Chapter 12. Using SharePoint with Excel and Access
Chapter at a glance
Import
Import data from an Excel spreadsheet to a list in SharePoint, Importing data from an Excel spreadsheet to a list in SharePoint
Export
Export data to a SharePoint list, Exporting an Excel table to a SharePoint site
Build
Build an Access app, Building an Access app
Import and Link
Import data from a SharePoint list, Importing a list
Link to a SharePoint list, Linking to a list
IN THIS CHAPTER, YOU WILL LEARN HOW TO
Microsoft SharePoint 2013 provides the collaborative backbone to the Microsoft Office 2013 system. This chapter focuses on the integration of SharePoint 2013 with Microsoft Office Excel 2013 and Microsoft Office Access 2013.
Similar to previous versions, with Excel 2013 you can export and import data to and from SharePoint lists and provide one-way synchronization from SharePoint lists to Excel spreadsheets so that you can take the data offline, and then synchronize with the SharePoint lists when you reconnect.
The combination of SharePoint 2013 and Access 2013 makes it easy for you to build a desktop database against SharePoint. Ever since Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, you could move away from storing your Access desktop database files on file shares. You can store an Access database in a SharePoint library, which lets you and your team collaborate easily with the Access database solution. You can also move data held in Access tables to SharePoint lists, exposing the lists in the Access database as linked tables that allow updates in SharePoint lists to be reflected in the Access table, and vice versa. If you do not possess the skills or privileges to be a Microsoft SQL Server database administrator, you can still obtain the manageability and stability benefits of storing data on the server while retaining the use of Access. Also, the data in the linked tables is stored locally on your computer so that you can work offline with data, and then synchronize the changes when you reconnect.
However, there are some performance issues with this approach. It does not allow you to model some of the more complex scenarios built using Access; therefore, new with the Enterprise edition of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 is the ability to create a SharePoint site based on an Access database, known as an Access web database. This ability is extended in SharePoint Server 2013, with a new, completely rewritten Access Services service application, where Access 2013 databases are published to SharePoint Server 2013 as an Access web app, also known as Access apps. Access apps are excellent when you wish to rapidly create end-to-end web-based business solutions, including those that involve custom forms.
This chapter details the integration of SharePoint with Excel 2013 and Access 2013 apps, as well as desktop databases. Although you can complete many of the desktop database–related tasks documented in this chapter using previous versions, the steps and screen shots in this chapter were created using Excel 2013 and Access 2013. If you use Microsoft Office Excel 2010 or Microsoft Office Access 2010, your steps and screen shots will be slightly different. See Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 Step by Step by Olga Londer and Penelope Coventry (Microsoft Press, 2010) for steps on using Access 2010 with SharePoint.
Note
PRACTICE FILES Before you can complete the exercises in this chapter, you need to copy the book’s practice files to your computer. The practice files you’ll use in this chapter are in the Chapter12 practice file folder. A complete list of practice files is provided in Using the practice files at the beginning of this book.
Important
Remember to use your SharePoint site location in place of http://wideworldmporters in the following exercises.
Importing data from an Excel spreadsheet to a list in SharePoint
In many situations, you might already have data within a spreadsheet, but later you find that you need to share the data with other members of your team. SharePoint can import data from an Excel spreadsheet into a SharePoint list. Those users who have appropriate permissions may read the SharePoint list, whereas others may even revise the list or enter additional data. You can choose to import all the data held on a worksheet, in a range of cells, in a named range, or in an Excel table.
In the following exercise, you will use your browser to create a SharePoint custom list that contains data imported from an Excel spreadsheet.
Set Up
This exercise uses the Furniture_Price.xlsx file in the Chapter12 practice folder. Open the SharePoint site where you would like to import data from the Excel spreadsheet. Remember to use your SharePoint site location in place of http://wideworldimporters in the exercises.
Important
Verify that you have sufficient rights to add an app. If in doubt, see Appendix A.
On the Settings menu, click Add an app. Then in the Find an app box, type excel and press Enter.
Click Import Spreadsheet, and then on the New page, in the Name box, type FurniturePrice.
In the Description box, type This list contains the furniture items in stock together with their unit prices.
Click Browse.
In the Choose File to Upload dialog box, go to the Chapter12 practice folder and double-click Furniture_Price.xlsx.
