I am trying to enable version history on a regular task list programmatically which is possible from the UI, but how can this be achieved in code?
I assumed setting EnableVersioning = true would do the trick, but it does not work.
According to msdn:
Although the EnableVersioning property is defined on the SPList class, versioning is only available for document library lists."
I've used code like this in a console app where I was reconfiguring some lists. This enables versioning and sets limits.
var depts = web.Lists.TryGetList("Depts");
if (depts != null)
{
depts.EnableModeration = true;
depts.EnableVersioning = true;
depts.MajorVersionLimit = 1;
depts.MajorWithMinorVersionsLimit = 1;
depts.DraftVersionVisibility = DraftVisibilityType.Author;
depts.Update();
Console.ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.Green;
Console.WriteLine("Versioning enabled on the department list successfully.");
Console.WriteLine("");
}
You probably forgot to call SPList.Update method to apply the changes, for example:
var tasksList = web.Lists.TryGetList("Tasks");
tasksList.EnableVersioning = true;
tasksList.Update();
Versioning on lists can also be Enabled/Disabled using PowerShell. I have used this CSOM PowerShell function to enable versioning on a custom list. Since its a CSOM you need not run this on server, i.e. you can execute this function remotely provided you have installed Client APIs
Try{
Add-Type -Path 'C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\15\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll'
Add-Type -Path 'C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\15\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll'
Add-Type -Path 'C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\15\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Publishing.dll'
Add-Type -Path 'C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\15\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Taxonomy.dll'
}
catch {
Throw "Unable to load SharePoint Client runtime"
}
function Enable-VersioningOnList()
{
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)][string]$url,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)][System.Net.NetworkCredential]$credentials,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)][string]$listName
)
begin{
try
{
#get Client Object
$context = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ClientContext($url)
$context.Credentials = $credentials
$web = $context.Web
$context.Load($web)
$context.ExecuteQuery()
#Retrieve List
$List = $context.Web.Lists.GetByTitle($listName)
$context.Load($List)
$context.ExecuteQuery()
}
catch
{
Write-Host "Error while getting context. Error -->> " + $_.Exception.Message -ForegroundColor Red
}
}
process{
try
{
# To disable use $false else if to enable use $true
$list.EnableVersioning = $true
$list.Update()
$context.ExecuteQuery()
Write-Host "Versioning enabled on " $List.Title " successfully" -ForegroundColor Green
}
catch
{
Write-Host "Error while disabling versioning. Error -->> " + $_.Exception.Message -ForegroundColor Red
}
}
end{
$context.Dispose()
}
}
Usage:
$credentials = Get-Credential
Enable-VersioningOnList "http://yoursite" $credentials "ListTitle"
