localStorage.getItem('value2');
    if(value1){
        fd.field('Text1').value = value1;
        localStorage.removeItem('value1');
    }
    if(value2){
        fd.field('Text2').value = value2;
        localStorage.removeItem('value2');
    }
});

You can also store all of the form’s data and populate form with same values when it’s opened again, like this:

//save form data before save
fd.spBeforeSave(() => {
    localStorage.setItem('form-data', JSON.stringify(fd.data()));
});

//populate form data when form opens
fd.spRendered(() => {
    var data = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('form-data'));
    if(data){
        fd.data(data);
        localStorage.removeItem('form-data');
    }
});