On the New page, click Import.
Excel 2013 opens Furniture_Price.xlsx and displays the Import to Windows SharePoint Services list dialog box.
From the Range Type list, check that Table Range is selected, and then in the Selected Range list, select Stock!FurniturePriceTable.
Click Import to create the FurniturePrice list and to display it in the browser.
To change the title of the list, click the List tab, and then in the Settings group, click List Settings.
Under General Settings, click List name, description and navigation.
On the General Settings page, in the Name box, type a user-friendly name, such as Furniture Price.
In the Navigation section, click the Yes option to display this list on the Quick Launch.
Click Save at the bottom of the webpage, and then on the breadcrumb, click the Furniture Price to display the All Items view of the list.
Exporting a SharePoint list to an Excel spreadsheet
You can export the contents of SharePoint lists, the results of a survey, or document libraries to an Excel spreadsheet. In Excel, changes that you make to data in your Excel worksheet do not synchronize with the list on the SharePoint website; that is, only a one-way synchronization occurs from the SharePoint site to Excel. The exported list or library is connected to a web query, which when run, updates the spreadsheet with changes made to the original list on your SharePoint site. The Excel spreadsheet maintains this connection to the SharePoint list, and therefore becomes a linked object.
The export process exports only the columns and rows contained in the list’s current view. If none of the views contain the data that you want to export, then you must create a new view to meet your needs. Alternatively, you can choose one of the existing views, export the list to a spreadsheet, and then delete the unwanted data.
Tip
The columns in Excel retain the data types from the exported SharePoint list; they do not retain the formulas of a calculated column.
When you export a SharePoint library to an Excel spreadsheet, Excel represents the documents in the list with hyperlinks that point to the documents on the SharePoint site. Similarly, attachments on list items are replaced with a hyperlink. In the Excel spreadsheet, click this link to open the file.
Tip
You should make a habit of renaming your tables in Excel so that you recognize the data that they contain. This process helps make the formulas that summarize table data much easier to understand. To rename an Excel table, first ensure that the Design contextual tab is active, and then, in the Properties group, edit the value in the Table Name field.
In this exercise, you will export a list from a SharePoint site to an Excel 2013 spreadsheet. You will add data to the spreadsheet, and then synchronize the data in the spreadsheet with the contents of the list on the SharePoint site.
Set Up
In the browser, open the SharePoint site, if it is not already open, where you have a list whose contents you want to export to an Excel spreadsheet. This exercise uses the list that you created in the previous exercise.
Important
Verify that you have sufficient rights to edit items in the list. If in doubt, see Appendix A.
On the Quick Launch, click Furniture Price. Click the List tab, and then click Export to Excel in the Connect & Export group.
If you get a browser message asking whether you want to open or save owssvr.iqy, click Open.
Excel 2013 opens a new workbook that contains one worksheet, named owssvr. A Microsoft Excel Security Notice dialog box appears, warning you that data connections have been blocked.
Click Enable to display the results of the Excel query. Each column in Excel contains an AutoFilter arrow in the header row, and the Design contextual tab is active.
Click cell A10, type Antique, and then press Tab. Type Bi, and then press Tab so that IntelliSense completes the word Bianca for you.
Type wood, and then press Tab. Type 5, and then press Tab. Type 10, and then press Enter. Excel places a dollar sign ($) before the number 10.
On the Data tab, in the Connections group, click Refresh All.
The spreadsheet is updated with a copy of the data from the Furniture Price list on the SharePoint website. Your changes to data in the Excel spreadsheet are lost.
Click cell A2, and then, in the Connections group on the Data tab, click Properties to display the External Data Properties dialog box. You can use this dialog box to alter the behavior of the refreshed activity.
Click Cancel.
Exporting an Excel table to a SharePoint site
Creating a SharePoint list from within Excel is known as exporting an Excel table. Once the table data is placed on the SharePoint site, users can see the Excel data without opening Excel. As in the first exercise of this chapter, you can maintain a link between the SharePoint list and the Excel data, but any changes in the Excel spreadsheet are not reflected in the SharePoint list. You can only synchronize changes in the SharePoint list to the Excel spreadsheet.
