Creating a Clean “Internal Name” for SharePoint Columns

Have you ever created a site column but when you try to reference it you get this: Have%20you _X007C_ever _X0025_created _X0024_a%20site_X0025_column _X003C_but_X007C_when%20you%20try_X0022_to_X00A3_ reference%20it_X003C_you_X0023_get%20this

The garbled mess above is a perfect example of what to avoid when creating a site column within SharePoint. During the creation process, SharePoint determines an “internal name”. This name cannot be changed and is used for reference and security purposes. As an example, if you create a column named “My Data”, the internal name will be “My_X0020_Data” even if you edit the column later and change it to another value such as “The Best Data Ever”. SharePoint treats the initial value created as the internal name within the database and further changes only affect the display name.

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