The specified column is read only and cant be modified

[imadorkous]

I have been starting to get this error the past couple of days, but I am not sure what the issue. when a user create a record (saved in SharePoint), and then wants to go back to edit it. I get the following: 

The specified column is read only and cant be modified

at another point, I got this error message as well:

The requested operation is invalid. Server Response: RAIL List failed: Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131904 clientRequestId: bc2f77b0-c1c4-4efc-826c-c7a77425bbb1 serviceRequestId: bc2f77b0-c1c4-4efc-826c-c7a77425bbb1

I don't even know which column it is referring to or anything.  A sample of the form is down below...

And on the onselect of the Update RAIL item button is:

If(!IsBlank(TextInput1.Text), Patch('RAIL List - Comments',Defaults('RAIL List - Comments'),{RAILID:Gallery1SalesCFTeam.Selected.ID,CommentorName:_myProfile.displayName, Note:TextInput1.Text, NoteDate:Text(Now(),DateTimeFormat.ShortDateTime),Timestamp:Now()}),

Patch('RAIL List - Comments',Defaults('RAIL List - Comments'),{RAILID:Gallery1SalesCFTeam.Selected.ID,CommentorName:_myProfile.displayName, Note:"(RAIL Item was modified, but no new comments were provided)", NoteDate:Text(Now(),DateTimeFormat.ShortDateTime),Timestamp:Now()})) ;
Reset(TextInput1);

Refresh('RAIL List - Comments');

ClearCollect(colNotesSales, ShowColumns(Gallery3.AllItems,"RAILID","Title","Note","NoteDate","Timestamp"));

Set(jsonNotes, JSON(colNotesSales, JSONFormat.IgnoreBinaryData));


Patch('RAIL List', Gallery1SalesCFTeam.Selected, {Updates:jsonNotes});

SubmitForm(Form1); 
Refresh('RAIL List'); ViewForm(Form1); Select(Button5)

What is the main issue?? I tried disconnecting the Sharepoint data sources, and reconnectiong them, but that didn't help.. 

[v-xida-msft]

Hi @imadorkous ,

Have you enabled some Read-Only fields (e.g. ID field) in your Form1?

Could you please show more details about the error message within your canvas app?

Based on the formula that you mentioned, I could not find any syntax error with it. Please make sure you do not enable Read-Only fields, e.g. ID, Created, Modified, 'Created By', 'Modified By', ... etc, within your Form1 or other Edit forms in your app. If yes, please remove these Read-Only fields from your Edit forms, then try your formula again, check if the issue is solved.

In addition, please modify your formula as below:

Patch(    // Modify formula here
         'RAIL List - Comments',
		 Defaults('RAIL List - Comments'),
		 {
		     RAILID:Gallery1SalesCFTeam.Selected.ID,
			 CommentorName:_myProfile.displayName, 
			 Note: If(
                                 !IsBlank(TextInput1.Text)
                                  TextInput1.Text,
                                  "(RAIL Item was modified, but no new comments were provided)"
                               ), 
			 NoteDate:Text(Now(),DateTimeFormat.ShortDateTime),
			 Timestamp: Now()
		}
);
Reset(TextInput1);
Refresh('RAIL List - Comments');
ClearCollect(colNotesSales, ShowColumns(Gallery3.AllItems, "RAILID", "Title", "Note", "NoteDate", "Timestamp"));
Set(jsonNotes, JSON(colNotesSales, JSONFormat.IgnoreBinaryData));
Patch(             // Modify formula here
       'RAIL List',
       LookUp('RAIL List', ID = Gallery1SalesCFTeam.Selected.ID),
       {
         Updates: jsonNotes
       }
);
SubmitForm(Form1); 
Refresh('RAIL List');
ViewForm(Form1);
Select(Button5)

Please consider take a try with above solution, then check if the issue is solved.

Best regards,

[imadorkous]

@v-xida-msft ,

The modified formula did not fix the error, but I got more context on the error. See attachment. It says Editor: The specified column is read only and cant be modified.

The Modified By card was inserted in the form as view only, so it shouldn't have been updating.. I removed it, and then re-added it, but still no luck. Then I just removed it all together, and it was working fine... Is there reason for this?

[v-xida-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @imadorkous ,

Yeah, I think your issue is related to it. The "Modified By" field is a System Read-Only field in SP List, which could not be modified from canvas app.

If you enable the "Modified By" field in your Edit form (e.g. Form1), when you submit your Edit form (e.g. Form1) data back to your SP List, it would also try to submit the "Modified By" field value from your Edit form back to your SP List.

As an fixed solution, please remove these System Read-Only fields (e.g. Modified, 'Modified By', ...) from your Edit form, then try your SubmitForm function again. If you want to review these System Read-Only fields of a submitted record, you could consider add Display form (rather than Edit form) in your app, bind it to specific record in your SP list, then enable corresponding System Read-Only fields there.

If my reply is helpful in your scenario, please consider go ahead to click "Accept as Solution" to identify my reply as helpful.

Best regards,

Best regards,

[Django]

In my case I want to use the same Form to New, View and Edit... thus display the data in View mode but hide it in the other modes. I achieved this by removing the DataField property of the Datacard so it does not try to write data to a column that does not allow it

BUT still show data from that same column. Hopefully this will last 🤞

[Florida712]

Removing the info from the DataField worked for me as well, I do hope it stays like that and saves me from having to Patch each individual field in my Form. I am showing three forms on one screen with different parts of the total form for layout reasons so I cannot use SubmitForm.
Thanks a lot

[KenSprNC]

Another option is to use the Form's Edit Fields applet and set the field option to View (non-edit). This creates a read-only card without an update property. As an example, add a Created, Modified or other SharePoint read-only field to the form - it will automatically set the card style to be view only.

[BadriPradhan]

I am also getting the same issue. I have removed one by one all the columns from the patch function and getting same "The specified column is read only and cant be modified."

[KenSprNC]

I believe the previous posts are using SubmitForm('MyForm'). When using Patch(...), it's important to exclude read-only fields. One way of doing this is to wrap the data with ShowColumns(....) then only include/show the intended columns. Another way is to code as follows:
Patch('My data source', Lookup('My data source', ID=1234), {Title:"My Title",OtherColumn:"some text"})

In this case, read-only fields are not included in the update. Note that SharePoint has many read-only fields.

[TonyTo]

I am getting the same error "Network error when using Patch function: The specified column is read-only and can't be modified.", started from today. just weired. nothing changed in Power Apps and SharePoint list. 
The days before were 100% working.

still finding solution...