The export to SharePoint process uses a two-step wizard. When you export an Excel table to SharePoint, Excel checks the data in each column to ensure that the data belongs to a data type supported by SharePoint. If it doesn’t, Excel usually applies the Text data type to each column. Excel also checks whether each column contains only one type of data. If a column contains a mixture of data types, such as numbers and text, then Excel chooses Text as the data type. Once Excel completes its check, the second step of the wizard appears, which identifies the data types that will be used to create the columns in SharePoint, and identifies cells that contain different data values than the rest of the cells in a column. Any formulas are also removed.
Once the export process is complete, the spreadsheet contains two extra columns, Item Type and Path. On the Design contextual tab, you can use commands in the External Table data group to alter the properties of a range of cells, open the connected SharePoint list in a browser, or unlink a list.
Important
When you export an Excel table to SharePoint, the new SharePoint list does not appear on the Quick Launch.
In the following exercise, you will export a spreadsheet to a SharePoint list.
Set Up
You will use the Sales_Figures.xlsx file, located in the Chapter12 practice folder. Start Excel 2013 before beginning this exercise, and then open the Sales_Figures.xlsx document.
Important
Verify that you have sufficient rights to edit items in the list. If in doubt, see Appendix A.
In Excel 2013, in the Protected View notification area, click Enable Editing, if displayed, and then click any cell within the data. If you are using an Excel spreadsheet other than the practice file, and the data that you want to export is already found within an Excel 2010 table, skip to step 4.
On the Home tab, in the Styles group, click Format as Table, and then select a table style.
Tip
By selecting one cell in the data, Excel automatically selects a range of cells that contain data; however, you can select a different range of cells to use when creating a table. In addition, if your data does not contain headers, Excel creates them for you and labels them as Column1, Column2, and so on.
When the Format As Table dialog box appears, click OK.
The data is converted into a table and the Design tab on the Table Tools tab set appears.
On the Design tab, in the External Table Data group, click Export, and then, from the drop-down list, click Export Table to SharePoint List.
Note
TROUBLESHOOTING If the table is not active on the worksheet, the Design tab disappears. To export a table, it must be active on the worksheet. To make a table active, click any cell in the table.
The first step of the two-step Export Table to SharePoint List wizard appears.
In the Address box, type the name of the site where you want to export the data, such as http://wideworldimporters.
Select the Create a read-only connection to the new SharePoint list check box.
Important
If the Create a read-only connection to the new SharePoint list check box is selected, the spreadsheet is linked to the SharePoint list and you can synchronize updates from the SharePoint list to the spreadsheet. However, once the SharePoint list is created, you cannot link the spreadsheet to the SharePoint list. Therefore, if you wish to synchronize updates between the list and the spreadsheet, be sure to select this check box now.
In the Name box, type SalesFigures, and in the Description box, type This list contains furniture sales for this year.
Click Next to display the second step of the wizard.
In the Key Cell column, notice that cell $C$4 in the Q2 column contains a different data type from the rest of the cells in that column. Also, the formulas are removed from the Total column. If you have the region and language format (also known as the date, time, or number format) of your operating system set to English (United States), then columns Q1, Q3, Q4, and Total have a data type of Currency; otherwise, they will have a data type of Number.
Tip
At this point, you can click Cancel, correct the erroneous data, and then restart the export process. Also, because Excel removes formulas during the export process, you may consider deleting the Total column and creating a calculated column once you have completed the export process and the data is on your SharePoint site.
Click Finish. A Microsoft SharePoint Foundation dialog box appears with the URL of your new SharePoint list.
Click the URL of your new SharePoint list. A new browser window opens, displaying the new SharePoint list.
Building an Access app
SharePoint Server 2013 provides the following two methods of building end-to-end web-based business solutions. Both require the purchase of SharePoint Server Enterprise Client Access Licenses (CALs).
Access web database These cannot be created using Access 2013. You can still view and edit a previously created web database by using Access 2010 and SharePoint Server 2010, and you can republish it to SharePoint Server 2013 using Access 2010. Web databases are exposed as a SharePoint site. Data held in Access tables is moved to SharePoint lists, and forms and reports are created as webpages. You cannot automatically convert a web database to an Access web app; however, you can manually convert a web database to an Access web app by importing the data from the web database into a new Access app, and then re-create the user interface and business logic.
Note
SEE ALSO An Office visual instruction on creating web databases with Access 2010 and Access Services can be found at msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff402351(office.14).aspx.
