Idempotent issue in Site Scripts with createSPList

[sympmarc]

Category

• Question
• Typo
• Bug
• Additional article idea

Expected or Desired Behavior

When I create a new list/library in a Site Script and rename it, I should be able to rerun the Site Script at any time and not end up with duplicate lists. The reason I rename it is to start with a clean URL ("FunctionalAreaDocuments") but have a pretty Title ("Functional Area Documents").

Observed Behavior

When I run this snippet in a Site Script a second time, I end up with a second "Functional Area Documents" library. the two libraries have the same Title, but the URLs are:

• [sitePath]/FunctionalAreaDocuments
• [sitePath]/FunctionalAreaDocuments1

        {
            "verb": "createSPList",
            "listName": "FunctionalAreaDocuments",
            "templateType": 101,
            "subactions": [
                {
                    "verb": "setTitle",
                    "title": "Functional Area Documents"
                }
            ]
        },

Steps to Reproduce

Run the Site Script snippet above twice - or more. (More times would yield more duplicates.)

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[andrewconnell]

Tagging as a question... not sure this is a bug as the behavior mirrors other parts of the SP list/column/etc creation experience so it might be "by design"...

[sympmarc]

Unfortunately, if it's "by design", there's no workaround other than using the "ugly" URL. As far as I can tell, there isn't an idempotent option here. @BobGerman

[andrewconnell]

Or... create the list, then use the REST API to change the name. Same process we do today... I'm not heavily experienced in site design scripts so not sure what is / isn't "by spec"

[sympmarc]

There are a bunch of idempotency issue with Site Scripts that aren't addressed in the docs - and it's difficult to figure out the right answer, even using the schema. I want to get these logged so we can improve the docs and usage, per discussions with @seansquires and others.

[bcameron1231]

Agreed with @sympmarc on improving docs and usage. I think we are lacking a bit of clarity on the intentions of actions in Site Scripts in regards to being idempotent. Some actions behave differently in this regard, and it's unclear whether it's intended functionality or a bug. If there was a clear understanding that doing 'x' will cause 'y', we at least up front know whether the site script will actually suit our needs.

I've ran into this scenario as well, and I personally feel the duplicate list shouldn't happen. It would just be nice to know if the duplicate is in fact, intended functionality. Feels like a bug to me. I think the site script should use an internal value for referencing a list, not the name of the list... and also extending the site script action to allow for a URL property would be convenient for control.

[sympmarc]

Any idea when this "fixed-next-drop" is happening?