![\"image_thumb1\"](\"http:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/image_thumb110.png\" "\\"image_thumb1\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nIt was interesting to investigate, because it shows how fiddly SharePoint can be, even with what looks like a simple request. I thought perhaps I could add a column, but despite hunting through a long list, could not find one for the file extension. Then I did a hunt on Google and found advice to edit allitems.aspx or onet.xml. I figured it would be safer to create a new view, so that there is an easy way back. Here\u2019s what I did.<\/p>\n
First, in a Documents page on the site I dropped down Settings and chose Create View.<\/p>\n
I chose to Start from an existing view, using the default All Documents as the base.<\/p>\n I called the view Detailed and clicked OK to save it.<\/p>\n Next, I installed SharePoint Designer 2007, which is a free download<\/a>. I ran it, and opened the site by choosing File \u2013 Open Site and entering the URL of the SharePoint site. I navigated to Detailed.aspx and opened it.<\/p>\n The next step is to right-click over the section of the page that has the list of documents (this is a web part) and choose Convert to XSLT Data View.<\/p>\n SharePoint Designer whirred for a moment, and then showed the web part in a slightly different format. <\/p>\n Now you have a couple of choices. If you want to have the extension in its own column, right-click over the Name column and choose Insert – Column to the right.<\/p>\n Once the column is created, click in the grey header row and type a name, say Ext. Then right-click in an empty cell in the new column, and choose Insert Formula. In the formula dialog, double-click File Type which is in the Rows \u2013 Row section of the tree on the left. Click OK.<\/p>\n Now save the modified view. If you browse to SharePoint now and select that view, you can see the file extensions.<\/p>\n Very good; but why can\u2019t we see the file extension as part of the file name? We can. Re-open detailed.aspx in SharePoint Designer. Delete the Ext column. Right-click a cell in the Name column in the web part and choose Edit Formula. Currently it looks like this:<\/p>\n ddwrt:UrlBaseName(string(@LinkFilename))<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n We need to modify this to show the file extension. Now, in case you are wondering, the ddwrt namespace is documented here<\/a>; it does not turn up if you search Help in SharePoint Designer. The formulas are documented here<\/a>; they don\u2019t show up in Help either. So UrlBaseName is a function that strips the file extension, while LinkFileName is mysteriously described thus:<\/p>\n Returns a GUID that represents the icon that is used to create a link to a file in a document library, where the file can be edited by using a menu. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n If you simply remove the UrlBaseName function you will get the full filename:<\/p>\n string(@LinkFilename)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n You could also use the formula @FileLeafRef \u2013 the result is exactly the same. FileLeafRef is documented just as mysteriously:<\/p>\n Returns a GUID that represents information about the server-relative URL for the file node that is associated with the specified Windows SharePoint Services object.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Still, maybe there is some good reason why LinkFileName was used in the original formula.<\/p>\n Note that you can make Detailed.aspx the default view if you wish. Just edit the view in SharePoint and check the option to Make this the default view.<\/p>\n Helpful post? Sponsor ITWriting.com<\/a> for ad-free access to the site<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Someone asked me how to show file extensions in SharePoint 2007 document lists. Otherwise, you cannot tell without squinting closely at the icon (or hovering the mouse over it) whether a document is in the new or old Microsoft Office format. It was interesting to investigate, because it shows how fiddly SharePoint can be, even … Continue reading How to show file extensions in SharePoint 2007 document lists<\/span> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\n