Access apps These apps are SharePoint apps, which can be deployed to the SharePoint Store. You use the browser to view and edit data, and you use Access 2013 to design the Access app. Data and Access objects for each Access app is saved in its own Microsoft SQL Server 2012 database; it is not saved in SharePoint lists. This SQL-integrated approach improves the performance, manageability, and scalability of the business solution. Also, this makes it possible for SQL Server developers to extend the solution by directly connecting to the tables in the database, including building reports with Desktop Access Reports, Excel, and Power View.
Note
SEE ALSO An example of how to visualize your Access app data in Excel can be found at blogs.office.com/b/microsoft-access/archive/2013/01/22/visualize-access-data-in-excel.aspx.
However, as the data is not stored in SharePoint, some functionality is lost when compared to creating a SharePoint integrated forms solution by using Microsoft InfoPath 2013 Designer. For example, you cannot create or initiate a SharePoint workflow on data in Access apps, nor can you have unique permissions at the table or row level. Also, the data stored inside the Access app is not indexed by the SharePoint search engine. The rest of this section describes the creation of Access apps.
Access 2013 includes a set of templates that can be used to jump-start the creation of Access apps. Any template with a global icon and that does not contain the word desktop can be used to create an Access app. These templates include Custom web app, Asset tracking, Contacts, Issue tracking, Project management, and Task management.
The Asset tracking, Contacts, Issue tracking, Project management, and Task management templates are not available when you first install Access. They are available when you are connected to the Internet. When you choose one of these templates, you are provided a preview of the home webpage, a description, and the download size of the template.
Your Access app can contain tables, views (known as forms), queries, and data macros. When you create an Access app based on the Custom Web App template, it contains no tables, views, queries, or data macros; and when the Access app appears in the browser, the webpage displays a link to open the app within Access so that you can start adding tables.
Note
You can create an Access app by using the Your Apps page, which appears when you click Add an app from the Settings gear icon in the browser. This creates an Access app using the Custom Web App template.
The Access app templates available for download over the Internet are summarized in Table 12-1.
Template name | Description | Tables | Views |
Track equipment used by your business and assigned to employees. | Assets, Categories, Employees | List, Datasheet, By Category, By Group | |
Manage individual and corporate relationships. | Contacts | List, Datasheet, By Group | |
Record issues related to your business, associate them with customers, and assign them to employees | Issues, Customers, Employees, Issue Comments, Related Issues | List, Datasheet, By Status, By Group | |
Manage projects by breaking work items into tasks, associating them with customer, and assigning them to employees. | Projects, Employees, Customers, Tasks | List, Datasheet, By Status, By Group |
The name of the SQL Server 2012 database that is created when you add an Access app to your site can be found when you open the Access app in Access and click the File tab to display the backstage Info page. The database name will be of the format db_guid, where guid is an automatically generated number. The name of the site where the Access app was added appears in the title of the Access window.
The tables, views, queries, and macros are all stored in the database. Whenever you enter data or modify the design of the Access app, you are interacting with the database; however, the user interface gives no indication of this.
Although the server name and database name is of little interest to you, it is important to advanced users who wish to directly connect to the database. You can control external connections to your Access app database by using the Manage split button at the bottom of the backstage Info page. The default configuration of the Access app database is not to allow any external connections. Another group of interested users is your IT department, who may wish to schedule operational procedures, such as backup and maintenance on the database.
Tip
You can make your own backups of the Access app database by creating an App Package file, and restoring the Access app by using the app package on any SharePoint 2013 site. More information on how to complete such a task is documented at blogs.office.com/b/microsoft-access/archive/2012/09/27/moving-and-backing-up-your-access-2013-web-apps.aspx.
Whichever template you use, when an Access app is created, it inherits the permissions and branding from the site where the app was added. You cannot change the permissions or branding within the Access app. Users who design the Access app using Access must be mapped to the Full Control permission level at the site where the app was added. Users who use the browser to run the Access app must be mapped to either the Read or Contribute permission level, depending whether you wish them to just view the data or want them to create, update, and delete the data.
In this exercise, you will create an app from a template.
Set Up
Start Access 2013. Remember to use your SharePoint site location in place of http://wideworldimporters in the following exercise.
Important
Verify that you have sufficient rights to add an app. If in doubt, see Appendix A.
