POST Request to SharePoint List: The parameter __metadata does not exist in method GetByTitle-Twitter bootstrap

BeerusDev
September 25, 2020
196 views
0 votes
2 Answers

I am trying to finish this project for work and have run into this ridiculously annoying error. I have searched and searched on MSDN, Stack Overflow, and many other sites but cannot seem to find whats wrong. I found a post where someone was facing the same issue as me and they said the solution worked, but it gives me the same error as the beginning. Then, I found this but it doesn’t solve my issue.

The purpose of this POST request is to collect JSON data from an HTML form and send it to the corresponding SharePoint list. The purpose of sending it to a corresponding SharePoint list is so that my DataTable (which is on another subsite) can update through my GET request earlier in the code. I found this way to be the easiest route of updating the DataTable.

Here is the full error/alert (in JSON):

{
  "readyState": 4,
  "responseText": "{"error":{"code":"-1, Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.InvalidClientQueryException","message":{"lang":"en-US","value":"The parameter __metadata does not exist in method GetByTitle."}}}",
  "responseJSON": {
    "error": {
      "code": "-1, Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.InvalidClientQueryException",
      "message": {
        "lang": "en-US",
        "value": "The parameter __metadata does not exist in method GetByTitle."
      }
    }
  },
  "status": 400,
  "statusText": "error"
}

Here is my Code:

function loadData() { //Initializing the AJAX Request function to load in the external list data from different subsites
        //create an array of urls to run through the ajax request instead of having to do multiple AJAX Requests
        var urls = ["/items?$select=Program,Deliverable,To,Date,Approved,Notes",
       "/items?$select=Program,Deliverable,To,Date,Approved,Notes",
            "/items?$select=Program,To,Date,Approved,Notes,Deliverable",
            "/items?$select=Program,To,Date,Approved,Notes,Deliverable",
            "/items?$select=Program,To,Date,Approved,Notes,Deliverable",
            "/items?$select=Program,To,Date,Approved,Notes,Deliverable",
            "/items?$select=Program,To,Date,Approved,Notes,Deliverable",
            "/items?$select=Program,To,Date,Approved,Notes,Deliverable"
        ];
    
        for (i = 0; i < urls.length; i++) { //for loop to run through the AJAX until all URLs have been reached
            $.ajax({
                url: urls[i],
                method: "GET",
                headers: {
                    "Accept": "application/json; odata=verbose"
                },
                success: function(data) { // success function which will then execute "GETTING" the data to post it to a object array (data.value)
                    console.log(data);
                    if (data.d != null && data.d != undefined && data.d.results.length > 0) {
                        var table = $('#myTable').DataTable();
                        table.rows.add(data.d.results).draw();
                    }
                }
            });
        }
    }
    
    $(document).ready(function() {
        var collapsedGroups = {};
        var top = '';
        var parent = '';
    
        var table = $('#myTable').DataTable({
        "pageLength" : 50,
            "columns": [{
                    "data": "Program",
                    visible: false
                },
                {
                    "data": "Deliverable",
                    visible: false
                },
                {
                    "data": "To"
                },
                {
                    "data": "Date"
                },
                {
                    "data": "Approved"
                },
                {
                    "data": "Notes"
                }
            ],
    
            dom: "<'row'<'col-sm-12 col-md-10'f><'col-sm-12 col-md-2'B>>" +
                "<'row'<'col-sm-12'tr>>" +
                "<'row'<'col-sm-12 col-md-5'i><'col-sm-12 col-md-7'p>>",
            buttons: [{
                extend: 'collection',
                className: "btn-dark",
                text: 'Export/Update Table',
                buttons: [{
                        extend: "excel",
                        className: "btn-dark"
                    },
                    {
                        extend: "pdf",
                        className: "btn-dark"
                    },
                    {
                        extend: "print",
                        className: "btn-dark"
                    },
                    {
                        text: 'Update Table',
                        action: function (e, dt, node, config){
                        $('#myModal').modal('show');
            }
        },
                ],
            }],
            order: [
                [0, 'asc'],
                [1, 'asc']
            ],
            rowGroup: {
                dataSrc: [
                    'Program',
                    'Deliverable'
                ],
                startRender: function(rows, group, level) {
                    var all;
                    if (level === 0) {
                        top = group;
                        all = group;
                    } else if (level === 1) {
                        parent = top + group;
                        all = parent;
                        // if parent collapsed, nothing to do
                        if (!collapsedGroups[top]) {
                            return;
                        }
                    } else {
                        // if parent collapsed, nothing to do
                        if (!collapsedGroups[parent]) {
                            return;
                        }
                        all = top + parent + group;
                    }
    
