Table of contents

• What is a Data Lookup
• Lookup types comparison
• Configuration
• Package & Publish

What is Data Lookup

The skybow Data lookup connector allows you to get values from a SharePoint list or library on any site collections of the current tenant. In another words it's an implementation of a SharePoint cross-site collection lookup functionality.

A Data lookup can be added from the "Add" button on the form.

Lookup types comparison

Data Lookup limitation:

• There is no relationship behavior (Restrict delete and Cascade delete).
• There is no synchronization when changing a value on the source item.

Configuration

Data lookup configuration panel consists of:

Field configuration

• Display name: Display field name.
• Internal name: Internal field name.
• Description: Description of the field.
• Data Source: SharePoint list from any site (disabled).
• Site Url: Absolute URL to SharePoint site where to take values.
• List or Library: List or library on the site.
• Display column: Display column from what to show values.
• Options:
  • Allow multiple values
  • Require that this column contains information
  • Display as text only: If this option enabled there is no link to open source item
  • Add to default view

Form-related configuration:

it is configures per form.

• Control for editing column values
  • Default
  • Enhanced lookup: The main feature is performance. It is recommended to use on lists with a lot of source items on lookup for better form loading. Items are loaded on demand when filtering or scrolling in the drop-down menu.
    • Remove duplicate items: Allows you to not show duplicate items
• Lookup Filter: CAML query used to filter list item
• Select the only remaining item automatically after filtering

After you change the Display column name in the configuration panel and you can start the synchronization process which updates previously set values automatically.

Package & Publish

In case Data Lookup or other lookups could not be automatically resolved during publish process all lookups that need to be set correctly will be highlighted on the "Verify" step using Direct to SharePoint site publish method.

After finishing deployment you can manage Data Lookup in the Maintenance tab of the deployment.

The following fields need to be specified if a Data Lookup is not automatically resolved:

• Site URL
• List or library site-relative URL
• List Id
• Display column (Internal Name)

Note: if you change Display column on target site there is no synchronization process.

In case you are using API deployment there is another approach how to resolve Data lookup configuration: How to run post-deployment script on target site after API deployment