Question

First of all, what I am using:

• SharePoint 2007
• JavaScript
• CAML Query
• Standard webservice (_vti_bin/lists.asmx)

I am selecting one or more items from a list, depending on some condition. I get the items, and perform another condition on them. If the condition is met, I want to bump the item, meaning: change the ‘Modified’ column to the current date/time but no values should be changed.

Is this possible? If so, how can this be done?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

I already had to do the same thing. Although I’m not being able to find the code, I found the post that helped me that time. It’s written in C# but is easily adaptable to javascript:

public void Test()
        {
            string webUrl = "http://myserver";
            string listName = "docs";
            Lists.ListsSoapClient listsClient = this.GetListsClient(webUrl);

            // 1st a call to Lists.GetList - we need the list's version - it is returned in the Version attribute
            XElement listData = XElement.Parse(listsClient.GetList(listName).OuterXml);
            string listID = listData.Attribute("ID").Value;
            string version = listData.Attribute("Version").Value;
            // in the updateFields parameter of Lists.UpdateList the full schema of the fields should be provided
            string updateFields = @"<Fields>
   <Method ID='1'>
      <Field ID='{28cf69c5-fa48-462a-b5cd-27b6f9d2bd5f}' ColName='tp_Modified' RowOrdinal='0' ReadOnly='FALSE' Type='DateTime' Name='Modified' DisplayName='Modified' StorageTZ='TRUE' SourceID='http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/v3' StaticName='Modified' FromBaseType='TRUE' Version='4' ShowInNewForm='FALSE' ShowInEditForm='FALSE' />
   </Method>
   <Method ID='2'>
      <Field ID='{8c06beca-0777-48f7-91c7-6da68bc07b69}' ColName='tp_Created' RowOrdinal='0' ReadOnly='FALSE' Type='DateTime' Name='Created' DisplayName='Created' StorageTZ='TRUE' SourceID='http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/v3' StaticName='Created' FromBaseType='TRUE' Version='4' ShowInNewForm='FALSE' ShowInEditForm='FALSE' />
   </Method>
</Fields>";
            XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
            doc.LoadXml(updateFields);
            // Lists.UpdateList: set fields to not read-only
            XElement result = XElement.Parse(listsClient.UpdateList(listID, null, null, doc.DocumentElement, null, version).OuterXml);
            // get updated version from the result XML - for the second call of Lists.UpdateList
            version = result.Elements().Where(el => el.Name.LocalName == "ListProperties").First().Attribute("Version").Value;

            // prepare the XML for the list item update
            string updateDates = @"<Batch OnError='Continue'>
  <Method ID='M0' Cmd='Update'>
    <Field Name='ID'>1</Field>
    <Field Name='FileRef'>/docs/zt.txt</Field>
    <Field Name='Modified'>2010-04-04T22:17:00Z</Field>
    <Field Name='Created'>2010-01-01T00:05:00Z</Field>
  </Method>
</Batch>";

            doc.LoadXml(updateDates);
            // Lists.UpdateListItems: update Created & Modified
            result = XElement.Parse(listsClient.UpdateListItems(listID, doc.DocumentElement).OuterXml);

            // revert the fields' schema
            updateFields = updateFields.Replace("ReadOnly='FALSE'", "ReadOnly='TRUE'");
            doc.LoadXml(updateFields);
            // Lists.UpdateList: set fields back to read-only
            result = XElement.Parse(listsClient.UpdateList(listID, null, null, doc.DocumentElement, null, version).OuterXml);
        }

Basically we have to set the read-only property of the field as false before we try to update it and, after the update, set that property back to true.

Source:
http://stefan-stanev-sharepoint-blog.blogspot.com.br/2010/04/updating-read-only-fields-with-lists.html