                    var collapsed = !collapsedGroups[all];
                    console.log('collapsed:', collapsed);
    
                    rows.nodes().each(function(r) {
                        r.style.display = collapsed ? 'none' : '';
                    });
                    //Add category name to the <tr>.
                    return $('<tr/>')
                        .append('<td colspan="8">' + group + ' (' + rows.count() + ')</td>')
                        .attr('data-name', all)
                        .toggleClass('collapsed', collapsed);
    
    
                }
    
            }
        });
    
        loadData();
    
        $('#myTable tbody').on('click', 'tr.dtrg-start', function() {
            var name = $(this).data('name');
            collapsedGroups[name] = !collapsedGroups[name];
            table.draw(false);
        });
    
        $("#btn").click(function(e) {
            PostItem();
        });
    });
    
       function PostItem() {
        return getFormDigest("").then(function(digestData) {
            console.log(digestData.d.GetContextWebInformation.FormDigestValue);
            $.ajax({
                async: true, // Async by default is set to “true” load the script asynchronously  
                // URL to post data into sharepoint list  or your own url
                url: "",
                method: "POST", //Specifies the operation to create the list item  
                data: JSON.stringify({ '__metadata': { 'type': 'SP.List' }, 'AllowContentTypes': true,
                'BaseTemplate': 100, 'ContentTypesEnabled': true, 'Description': 'My list description', 'Title': 'AMMO Deliverables' }
                ), 
            
                headers: {
                    "accept": "application/json;odata=verbose",
                    "content-type": "application/json;odata=verbose",
                    "X-RequestDigest": $("#__REQUESTDIGEST").val()
                },
                success: function(data) {
                    alert('Success'); // Used sweet alert for success message
                },
                error: function(error) {
                    alert(JSON.stringify(error));
                    console.log(JSON.stringify(error));

                }

            });
        })
    }
            function getItemTypeForListName(listName) {
                var itemType = "SP.Data." + listName.charAt(0).toUpperCase() + listName.slice(1) + "ListName";
                var encItemType = itemType.replace(/s/g,'_x0020_');
                return(encItemType);
    }       
        function getFormDigest(siteurl) {
    
            return $.ajax({
    
                url: "",
    
                method: 'POST',
    
                headers: {
                    'Accept': 'application/json; odata=verbose'
                }
    
