CAML query to return multi-user field from a Sharepoint list

Question

I have a list in SharePoint that contains a field of type Multi-User which can contain 1 to many user names. I'm having trouble returning a string containing anything when more then 1 user is selected in the field.  Can someone point me in the right
direction?

Answer 1

You can't query on a Mutli-user field using a "contains" filter - using the GUI. 
However, you can change the CAML for the query using SharePoint Designer.
E.g. In my view, I want to return a list of documents where the Contributor field (a multi-user field) contains the user "Warner".
In the GUI, I create the view, but I'm not allowed to use the filter "Contains", so I use "Equals" instead. Of this won't work unless the only user is "Warner". So I open SharePoint Designer, and I change the query used on that view from Eq to Contains.
Original query:
<View Name="{D0E65C04-0A53-4C26-9004-68B3CFF1F11A}" MobileView="TRUE" Type="HTML" DisplayName="Warners Documents" Url="/Shared Documents/Forms/Warners Documents.aspx" Level="1" BaseViewID="1" ContentTypeID="0x" ImageUrl="/_layouts/15/images/dlicon.png?rev=23" >
<Query>
<Where>
<Eq>
<FieldRef Name="Contributors"/>
<Value Type="Text">Warner</Value>
</Eq>
</Where>
</Query>
<ViewFields>
<FieldRef Name="DocIcon"/>
<FieldRef Name="LinkFilename"/>
<FieldRef Name="Modified"/>
<FieldRef Name="Editor"/>
<FieldRef Name="Contributors"/>
</ViewFields>
<RowLimit Paged="TRUE">30</RowLimit>
<Aggregations Value="Off"/>
<JSLink>clienttemplates.js</JSLink>
<XslLink Default="TRUE">main.xsl</XslLink>
<Toolbar Type="Standard"/>
</View>
New Query:
<View Name="{D0E65C04-0A53-4C26-9004-68B3CFF1F11A}" MobileView="TRUE" Type="HTML" DisplayName="Warners Documents" Url="/Shared Documents/Forms/Warners Documents.aspx" Level="1" BaseViewID="1" ContentTypeID="0x" ImageUrl="/_layouts/15/images/dlicon.png?rev=23" >
<Query>
<Where>
<Contains>
<FieldRef Name="Contributors"/>
<Value Type="Text">Warner</Value>
</Contains>
</Where>
</Query>
<ViewFields>
<FieldRef Name="DocIcon"/>
<FieldRef Name="LinkFilename"/>
<FieldRef Name="Modified"/>
<FieldRef Name="Editor"/>
<FieldRef Name="Contributors"/>
</ViewFields>
<RowLimit Paged="TRUE">30</RowLimit>
<Aggregations Value="Off"/>
<JSLink>clienttemplates.js</JSLink>
<XslLink Default="TRUE">main.xsl</XslLink>
<Toolbar Type="Standard"/>
</View>
This now works.
However, the SharePoint team probably put this restriction in place for a reason. Possibly a performance related reason, due to the query performed on the SQL server, so use this method with caution.
Regards, Matthew
MCPD | MCITP
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