Defining read operation on External content type

Hi,
I have used SharePoint designer to connect create an external content type to the lists.asmx web service on another sharepoint farm. On attempting to generate a read operation, I receive the following error. Any idea of how to fix this? is there any way
I can point to a single list as opposed to getting the methods for all the lists on the external sharepoint?
BTW, I am currently pointing to https://<soourceurl>/_vti_bin/lists.asmx
thanks
Sherazad
Sherazad

Hi,
I found a similar issue for your reference:
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/sharepoint/en-US/4bcc1cd9-a9d6-4171-87d9-c6749543749c/bcs-connecting-to-a-list-in-another-site-collection-using-the-wcf-service?forum=sharepointcustomizationprevious
Quote:
We cannot use the Lists.asmx web service, because every method has parameters.
Do you want to add/update/delete a list in from another site? If so, you can display the list in a data view web part using Lists.asmx and give the New Form/Edit Form’s URLs in the data view web part.
For more information about how to create an external content type based on a web service:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/ee556431(v=office.14).aspx
Regards,
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Similar Messages

External content type with web service - new read item operation disable

Hi,
i'm tring to create an external content type based on web service.
I add for test the web service:
http://www.webservicex.net/globalweather.asmx?WSDL
when i try to set get reat item operation- it's disabled.
what should i do in order to create the operations?
keren tsur

Hi,
Please Provide screenshot about your issue.
For more information about how to create an external content type based on a web service:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/ee556431(v=office.14).aspx
besides, here are two posts about defining read operation on External content type error, you can take a look at:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/f86a8f37-7c8c-4cf0-8722-c6d44aa1e3d8/defining-read-operation-on-external-content-type?forum=sharepointadmin
https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/sharepoint/en-US/4bcc1cd9-a9d6-4171-87d9-c6749543749c/bcs-connecting-to-a-list-in-another-site-collection-using-the-wcf-service?forum=sharepointcustomizationprevious
Best Regards,
Lisa Chen
Lisa Chen
TechNet Community Support

Unable to edit ReadItem and ReadList operations on one specific external content type

I'm experiencing a strange behavior. Here is the scenario:
- In Sharepoint Designer I create external content type A that uses external system X
- I define ReadItem and ReadList operations for this external content type
- I then create external content B that uses the exact same external system X and define ReadItem and ReadList operations for this external content type
- I then go back to external content type A, select ReadList and click Edit This Operation
- I get a message : "This operation cannot be matched with any objects in your data source. There may be an error in the operation definition in Business Data Connectivity Metadata Store or the data source schema has changed since the operation
was created"
- I tried to edit ReadList operation of external content type B and it works with no problems.
- so I delete the ReadItem and ReadList operations for external content type A, refresh external system X, and then recreate the ReadItem and ReadList operations for external content type A.
- When I try to edit the ReadList (or ReadItem) operation I get the same error message and I'm not able to edit this operation.
This used to work a week or so ago, meaning that I was able to edit the ReadItem and ReadList operations for both external content types. Now, the operations cannot be edited anymore for external content type A but can be edited with no problems for
external content type B. For content type A, if I want to make any changes I have to delete the ReadItem and ReadList operations and recreate them. Does anybody have any idea as to what the problem might be? These two external content types
use the same external system which is a table of employees and project they worked on. The only difference is that external content type A has a filter by employee ID defined and external content type B has a filter by project ID defined.
thanks,

Hi bbatl,
I did a test as the followigs:
Open SQL Management Studio, create a table containing a filed called “employee ID” and a filed called “project ID”.
Add some data into the table.
Open my site with SharePoint Designer 2010, create a new external content type called TestA.
Connect the external content type TestA to the table that I created in step 1.
Create Read Item and Read List operations in the content type. When creating Read List operation, add a filter based on “employee ID”.
Click Save.
Create another external content type called TestB
Connect the external content type TestB to the table which was created in step 1.
Create Read Item and Read List operations in the content type. When creating Read List operation, add a filter based on “project ID”.
Click Save.
Then I went back to edit the Read List operation of external content type TestA via clicking Read List operation under External Content Type operations->Edit Operation.
No error displayed.
So, I could not reproduce this issue.
Whether you got the error when you clicked “Edit Operation” in SharePoint Designer. Please provide a screenshot about this issue.
Please check whether someone has changed the table special for the column “employee ID”.
And whether you have created an external list using the problematic external content type. If yes, please check whether it could work well.
Best Regards,
Wendy
Forum Support
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact
[email protected]
Wendy Li
TechNet Community Support

Managing External Content Types - make it read only?