In the middle pane, click Custom web app.
In the Custom web app dialog, in the App Name text box, type EquipmentTracking, and then in the Web Location text box, type the URL of the SharePoint site where you want to add the Access app, such as http://wideworldimporters.
Click Create to create the app and to display the app in Access.
Creating a table in an Access app
With an Access app, you use the browser to add, edit, view, and delete data, and you use Access 2013 to design the Access app. This means that Access 2013 is used to create and customize tables, views, queries, and macros.
Each Access table is created as a SQL Server table, which has the same name that it was given in Access, as are the fields (columns) you create in the Access. Access data types are mapped to SQL Server database data types. For example, text fields map to nvarchar; number fields use decimal, int, or float; and image fields are stored as varbinary (MAX). However, in many instances, you will not need to create tables and add fields to those tables, because Access provides a number of table templates (nouns), which you can use as a basis for your new tables.
When you select a table template, other related tables may be added to the Access app; for example, when you add the Assets table, the Categories table is added, which allows you to group and organize your assets. The Orders template provides an Orders table, as well as tables to track related Customers, Employees, Products, Suppliers, and Categories.
You can also create linked tables; for example, you can connect to and display real-time data from SharePoint lists, including external lists.
For each table, two views are automatically generated: List and Datasheet. Each can be likened to the views on SharePoint internal lists and libraries. These are the pages in the browser that users see when they go to the Access app, and use to interact with the data. There are two other types of views, Summary and Blank views, which you can use to develop custom views. The Summary view allows you to group data rows based on a value in a column or, alternatively, calculate a sum or an average of a column.
The Datasheet view in the browser is similar to the Quick Edit view you use on lists and libraries. If your users find that they extensively use the same filters, sorts, or column hiding, you may consider creating queries for the Access app. Queries can combine related tables, perform calculations and summaries, and automatically apply changes. Queries in the Access app are created as SQL Server views or as a table-valued function (TVF), if the query has parameters.
To automate common tasks, you can create macros. A macro is a miniature program that you create and store in an Access app. Access apps do not support the Visual Basic (VB) programming language. There are two types of macros:
User interface macros, which perform actions, such as navigating to another view, or showing or hiding controls. They can be attached to command buttons or combo boxes.
Data macros, which are created by selecting Data Macros from the Advanced split button in the Create group on the Home tab. These macros are used to implement business rules at the data level, and therefore can be used to create, edit, and delete records.
To create views, macros, and queries, use the Advanced split button in the Create group on the Home tab within Access.
In this exercise, you will create a table in an Access app.
Set Up
Start Access 2013 and open the Equipment Tracking Access app that you created in the previous exercise, if it is not already open. You can use your own Access app if you wish.
Important
Verify that that the user ID you are using is mapped to the Full Control permission level in the site where the Access app was added.
On the Add Tables screen, under Create a new table using our templates, type equipment, and then click the search icon to the right of the text box to search through the list of table templates.
Click Assets to create the Assets, Categories, and Employees tables.
In the left navigation pane, click Assets to display the design view of the home page of the Access app.
Working with an Access app in the browser
Once you have designed the Access app in Access, it can be used in the browser to create, read, update, and delete the data associated with your app. Users mapped to the Contribute permission level on the site where the app was added can complete these tasks; these users will not need to have Access installed on their computers to work with the data.
In the browser, the Access app page is divided into a number of sections. Depending on the view and the relationship between the tables, not all of these sections will be shown in all views:
Table list Each table is presented by a link in the table list. Using Access, you can rearrange the order that the tables appear, and hide those tables that you do not want to be displayed in the browser.
View selector Lets you select a specific view of items stored in a table.
Search and filter text box Lets you search and filter the items displayed in the view.
Action Bar Lets you add, delete, edit, save, and cancel changes. The Action Bar is the same in each view. You can customize the Action Bar in Access by replacing the five default commands with custom commands. You can even hide it, if you prefer.
Item pane Lets you browse the items displayed in the view. For each item, up to three properties can be displayed. In the list view of the Employees table, the primary field is the First Name and Last Name, and the secondary field is the Company. No property is assigned to the thumbnail field.
Item Detailed pane Lets you view, create, modify, and delete the properties of an item.
Related items Displays items from other tables that are related to the item displayed in the Item Detailed pane.
