Business Connectivity Services (BCS) is a component of SharePoint that allows you to use external data inside of SharePoint. BCS is available in all versions of SharePoint 2010, including the free version: SharePoint Foundation! It allows you to both read from and write data back to your external systems. Using BCS, you can surface your external data in SharePoint and inside of Office applications, meaning your data is that much more accessible.
SharePoint Designer 2010 can be used for building solutions with BCS. This course will teach you all that you need to know about getting started and being successful at implementing Business Connectivity Services.
Target Audiences: SharePoint Site Administrators, Power Users, Business Analysts, Developers, IT Professionals  Role Description:
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 Content Author: Raymond Mitchell |
| SP 301 – Get access to Line of Business Application Data using Business Connectivity Services | |||
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| Level: Advanced Available on dvd Approx Time: 1.5 hrs | |||
| Title | Abstract | Duration (mm:ss) | |
| External Lists | An External List is a way to surface external data as if it was stored in a traditional SharePoint list. In this video we show how to create External Lists from existing External Content Types using the browser and SharePoint Designer. We also look at how to customize views using SharePoint Designer. | 8:08 | |
| External Data Columns | External Data Columns allow you to use data from your external systems as metadata fields in SharePoint Lists and Libraries. This video shows how to create External Data Columns, how to customize the external data item picker dialog, and how to use your External Data Columns in Microsoft Office Word 2010. | 9:28 | |
| Introducing External Content Types | External Content Types are the backbone of all Business Connectivity Service solutions. In this video we explore the various components that make up an External Content Type and how they are represented inside of SharePoint Designer. | 8:07 | |
| Creating External Systems | External Systems are your data source for External Content Types. In this video we show how to create External Systems using SharePoint Designer using the three available data source types (.NET, SQL Server, and WCF Service) and how to switch the connected system for an External Content Type. | 8:29 | |
| Creating External Content Types | In this video we create two new External Content Types using SharePoint Designer. We show how operations are created and configured and how they relate to views in External Lists. | 8:16 | |
| Advanced Options for External Content Types | In this video we look at some advanced configuration options for External Content Types. We show how to use filter parameters in our Read List Operations and how to create Views for External Lists. | 8:28 | |
| BCS Associations | Associations allow you to define relationships between two External Content Types. In this video we show how to configure an Association using SharePoint Designer. We also look at how the relationship can be presented using the Business Data Related List Web Part. | 8:18 | |
| Business Data Web Parts | SharePoint Server Enterprise ships with a number of built in Web Parts that surface External Content Types. In this video we show how to add and configure several Business Data Web Parts. | 9:44 | |
| Creating BCS Actions | Actions in BCS allow you to create hyperlinks that are aware of the current Business Data Item you are working with. In this video we create several BCS Actions and use them to pass data into external websites to add additional value to External Content Types. | 8:51 | |
| BCS Profile Pages and Search | Profile Pages are dynamic pages that display default views for business data from external systems. These BCS Profile Pages can be indexed by SharePoint to provide support for searching external systems. In this video we show how to configure Profile Pages and how to configure SharePoint to search Business Data. | 7:11 | |
| BCS Administration & Security | In this video we look at some of the basic concepts administrators need to know when working with the BCS. We explore BCS related areas of Central Administration including the BCS Service Application and the Secure Store as well as how to export and import custom BCS solutions. | 8:15 | |