I have a simple SharePoint list with an External Data column. When I edit item where the corresponding data was removed from the External Content Type I get this error:
No exact match was found. Click the item(s) that did not resolve for more options. You can also use Select button to
choose External Data.
I assume this is by design and I cannot delete underlying data and keep the value in the list - is this correct?
So my question now - is it possible to keep that info in the external list but disable in a picker so new records cannot be created with that particular value? How do I do it?
Thanks,

I don't understand the question exactly, could you restate it. Sorry mate, I might just be braindead.
But, as far as the issue, it is by design. the column is a lookup columns which essentially ties to the external data. if that data is removed, the column on your simple list becomes invalid and any edits of the simple list item will require
it to be changed.
are you wanting to make the ECT read only? that's simple enough. you can pop open SPD and edit the ECT, then remove the C/E/D operations (create/update/delete). That will not, however make it read-only in any other systems that access that
external data, as I assume its not just SP or else it wouldn't be external
Christopher Webb | MCM: SharePoint 2010 | MCSM: SharePoint Charter | MCT | http://christophermichaelwebb.com

How to read the content from a External Content Type with out creating External List in Sharepoint 2013?

Hi,
I have a requirement to read the External Content Type and storing the Data in a Session Variable. The Reading of the content from External Content Type with out creating a External List.
Please help I am trying to find the solution, but unable to do that.
Thanks,
Pradeep

Hi,
Firstly an external content type designed to work with SharePoint list and there is no way to read apart from this.
If you are looking the solution out of the " Business Connectivity" then find that data source has been exposed through WCF and Web Service ?
So you can use REST API and CSOM to consume those data in SharePoint.
You can also leverage the ADO.NET option if the datasources based on MS technologies.
Murugesa Pandian| MCPD | MCTS |SharePoint 2010

Creating a external content type for Read and Update data from two tables in sqlserver using sharepoint designer

Hi
how to create a external content type for Read and Update data from two tables in sqlserver using sharepoint designer 2010
i created a bcs service using centraladministration site
i have two tables in sqlserver
1)Employee
-empno
-firstname
-lastname
2)EmpDepartment
-empno
-deptno
-location
i want to just create a list to display employee details from two tables
empid firstname deptno location
and same time update in two tables
adil

When I try to create an external content type based on a view (AdventureWorks2012.vSalesPerson) - I can display the data in an external list. When I attempt to edit it, I get an error:
External List fails when attached to a SQL view
Sorry, something went wrong
Failed to update a list item for this external list based on the Entity (External Content Type) 'SalesForce' in EntityNamespace 'http://xxxxxxxx'. Details: The query against the database caused an error.
I can edit the view in SQL Manager, so it seems strange that it fails.
Any advice would be greatly GREATLY appreciated.
Thanks,
Randy

Can I define more than one table in one External Content Type

Hello,
I am new to the BCS development using SharePoint Designer 2010. I tried to create multiple SQL tables by referring to the same External Content Type with no success. Since the External Content Type shows all my SQL tables in the same database,
I though it would allow me to create a different list on another table from the same database. Is this possible?
When I tried to use the same External Content Type for the second table, it refers back to the first table identifier unless I create another External Content Type refer to the same database but point to the different table.
Please advise,
Brian.
Brian

As far as I know you can only use one table per external content type.
Please ensure that you mark a question as Answered once you receive a satisfactory response.

