Programatically update MODIFIED BY feild in SharePoint 2007/2010/2013 list

Brief Issue:

When we are trying to insert/update an item by using SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges(delegate(){});” for getting the Administrator privilege we see that the value of "Modified By" feild of that inserted /updated item is SYSTEM ACCOUNT instead of the orginal user who has actually done the modification .

In this case, we need to update the "Modified By" field in the time of inserting/updating. It may not work if we assign a value for the "Modified By" field and call the Update method.

 

Resolution:

 

Use "UpdateOverwriteVersion()" method. This method allows for the setting of properties on a SPListItem object without creating a separate version of the item. This method also allows for setting of certain system properties such as Created(date), Modified(date), Author(Created By) and Editor(Modifies By).

 

Code snippet:

 

using (SPSite oSite = new SPSite(SPContext.Current.Web.Url))

 {
   using (SPWeb oWeb = oSite.OpenWeb())
   {
      //Variable to store the user
      SPUser oUser = oWeb.CurrentUser;
      oWeb.AllowUnsafeUpdates = true;

      SPFieldUserValue userVal = new SPFieldUserValue(oWeb, oUser.ID, oUser.LoginName);

      SPList oList = oWeb.Lists["ListName"];
      SPListItem oItem = oList.GetItemById(Item Id);

      oItem["Modified By"] = userVal;
    

      oItem.UpdateOverwriteVersion();

      oWeb.AllowUnsafeUpdates = false;
   }
}