Every file in a SharePoint library can carry custom columns — status, category, reviewer, due date, and so on. Dockli renders those columns as a proper form, with the right editor for each field type, and writes your changes straight back to SharePoint.
Opening the metadata editor
Select a single file, then:
- Right-click it and choose “Metadata”.
- Or open the file’s inspector pane, scroll to More Actions, and click “Metadata”.
Either way you land on the Edit Metadata view, with a back arrow to return to the file’s properties.
Field editors by type
Dockli picks the editor that fits each column’s type:
| Column type | Editor |
|---|---|
| Text (single line) | A text box |
| Text (multi-line) | A multi-row textarea |
| Number | A numeric input |
| Date and Time | A date-and-time picker |
| Yes/No (Boolean) | A checkbox |
| Choice | A dropdown that opens on ”— Select —“ |
| Multi-choice | A stacked group of checkboxes |
| Person | A people picker (see below) |
The people picker
For a Person column, start typing in the “Search people…” box. Each keystroke (debounced so it doesn’t fire on every letter) searches your directory, and matches appear in a dropdown you can pick from with the mouse or arrow keys. Once you choose someone, they show as a chip with their name and email; click the ✕ on the chip to clear it and search again.
Read-only fields
Some column types are shown but can’t be edited from Dockli — multi-value Person, Hyperlink and Taxonomy (managed metadata) fields. These appear as muted, informational text (or a dash when empty) so you can still see their values without accidentally changing them.
Required fields
Columns SharePoint marks as required show a * next to their label. If you click Save with any required field still empty, those rows light up with a “Required” message and Save stays disabled until you fill them in.
Saving your changes
The sticky footer holds Cancel and Save:
- Click Save. The button shows “Saving…” while the write is in flight and the form is locked.
- On success a green “Saved” flash appears briefly, then Dockli returns you to the file’s properties.
- If the save fails, the error is shown above the footer and the form stays editable so you can fix and retry.
Blank fields are left alone
Dockli only writes fields that have a value. A field you leave empty is omitted from the save — SharePoint treats an omitted column as “leave as-is” rather than clearing it — so editing one column never wipes the others.
Empty and error states
- No editable fields — if the library has no custom columns, you’ll see “No editable fields” with the hint “This library has no custom columns configured.”
- Load error — if the columns can’t be fetched, Dockli shows “Couldn’t load metadata” with the reason.
Dockli reads and writes columns through its local service at /api/files/{id}/metadata, using your existing SharePoint permissions. For the full list of column types Dockli supports, see Supported column types.