Get "An Error occurred while retrieving data From ProjectWebApp.." when searching content on an External Content Type

I have set-up an ECT in SPD2013 on SP2013. It is a SQL Data source called ProjectWebApp. I have BCS/SSS set-up. I can create an ECT OK in SPD. I can add the ECT to a custom list.
The problem is when I add a new item in the list the following error message appears in red
An error occurred while retrieving data from ProjectWebApp. Administrators, see the server log for more information
I cannot filter or return any results. There is data in the DB.
Another test I do is to try and create a new App/List using the "External List" template. When
I select the ECT a red message appears "External Content Types are not available". which is odd since I can add an ECT to a list as mentioned above.
Any ideas?
Tx
Andrew
Andrew Payze

Hi Andrew,
Please try the option Allow unlimited length in document libraries in the column settings:
http://littletalk.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/external-content-type-an-error-occurred-while-retrieving-data-from-a-system-administrators-see-the-server-log-for-more-information/
If it doesn't help, please refer to the link below and raise the External content type Read List operation thresholds:
http://lightningtools.com/bcs/business-connectivity-services-end-user-implications-part-one-threshold-limit-errors/
Please provide error message in ULS log for further troubleshooting.
Regards,
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact
[email protected] .
Rebecca Tu
TechNet Community Support

External Content Type Page Number Filter

I have a External Content Type set up on a SQL Server view. My problem is when I use the content type as a external column in a SharePoint list the picker returns more than 200 items. I have tried to add the Page Number filter to allow users to page through
the items but I cannot get it to work. Is there a way to increase the item limit, or can someone explain how to use the Page Number filter on the Read List operation for a external content type?
Thanks,

Regarding increasing the limit, there are two parts. The actual BCS limit in SharePoint which can be increased using a PowerShell command (below), and then there is the web part that lets you select the BCS items. Based on a thread for SP2010, 200 is a hard
limit for the web part, although you will need to test to see if his limit has changed in SP2013.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff607630(v=office.15).aspx
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/sharepoint/en-US/d0d3d0c9-8180-40f6-a886-be08c1a56a24/external-data-column-pick-list-sort-order-and-remove-limit-constraint
Regarding the Paging, the following thread provides some options (it's for SP2010 but apply for SP2013 as well):
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/sharepoint/en-US/6a39ae0d-cd62-4ec4-b346-7f311e8799c6/bcs-filtering-and-paging-under-readlist-method?forum=sharepointdevelopmentprevious
Dimitri Ayrapetov (MCSE: SharePoint)

Setting up an External Content Type

Is it possible to set up an External Content Type in SP Designer if the WCF service I'm using only has a method for creating an item in another system? I see that you must create a "Read Item" and "Read List" operation, and when I try
to do so, it doesn't allow me to see the "Finish" button, or it throws a bunch of various errors at the bottom.
I have a WCF service that was not specifically made for BCS. It's designed to simply submit a ticket to a help desk system, with no ability to read from that system. Using custom workflow in SharePoint, I'd like to trigger the WCF service and send a ticket
using data held in a SharePoint list. Any pointers appreciated!

Hi,
According to your post, my understanding is that you failed to set up an External Content Type in SharePoint Designer.
Please make sure you create external content type based on a WCF service
correctly.
For more information, you can refer to:
How to: Create an External Content Type Based on a WCF Endpoint
Creating External Content Type Associations Based on WCF
Best Regards,
Linda Li
Linda Li
TechNet Community Support

Assigning External content type field column value using Client Object Model

I have a problem assinging External column value to ListItem object with client object model-based application I'm developing. To be precise, I am able to retrieve data related to external content type by reading external list created from this content type
but I don't know how to properly use it to assign value to this field. By doing some research on my own I concluded that BDC ID column from external list is the way to go since it uniquely defines selected row from external list but that doesn't
tell me much since I don't know what to do with it. Currently I ended up with partial solution - to assign plain string value of picker column but that makes this value visible only in "View Properties" option on Sharepoint and not in "Edit Properties"
which pritty much makes sence since it isn't properly related to rest of the data in specific row. Does someone have a better solution for this?
Igor S.