            });
            }

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<link rel ="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/twitter-bootstrap/4.1.3/css/bootstrap.css"/>
<script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.12.4.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.datatables.net/1.10.21/js/jquery.dataTables.js"></script>
<script src="https://stackpath.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.5.2/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://momentjs.com/downloads/moment.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.datatables.net/buttons/1.6.2/js/dataTables.buttons.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.datatables.net/buttons/1.6.2/js/buttons.flash.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jszip/3.1.3/jszip.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/pdfmake/0.1.53/pdfmake.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/pdfmake/0.1.53/vfs_fonts.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.datatables.net/buttons/1.6.2/js/buttons.html5.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.datatables.net/buttons/1.6.2/js/buttons.print.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.datatables.net/rowgroup/1.1.2/js/dataTables.rowGroup.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.datatables.net/buttons/1.6.3/js/buttons.bootstrap4.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.datatables.net/1.10.21/js/dataTables.bootstrap4.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://code.jquery.com/ui/1.12.0/jquery-ui.min.js"></script>
<link rel ="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.datatables.net/rowgroup/1.1.2/css/rowGroup.bootstrap4.min.css"/>
<link rel ="stylsheet" href="https://cdn.datatables.net/1.10.21/css/dataTables.bootstrap4.min.css"/>
<link rel ="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.datatables.net/buttons/1.6.3/css/buttons.bootstrap4.min.css"/>
<h1><strong>G3G Deliverables</strong></h1>
        <div class ="container">
            <table id="myTable" class="table table-bordered" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
                <thead class="thead-dark">
                    <tr>
                    <th>Program</th>
                    <th>Deliverable</th>
                    <th>To</th>
                    <th>Date</th>
                    <th>Approved</th>
                    <th>Notes</th>
                    </tr>
                </thead>
            </table>
            </div>
             <meta name="_csrf" content="${_csrf.token}"/>
        <meta name="_csrf_header" content="${_csrf.headerName}"/>
        <div class="modal fade" id="myModal" tabindex="-1" role="dialog" aria-labelledby="myModalLabel" aria-hidden="true">
  <div class="modal-dialog">
    <div class="modal-content">
      <div class="modal-header">
        <button type="button" class="close" data-dismiss="modal" aria-hidden="true">&times;</button>
        <h4 class="modal-title" id="myModalLabel">Update DataTable</h4>
      </div>
      <div class="modal-body">
            <form id="myform" type="post" runat="server">
                <SharePoint:FormDigest ID="myForm" runat="server">
                <fieldset>
                    <legend align="center">Update Datatable</legend>
                    <p>Please fill out the shown fields to add data to the DataTable</p>
                    <div class="elements">
                    <label for="program">Program :</label>
                    <select name = "program" id="dProgram">
                            <option value = "AHR">AHR</option>
                            <option value = "AMMO">AMMO</option>
                            <option value = "DAR-Q">DAR-Q</option>
                            <option value = "Doctrine Development">Doctrine Development</option>
                            <option value = "Operational Energy">Operational Energy</option>
                            <option value = "Ordnance Multimedia">Ordnance Multimedia</option>
                            <option value = "SRC Handbook">SRC Handbook</option>
                            <option value = "WTBn">WTBn</option>
                        </select>
                    </div>
                    <div class="elements">
                    <label for="Deliverable">Deliverable :</label>
                    <select name="Deliverable" id="dDeliverable">
                            <option value = "Meeting Minutes">Meeting Minutes</option>
                            <option value = "Monthly Status Report (MSR)">Monthly Status Report (MSR)</option>
                            </select>
                    </div>  
                    <div class="elements">
                    <label for="To"> To:</label>
                    <input type="text" align= "center" id="dTo" name="To" placeholder="[email protected]">
                    </div>      
                    <div class="elements">
                    <label for="Date">Date: </label>
                    <input type="date" align= "center" id="dDate" name="Date" placeholder="MM/DD/YYYY"> 
                    </div>  
                    <div class="elements">
                    <label for="Approved">Approved :</label>
                    <select name="Approved" id="dApproved">
                            <option value = "True">Yes</option>
                        <option value = "False">No</option></select>
                    </div>  
                    <div class="elements">
                    <label for="Notes"> Notes :</label>
                    <input type="text" align= "left" id="dNotes" name="Notes" placeholder="Please provide notes">
                </div>
                <div class="submit">
                    <input type="submit" id="btn" name="btn" class="btn" value="Submit" />
                    </div>
                </fieldset>
                </SharePoint:FormDigest>
            </form>
      </div>
      <div class="modal-footer">
        <button type="button" class="btn btn-default" data-dismiss="modal">Close</button>
      </div>
    </div><!-- /.modal-content -->
  </div><!-- /.modal-dialog -->
</div><!-- /.modal -->
<style>

This is the new error it throws after updating my code:

{
  "readyState": 4,
  "responseText": "{"error":{"code":"-2130575251, Microsoft.SharePoint.SPException","message":{"lang":"en-US","value":"The security validation for this page is invalid and might be corrupted. Please use your web browser's Back button to try your operation again."}}}",
  "responseJSON": {
    "error": {
      "code": "-2130575251, Microsoft.SharePoint.SPException",
      "message": {
        "lang": "en-US",
        "value": "The security validation for this page is invalid and might be corrupted. Please use your web browser's Back button to try your operation again."
      }
    }
  },
  "status": 403,
  "statusText": "error"
}

UPDATE:

Here is the following changes I made to my code(it yields the same 403 error):

function PostItem() {
            return getFormDigest(" ").then(function(digestData) {
                console.log(digestData.d.GetContextWebInformation.FormDigestValue);
                $.ajax({
                type: 'POST',
                url: "",
                dataType: 'json',
                data: JSON.stringify({
                    "__metadata": { "type": "SP.Data.DeliverablesListItem" },
                    "Program": dProgram,
                    "Deliverable": dDeliverable,
                    "To": dTo,
                    "Date": dDate,
                    "Approved": dApproved,
                    "Notes": dNotes
                }),
                headers: {
                    "Accept": "application/json; odata=verbose",
                    "X-RequestDigest": $("#__REQUESTDIGEST").val(),
                    'content-type': 'application/json;odata=verbose',
                    'X-HTTP-Method': 'MERGE',
                    'if-match': '*'
                },
                success: function (data) {
                    alert('player updated');
                },
                error: function (msg) {
                    alert(msg.responseText);
                    console.log(msg);
                }

            }); 
            })
        }

Answers

The error is telling you that there is no __metdata property on getbytitle

The parameter __metadata does not exist in method GetByTitle.

