SharePoint 2010 - DisplayName, InternalName and StaticName

This blog post describes about the different names called “DisplayName, InternalName and StaticName” which use to refer a field. SharePoint uses these three different names and sometimes we face a problem of selecting the correct one.

DisplayName    : This is the name what you see in the site.

InternalName   : This name is the name you get for a field when you created it for the first time. This can’t be modified and it’s a read only name. This name should be a unique name.

StaticName       : This name doesn’t need to be unique and this can be changed. If you don’t change the StaticName then the InternalName and the StaticName are the same.

Let’s assume that there is a site in English and French versions. In this case the names of the items are different based on the language. So if we use the DisplayName of an item in English site inside the code to access the item, when we deploy the WSP file an error will occur in French site. The reason is the DisplayName is different in French site.

So the best way to solve this issue is, you should always use the InternalName inside the code since the WSP changes are valid for both English and French sites. (InternaName of the French site should be as same as the English site)

var value = ListItem[InternalName]

So which name to use and when?

If you need to access custom field created by your own team then you can use the DisplayName. If you are using any SharePoint provided field then better to use StaticName or InternalName, since you are not sure if the DisplayName will be changed or not.