I think I understand your problem.
In my example I have an external data column "Beneficiary Name", using a Beneficiary external content type (accessing a table of beneficiaries in a SQL table).
I want to set the "Beneficiary Name" property using the client object model. I know the name of the beneficiary but not the ID value.
It is a fairly simple solution. You just need to identify the name of the property SharePoint assigns to the ID field, in my case it is called "Beneficiary_ID". Then set the two properties as follows:
thisItem["Beneficiary_Name"] = "Charitable Trust";
thisItem["Beneficiary_ID"] = -1;
thisItem.Update();
Setting the ID property to -1 causes the server to do an automatic lookup for the ID from the value assigned to the item.

Rename columns of list created by external content type in share point 2010

Hi,
I want to rename columns of list created by external content type.
Please help to solve the issue.
Thanks in advance!
Regards
Rajni

Hi,
Steps to rename column name:
Open external content type in SharePoint designer
click on “Operations Design View” from ribbon
select corresponding external content type operations
click on edit operation from ribbon
click next button to get the Return parameter configuration page
select the parameter and change the display name from the properties
Anandhan.S Remember to 'mark or propose as answer' or 'vote as helpful' as appropriate.

Help sought filtering athe results for an external content type.

I have been using resources like
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/ee557243(v=office.14).aspx to set up an external content type. Then I used resources such as
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/ee558778(v=office.14).aspx to create an external list.
I got the infamous error "Unable to display this Web Part..." that web searches show generally happen when too many results are being returned.
When I set up the Read List operation, I did create a limit filter. The column that has a unique value for each record was selected with a default value of 100. The bits I have read seemed to indicate that would limit the results to 100 records. In
my case, what I was attempting to do should have only returned a few records, so that seemed safe.
Since I am getting the error that people indicate is related to too many records being returned, and I looked using powershell and it seems that the default is 2000 items, the limit filter doesn't appear to be working.
I have read books, web blogs, forum threads and technotes. Unfortunately most of what I have read does not really explain _what_ one is supposed to do in a way that is general. Typically it is all done in terms of some specific example, which perhaps I am
not translating into my specific case appropriately.
Can someone explain the filtering and how the functionality works?
Thank you!

