Default folders on SharePoint Document Set

Question

I'm trying to achieve a project documentation solution on SharePoint 2013 using a custom Document Set Content Type. Each new project Document Set would hold four types of documents.

My initial thought was to use folders for each type to allow easy drag and drop behavior for adding documents. The problem is, by default, folders can be created only by adding default documents to a Document Set Content Type. I wish to create the folders upon the creation of new instance of this Document Set but not add any documents inside these folders.

This is what I have tried so far:

Using workflow to delete default documents inside folders that were created in the new Document Set.
Custom folder Content Types.

The reason for use of folders is to avoid metadata tagging when uploading documents.

I'm quite restricted with the tools that I can use so the most basic level solutions would be appreciated.

To be more clear, I would hope to have a Document Set Content Type which holds four folders. Document Set would act as a holder for all documentation relevant for a single project and folders inside would group the documentation into groups. Each new project will generate documents in its lifespan and these documents should be grouped into categories, say marketing, finance, production and HR. So when I have a new project, I can create a new instance of custom Document Set with pre created, named, empty folders inside.

It is very unclear how you see the Document Sets and folders interacting. Are the folders within the Document Set? Or the other way around? Perhaps give us an example of the structure you hope to end up with. — jwpfox
To be more clear, I would hope to have a Document Set Content Type which holds four folders. Document Set would act as a holder for all documentation relevant for a single project and folders inside would group the documentation into groups. Each new project will generate documents in its lifespan and these documents should be grouped into categories, say marketing, finance, production and HR. So when I have a new project, I can create a new instance of custom Document Set with pre created, named, empty folders inside. — Leevi Uotinen

Jasper Jasper · Accepted Answer · 2017-04-14T08:50:43

There's two ways you can achieve this I think. First would be to set-up your document set to have an empty document deployed to all of the folders you'd like to create. Simply add "Default Content" to your document set and there specify the correct folders. Unfortunately there's no way to create empty folders, so you'll need to put a dummy document in each folder which the user can then delete or override.

Second would require some coding. By attaching a remote event receiver to the library, you could trigger some custom code which would create the folder structure inside of the document set once created. This would allow you to create the folder structure without the need for dummy documents; so it's a bit more work which requires a developer, but the end result is also better.

The second solution you might also be able to pull off in a workflow (or Microsoft Flow) which then uses the API's to create the folders, but that's most likely less clean and more hassle to get working.

Default folders on SharePoint Document Set

2 Answers