People sometimes run into Managed Metadata Taxonomy fields that show hash signs, semi-colons, numbers; what gives?<\/p>\n
What you are seeing, for example in a datasheet view, is a reflection of the internal representation of Taxonomy fields in SharePoint, which admittedly is a bit quirky to show users. It\u2019s our call as solution designers whether to recommend or even expose Datasheet view for end-users.<\/p>\n
The small numbers you see associated with metadata fields in datasheet view is the order in which the field value was referenced and first used in your site collection.<\/p>\n
Each taxonomy tag is stored internally as three values in one run-on string, with the ;# separating them, and can be seen with debugging tools in a hidden list stored in the root of each site collection:<\/p>\n
An internal reference number that is generated and tracked separately within each site collection. Each tag used has a reference number that is going to be different from the same tag in a different site collection
\nThe text name
\nThe text name in a language (1033=U.S. English)
\nA GUID (really long statistically unique identifier) that maps to the same value stored centrally in a Managed Metadata Database associated with the Managed Metadata Service
\nThe reason for the internal reference number is for SharePoint\u2019s scalability. A Taxonomy could have a million values, and the Managed Metadata Service housing this Taxonomy could have thousands of site collections using this Taxonomy. To avoid a massive bottleneck for Taxonomy lookups, the taxonomy values in use are cached, and every reference to a value carries the small identifier that allows the field to be resolved and referenced without leaving the site collection, avoiding heavy load on the central Managed Metadata Service.<\/p>\n
The hidden list is called \u201cTaxonomyHiddenList\u201d stored in the root web of the site collection; it\u2019s not visible in the browser. To see it, try the CodePlex solution called SharePoint Manager\u201d and navigate to the Site Collection.<\/p>\n
To learn more about manipulating taxonomies in PowerShell, please see this MSDN article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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