The possibility to set a multiple-line text column in a SharePoint List to Append-Only is a very useful functionality to have, but as is often the case with SharePoint 2007, it cannot quite be used to its full extent.
In a List View, an Append-Only text column displays as a link to open the Form, which can then display all the entries.
Many times, however, it would be useful to see in a view, just the last entry in an Append-Only column. How can this be achieved?
One way is to write a small workflow, using a tool such as Nintex, to copy the latest entry in an Append-Only text column, to another Single Line of Text column, which can then be hidden and prevented from appearing in the form, through the use of a content type.
The text in the Single Line of Text column will need cleaning up, to remove any fragments of HTML markup which are carried over.
In Nintex, this can be done using Regular Expressions that find and replace, for example, or <div> tags.
The result is a clean, single line of text column which display only the latest addition to an Append-Only multiple lines of text column.
The full history can be seen once the Form is opened.
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