You should be able to change your url property to get rid of the getbytitle param in your url.

Example:

jQuery.ajax({
        url: "http://<site url>/_api/web/lists",
        type: "POST",
        data:  JSON.stringify({ '__metadata': { 'type': 'SP.List' }, 'AllowContentTypes': true,
 'BaseTemplate': 100, 'ContentTypesEnabled': true, 'Description': 'My list description', 'Title': 'Test' }
),
        headers: {
            "accept": "application/json;odata=verbose",
            "content-type": "application/json;odata=verbose",
            "content-length": <length of post body>,
            "X-RequestDigest": $("#__REQUESTDIGEST").val()
        },
        success: doSuccess,
        error: doError
});

UPDATE:

I found one of my old examples and I see a couple of issues:

The SP.List in the __metdata needs to be replaces with that specific SP.List type. (See example below)
You need to provide etag info (see example below)

Here’s an old example I have of updating a SP List

$.ajax({
                type: 'POST',
                url: uri,
                dataType: 'json',
                data: JSON.stringify({
                    "__metadata": { "type": "SP.Data.Seahawks_x0020_RosterListItem" },
                    "Title": newPlayer.name,
                    "Jersey_x0020_Number": newPlayer.jerseyNumber,
                    "Position": newPlayer.position,
                    "Height": newPlayer.height,
                    "Weight": newPlayer.weight,
                    "Age": newPlayer.age,
                    "Years_x0020_of_x0020_Experience": newPlayer.yoe,
                    "College": newPlayer.college
                }),
                headers: {
                    "Accept": "application/json; odata=verbose",
                    "X-RequestDigest": $("#__REQUESTDIGEST").val(),
                    'content-type': 'application/json;odata=verbose',
                    'X-HTTP-Method': 'MERGE',
                    'if-match': etag
                },
                success: function (data) {
                    that.loadRoster();
                    alert('player updated');
                },
                error: function (msg) {
                    alert(msg.responseText);
                    console.log(msg);
                }

            });

Here is the logic for getting the etag

getItemId: function (title, callback) {
        $.ajax({
            type: 'GET',
            url: "https://site.sharepoint.com/_api/lists/GetByTitle('Seahawks%20Roster')/items",
            dataType: 'json',
            body: JSON.stringify({
                "__metadata": { "type": "SP.Data.Seahawks_x0020_RosterListItem" },
                "Title": title
            }),
            headers: {
                "Accept": "application/json; odata=verbose",
                "X-RequestDigest": $("#__REQUESTDIGEST").val()
            },
            success: function (data) {

                for (var i = 0; i < data.d.results.length; i++) {

                    var name = data.d.results[i].Title;

                    if (name == title) {
                        callback(data.d.results[i].Id, data.d.results[i].__metadata.etag, data.d.results[i].__metadata.uri);
                        break;
                    }
                }
            },
            error: function (msg) {
                alert(msg.responseText);
                console.log(msg);
            }

        });

    },

Quite a few more examples of REST operations for SP here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/dev/sp-add-ins/complete-basic-operations-using-sharepoint-rest-endpoints

- Nathan
- January 3, 2023 at 7:02 am
- 0 votes
0
For me, I got this error because I was posting but not updating ("PATCH"). Metadata apparently DOES exist on an update request.

So I needed the following headers settings:
```
headers: {    
    "accept": "application/json;odata=verbose",
    "content-type": "application/json;odata=verbose",
    "X-RequestDigest": data.d.GetContextWebInformation.FormDigestValue,
    "IF-MATCH": "*",
    "X-Http-Method": "PATCH"
},
```
In my limited understanding "X-Http-Method": "PATCH" changes the POST to an update. I believe "IF-MATCH": "*", is necessary for this too, and you may have a different value instead of the "*" (anything).
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