Digging into the ULS logs reveals an odd error. It says:
05/06/2014 07:13:11.93 w3wp.exe (NTSRV45SB:0x1E08)
0x0F14
SharePoint Foundation Web Parts
89a1 High
Error while executing web part: System.InvalidOperationException: A null value was used as an Identifier value for Entity (External Content Type) with Name 'HPSM External Data Connection' in Namespace 'http://sandbox/sites/it/projects/sm/hpsm_edc'. Null
identifier values are not permitted. Check the data returned from the LobSystem (External System) or the TypeDescriptors for Method with Name 'PROBSUMMARYM1Read List' on Entity with Name 'HPSM External Data Connection' in Namespace 'http://sandbox/sites/it/projects/sm/hpsm_edc'.
---> System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException: Specified argument was out of the range of valid values. Parameter name: identifierValues at Microsoft.BusinessData.Runtime.Identity..ctor(Object[] identifierValues) at Microso...
532f2966-cc96-4fb8-b0e3-e83b838d2aef
05/06/2014 07:13:11.93* w3wp.exe (NTSRV45SB:0x1E08)
0x0F14
SharePoint Foundation Web Parts
89a1 High
...ft.SharePoint.BusinessData.Infrastructure.CompositeIdentifier.GetIdentity() --- End of inner exception stack trace --- at Microsoft.SharePoint.BusinessData.Infrastructure.CompositeIdentifier.GetIdentity()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.BusinessData.Runtime.AbstractEntityInstance.GetIdentity() at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPExternalList.GetBdcIdentityFromEntityInstance(IEntityInstance entinst) at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPListDataSource.GetFilteredEntityInstancesInternal(XmlDocument
xdQueryView, Boolean fFormatDates, Boolean fUTCToLocal, String firstRowId, Boolean fBackwardsPaging, String& bdcidFirstRow, String& bdcidNextPageRow, List`1& lstColumnNames, Dictionary`2& dictColumnsUsed, List`1& mapRowOrdering, List`1&
lstEntityData) at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPListDataSource.GetFiltered...
532f2966-cc96-4fb8-b0e3-e83b838d2aef
05/06/2014 07:13:11.93* w3wp.exe (NTSRV45SB:0x1E08)
0x0F14
SharePoint Foundation Web Parts
89a1 High
...EntityInstances(XmlDocument xdQueryView, Boolean fFormatDates, Boolean fUTCToLocal, String firstRowId, Boolean fBackwardsPaging, String& bdcidFirstRow, String& bdcidNextPageRow, List`1& lstColumnNames, Dictionary`2& dictColumnsUsed,
List`1& mapRowOrdering, List`1& lstEntityData) at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPListItemCollection.EnsureEntityDataViewAndOrdering(String& bdcidFirstRow, String& bdcidNextPageFirstRow) at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPListItemCollection.EnsureListItemsData()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPListItemCollection.get_Count() at Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls.SPDataSourceView.ExecuteSelect(DataSourceSelectArguments selectArguments, String aggregateString, Boolean wantReturn, BaseXsltListWebPart
webpart, SPListItem& listItem, SPListItemCollection& listItems, String[]& f...
532f2966-cc96-4fb8-b0e3-e83b838d2aef
05/06/2014 07:13:11.93* w3wp.exe (NTSRV45SB:0x1E08)
0x0F14
SharePoint Foundation Web Parts
89a1 High
...ieldList) at Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls.SingleDataSource.GetXPathNavigatorInternal() at Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls.SingleDataSource.GetXPathNavigator() at Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages.DataFormWebPart.PrepareAndPerformTransform(Boolean
bDeferExecuteTransform) 532f2966-cc96-4fb8-b0e3-e83b838d2aef
05/06/2014 07:13:11.93 w3wp.exe (NTSRV45SB:0x1E08)
0x0F14
SharePoint Foundation Web Parts
89a2 High
InnerException 1: System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException: Specified argument was out of the range of valid values. Parameter name: identifierValues at Microsoft.BusinessData.Runtime.Identity..ctor(Object[] identifierValues)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.BusinessData.Infrastructure.CompositeIdentifier.GetIdentity()
532f2966-cc96-4fb8-b0e3-e83b838d2aef
So I am thinking this may not be a limit problem at all. However, the Read List operation, right now, has only one filter parameter - on a column that I have verified has no null entries. There are a lot of columns - and a lot of rows. So I set up a limit
filter with a default value of 100, which I thought would limit the number of records returned to 100.
Perhaps the real problem is something different and it only manifests itself as a null value?
Does anyone out there have any ideas?

BCS External Content Type using Stored Procedure with parameter

I have a requirement wherein I will be using External Content Type (BCS) using a Stored Procedure.
The stored procedure has parameters.
I have set up Read List and Read Item
However, when I visited my list, I cannot enter any parameter.
Can you show me a guide on how to configure this with parameters?
Thanks!
----------------------- Sharepoint Newbie

Hi,
Here are the references for creating an External Content Type to support Read List and Read Item operations:
http://troyscott.ca/2010/07/02/creating-an-external-content-type-in-sharepoint-2010/
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/ff728816(v=office.14).aspx
Regards,
Rebecca Tu
TechNet Community Support
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help, and unmark the answers if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Support, contact
[email protected]

External content type error: Business Data Connectivity object not found.

Hello
I have to change the external database (external system) for an external content type. The database view on the new database is exactly the same as on the old database.
After changing the external system of the external content type, this happens:
When I try to add a new item to the list, I get this error under the external data field:
"Business Data Connectivity object not found. Administrators, see the server log for more information."
Also, when I try to update the external data field, it is not possible because the buttons are grey.
When I add a new external data field to the same list, I can use the external content type. For some reason the current external data field doesn't update.
Any ideas?
Any help would be much appreciated!

Have you implemented both ‘Read List’ & ‘Read Item’ operations in your ECT?
This may be helpful -
https://sharepointcreations.wordpress.com/2014/03/13/business-data-connectivity-object-not-found/
Thanks
Ganesh Jat [My Blog |
LinkedIn | Twitter ]
Please click 'Mark As Answer' if a post solves your problem or 'Vote As Helpful' if it was useful.

Defining read operation on External content type

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