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How to create external list from Sharepoint designer?

Answered How to create external list from Sharepoint designer?

  • Saturday, April 14, 2012 12:02 PM
     
     
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    Hello all,

    I am creating a sharepoint list using sharepoint designer 2010. I have 5 columns in sql server table. Which are following

    Id, EmployeeId, EmployeeName, Address, Email, I have primary key on "EmployeeId" column and insert a value mannualy in it. Now my questions are following.

    1- On which column i should use "Map to Identifier". Either "Id" column or "EmployeeId" column or on both?

    2- When we click  "Show in Picker" check box what does it mean? why, by default all columns are unchecked?

    Thanks in advance.

    • Changed Type Marreena Monday, April 16, 2012 4:11 AM
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  • Saturday, April 14, 2012 12:38 PM
     
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    1. You should probably use EmployeeId since I assume the Id column is just an internal identifier.  That is assuming that EmployeeId is a unique entry for each row in the database.
    2. Show in Picker lets you select which column will be displayed when the user is asked to choose a particular record from the list.  In you case you could use EmployeeId which is going to be unique for each employee.  But that won't necessarily be very user friendly.  So I would normally pick EmployeeName or Email.  If you have multiple employees with the same name then EmployeeName could be a poor choice, but if its unique its probably the easiest for users.  Email will be unique, but may not be as easy to use as a selector.  By default all the columns are unchecked because its common to want something in the picker other than what  is used as an Identifier.

    Paul Stork SharePoint Server
    MVP Chief SharePoint Architect: Sharesquared
    Blog: http://dontpapanic.com/blog
    Twitter: Follow @pstork
    Please remember to mark your question as "answered" if this solves your problem.

    • Marked As Answer by Marreena Monday, April 16, 2012 4:12 AM
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  • Saturday, April 14, 2012 2:29 PM
     
     
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    Thanks for the reply,

    You mean i should use "Map to identifier" on one column and it should be EmployeeId. No doubt EmployeeId will be unique but it can be change if any of the employee's dept change(in our company rule). So in this case what you suggest? Either to use "Id" column or "EmployeeId" as a "Map to identifier"??? and Please please describe little more about "Map to identifier" what it basically does? Really thanks for your help :).
     
  • Sunday, April 15, 2012 11:50 AM
     
     
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    Map to Identifier is used to choose which column will be the main index for the external list.  It doesn't really matter if the value can be changed in the external system as long as it remains unique since the external list in SharePoint is just a cache of the data from the external data source.  If the value changes in the external data source it will also change in the External list when the list is refreshed.

    Paul Stork SharePoint Server
    MVP Chief SharePoint Architect: Sharesquared
    Blog: http://dontpapanic.com/blog
    Twitter: Follow @pstork
    Please remember to mark your question as "answered" if this solves your problem.

     
  • Sunday, April 15, 2012 1:47 PM
     
     
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    Thanks for the reply,

    When i choose EmployeeID as "Map to identifier" then i am unable to insert value mannually in EmployeeId. When i choose Id column as "Map to Identifer" then everything works ok. The purpose of Id column is just uniquely identify the row.

    Thanks for time and patience :).

     
  • Sunday, April 15, 2012 7:34 PM
     
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    That is the way it is supposed to work.  You can't change the value of an identifier.  You can use either EmployeeId or ID, but whichever one you use can not be edited in the resulting list since it uniquely identifies the record being edited.

    Paul Stork SharePoint Server
    MVP Chief SharePoint Architect: Sharesquared
    Blog: http://dontpapanic.com/blog
    Twitter: Follow @pstork
    Please remember to mark your question as "answered" if this solves your problem.

    • Marked As Answer by Marreena Monday, April 16, 2012 4:12 AM
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  • Sunday, April 15, 2012 8:56 PM
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    Might be worth adding: -

    • You can create or edit the view for the ECT to show the external ID column
    • Any new entries to the external database via SharePoint should carry on the numbering sequence.

    Steven Andrews | SharePoint Professional | http://www.twitter.com/backpackerd00d | https://baron72.wordpress.com/

     
  • Monday, April 16, 2012 4:12 AM
     
     
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    Thanks i got my answer :).