I got the Failed to do column assignments for list error in my SharePoint logs today.

Ok, so a quick google/bing and I found this article:

Failed to do column assignments for list

That’s easy …

No, it is  not the same issue. I don’;t have any ColNames specified  It looks like the error Failed to do column assignments for list means something is wrong with the fields in your schema.xml file.

In my case, I had two copies of the same field in my schema.xml. So why is the same error appearing for both these situations?

SharePoint goes through the fields specified in the list definition and  creates the field.

The second time the same field is being created the internal name of the field already exist and therefore it can’t be assigned.

This is great! The error actually said what was wrong. I just wish that it had been a bit clearer 30 minutes ago.

By Pieter Veenstra

Business Applications and Office Apps & Services Microsoft MVP working as a Microsoft Productivity Principal Consultant at HybrIT Services. You can contact me using contact@veenstra.me.uk.

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