Mandatory and optional fields
Typically a field is accessible in two user interfaces (website and client tools) and through the WebServices API.
InfoShareAuthor website file: CompulsoryFields.xml indicates if the web user interface should check if a field needs a value or not before submitting the data. The setting is immediately valid when reopening the website.
ClientTools like Publication Manager or the Authoring Bridge file: MetadataConfig.xml (located on the server and then synchronized to the client) also has options regarding mandatory/compulsory fields. The setting is valid on the client when synchronisation of the adapted file(s) has occured.
Database: When using the API, most projects also want a database check on mandatory fields. To check your current settings, go to the server (remote desktop) and start C:\InfoShare\App\Database\Common\DatabaseIndependent\Examples\Full-Export\RunSetup.bat The result is an HTML page where you can look for the fields name in the section Custom Fields. If the column Mandatory indicates Yes, a TriDKXmlSetup script can or should be created to remove this database setting.