Field name size limit

[SimonMeadows]

Is there a field name size limit when connecting to Sharepoint lists?

I have a field named 'Time in Lieu Hours' in a sharepoint list.

If I use the name 'Time_x0020_in_x0020_Lieu_x0020_Hours' I cannot collect to that field.

After collecting a record to a collection from the list in sharepoint it shows the field name as 'Time_x0020_in_x0020_Lieu_x0020_H'

If I try to collect with this feild name it works just fine.

Is it because I have lots of spaces?

Is the limitation with the sharepoint end or the powerapps end?

What are the limitations on field names?

[Meneghino]

Hi @SimonMeadows

Here is the trick:

1) Create the field in SharePoint without any spaces or other special characters, this sets the internal name of the field that will never change

2) Change the name of the field in SharePoint to include spaces etc. that you would like your users to see

Now, when you connect PowerApps to the SP list/doc library the field name will be the internal name and never change.

Please try it and let me know

[Crockerfeller]

Could you please answer the question as to if there is a limit to the length of the name of a field?  or the name of a collection?

[iAm_ManCat · Accepted solution]

Hi @Crockerfeller @SimonMeadows @Meneghino

I can answer this:

SharePoint Names must initially be less than 32 Characters (and should contain no special characters)

Sharepoint creates three names when creating items:
Internal, Display and Static.

Ideally we want to name the column/field/list/item/whatever as a 32-or-less character name, which can then be renamed afterwards to the appropriate DisplayName you wish to use. You would then use the original Internal name to reference the column from PowerApps or etc.

Any spaces are given _0x200_ and special characters are also give placeholders that make referencing difficult.

Underscore _ should be used as a separator if needed, although we should try avoid special characters entirely.

For Example:

• If we create a column, "The number of sales monthly", this is then created as:
  The_x0020_ number_x0020_of_x0020_ (32 Characters)
• If we create a column, "The number of items stocked", this is then created as:
  The_x0020_number_x0020_of_x0020_0 (32 characters plus a number on the end to identify it as different from the existing item with same name) 
• If we had 20 lists in a similar format, how would we determine which list was which when referencing them from somewhere else such as PowerBI or PowerApps?
• In this example we should rather call the items NumberMonthlySales and NumberItemsStocked, which can then be renamed afterwards to display "The number of sales monthly" & "The number of items stocked" but still retain the application-friendly internal names "NumberMonthlySales" & "NumberItemsStocked" 
  

Here's a list of Special Characters and their corresponding Hex Code: (i.e avoid these at all costs)

~	_x007e_
!	_x0021_
@	_x0040_
#	_x0023_
$	_x0024_
%	_x0025_
^	_x005e_
&	_x0026_
*	_x002a_
(	_x0028_
)	_x0029_
_	_
+	_x002b_
–	_x002d_
=	_x003d_
{	_x007b_
}	_x007d_
:	_x003a_
“	_x0022_
|	_x007c_
;	_x003b_
‘	_x0027_
\	_x005c_
<	_x003c_
>	_x003e_
?	_x003f_
,	_x002c_
.	_x002e_
/	_x002f_
`	_x0060_
(space)	_x0020_

Hope this has been helpful and informative - please mark this as correct if you think this has answered your questions sufficiently 🙂

Thanks!

@iAm_ManCat

[Crockerfeller]

Thank you!  Great info!