How to Delete a Field From the List in SharePoint 2013 Online Using REST API

Article

Introduction

SharePoint 2013 introduces a Representational State Transfer (REST) service that is comparable to the existing SharePoint client object models. This allows the developers to interact remotely with SharePoint data by using any technology that supports REST web requests. This means that developers can perform Create, Read, Update and Delete (CRUD) operations from their apps for SharePoint, solutions and client applications, using REST web technologies and standard Open Data Protocol (OData) syntax. In this article you will see the following:

Create an app using the NAPA Tool in SharePoint 2013 Online.
Cross-Domain Requests.
Delete a field from the list using the REST API.

Endpoint URI

https://c986.sharepoint.com/_api/web/Lists/getbytitle(‘listname’)/fields/getbytitle(‘fieldname’)

Note: If you are making cross-domain requests, then you need to add SP.AppContextSite(@target) and ?@target='<host web url>' to the endpoint URI.

Properties

The following properties must be used in the REST request for deleting the field:

IF-MATCH header: It is required for POST requests for a DELETE operation. Description: provides a way to verify that the object being changed has not been changed since it was last retrieved. Or, lets you specify to overwrite any changes, as shown in the following example: "IF-MATCH":"*".
X-HTTP-Method header: It is required in POST requests for DELETE operations. Description: specifies that the request performs a delete operation. Example: "X-HTTP-Method":"DELETE".

Use the following procedure to create an app using the NAPA Tool:

Navigate to the SharePoint 2013 Online site.
Click on Site Contents in the quick launch bar.
Click on "Napa" Office 365 Development Tools.
Click on Add New Project.
Select App for SharePoint, enter the Project name and then click on Create.

Permissions

Ensure appropriate permission is provided to access the content. Click on Properties button, and then click on Permissions. Set the required permission to access the content.

Default.aspx

Replace the contenst of Default.aspx with the following:

<%-- The markup and script in the following Content element will be placed in the <head>of the page --%>

<asp:content contentplaceholderid="PlaceHolderAdditionalPageHead" runat="server">

</asp:content>

<%-- The markup in the following Content element will be placed in the TitleArea of the page --%>

<asp:content contentplaceholderid="PlaceHolderPageTitleInTitleArea" runat="server">Page Title</asp:content>

<%-- The markup and script in the following Content element will be placed in the <body>of the page --%>

<asp:content contentplaceholderid="PlaceHolderPageTitleInTitleArea" runat="server">REST API Examples</asp:content>

<%-- The markup and script in the following Content element will be placed in the <body>of the page --%>

<asp:content contentplaceholderid="PlaceHolderMain" runat="server">

<div>

<p>

<b>Delete Field</b>

<br />

<button id="deletefieldbutton">Delete Field</button>

</p>

</div>

</asp:content>

App.js

Replace the contenst of App.js with the following:

'use strict';

var hostweburl;

var appweburl;

// Load the required SharePoint libraries.

$(document).ready(function () {

//Get the URI decoded URLs.

hostweburl = decodeURIComponent(

getQueryStringParameter("SPHostUrl"));

appweburl = decodeURIComponent(

getQueryStringParameter("SPAppWebUrl"));

//Assign events to buttons

$("#deletefieldbutton").click(function (event) {

deleteField();

event.preventDefault();

});

// Resources are in URLs in the form:

// web_url/_layouts/15/resource

var scriptbase = hostweburl + "/_layouts/15/";

// Load the js file and continue to load the page.

// SP.RequestExecutor.js to make cross-domain requests

$.getScript(scriptbase + "SP.RequestExecutor.js");

});

// Utilities

// Retrieve a query string value.

// For production purposes you may want to use a library to handle the query string.

function getQueryStringParameter(paramToRetrieve) {

var params = document.URL.split("?")[1].split("&");

for (var i = 0; i < params.length; i = i + 1) {

var singleParam = params[i].split("=");

if (singleParam[0] == paramToRetrieve) return singleParam[1];

}

// Delete list

function deleteField() {

var deletefieldname = document.getElementById("deletefieldname").value;

alert(deletefieldname);

var executor;

// Initialize the RequestExecutor with the app web URL.

executor = new SP.RequestExecutor(appweburl);

executor.executeAsync({

url: appweburl + "/_api/SP.AppContextSite(@target)/web/lists/getbytitle('Custom%20List')/fields/getbytitle('" + deletefieldname + "')?@target='" + hostweburl + "'",

method: "POST",

headers: {

"IF-MATCH": "*",

"X-HTTP-Method": "DELETE"

success: deleteFieldSuccessHandler,

error: deleteFieldErrorHandler

});

}

// Success Handler

function deleteFieldSuccessHandler(data) {

alert("Field deleted successfully")

}