When the Back to Site link in the top left of the page is clicked, the home page of the site where you added the Access app is displayed. Click the cog icon in the top right of the page to customize the app in Access.
To display the Access app within Access, on the Home tab, click Launch App, or you can use the browser by going to the Site Content page and clicking the app. In the browser, if the background color of the Access app is not solid red, but the text below the name of the app—We’re adding your app—is red, then SharePoint is still creating the Access app.
You can use the following keyboard shortcut keys when working with the Access app in the browser:
Action | Keyboard shortcut |
Browse between the table list, view selector, filter/search text box, Action Bar, and controls in the data pane. | Tab, Shift+Tab, or Arrow keys |
Create a new item. | Ctrl+N |
Delete an item. | Delete |
Edit an item. | Ctrl+E |
Save an item. | Ctrl+S |
Cancel an action. | Escape |
Edit a filter. | / |
Close a dialog. | Escape |
In this exercise, you will add data to an Access app using the List and Datasheet views.
Set Up
Start Access 2013 and open the Equipment Tracking Access app that you created in the previous exercise, if it is not already open. You can use your own Access app if you wish.
Important
Verify that you have sufficient rights to edit data in the app. If in doubt, see Appendix A.
On the Home tab, in the View group, click Launch App to open the app in the browser.
In the table list, click Employees, and create a new employee item using the values in the following list:
Label
Value
Employee Number
I0001
First Name
Peter
Last Name
Connelly
Company
Wide World Importers
Email
Job Title
IT Director
In the table list, click Categories, and then click Datasheet in the view selector.
Under Title, type Desktop, and then press Enter to go to the next row.
Repeat the previous step to create two other categories: Tablet and Smartphone.
In the table list, click Assets and create two new asset items using the values in the following table. To save each item, click the Save control on the Action Bar, and click the Add control on the Action Bar to display the form to add the second item.
Label
Asset 1
Asset 2
Item
Computer
Phone
Location
HQ
London Branch
Manufacturer
Contoso
Adventure Works
Model
C0369
A0123
Acquired Date (use the data picker)
Today’s date
Today’s date
Current Value
400
300
Condition
Good
New
Category
Desktop
Smartphone
Owned By
Peter Connelly
Peter Connelly
With Assets still selected in the table list, in the view selector, click By Category to summarize the assets by category.
Under Item, click Computer to display a dialog to view all the properties associated with the computer asset.
Exporting data from an Access desktop database to a list
Traditionally, Access uses database objects to manipulate and display data, tables, reports, and queries, where the Access database is stored on a file system or in a SharePoint library and requires the use of Access on the computer. When you create such a database with Access 2013, the same file format that was used with Microsoft Office Access 2007 or Access 2010 is created—an .accdb file; these files are known as a desktop database.
Note
SEE ALSO More information on changes in Access 2013 can be found at technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc178954.aspx.
Access consists of a number of tabs, many of which provide a quick way to work with SharePoint websites and lists, as summarized in the following table.
In the following table, note that “External Data” in column 1 goes with both row 2 and row 3, that is, “External Data” applies to both “Import & Link” in column 2 and “Export” in column 2.
Tab | Group | Description |
External Data | Import & Link | Use the More drop-down list to import from or link to data on a SharePoint list. |
Export | Use the More drop-down list to export the selected object as a SharePoint list. | |
Move Data | Use to move your tables to a SharePoint list and create links to those tables in your database. |
Access allows you to export a table or other database objects to a number of formats, such as an external file, an Excel workbook, a text file, a PDF or XPS file, email, an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document, an Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) data source, or a Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) document. You can also export a table to a SharePoint site, where a new list is created.
Tip
Access 2013 does not support linking, importing, or exporting using the Installable Indexed Sequential Access Method (ISAM) for Lotus 1-2-3, Paradox, Microsoft Jet 3.x, or Microsoft Jet 2.x. This means that you can no longer open a Microsoft Office Access 97 database in Access 2013. You’ll need to upgrade the file using either Access 2010 or Access 2007, and save it in the .accdb file format, which can then be used in Access 2013. More information on discontinued features and modified functionality in Access 2013 can be found at office.microsoft.com/en-us/access-help/discontinued-features-and-modified-functionality-in-access-2013-HA102749226.aspx.
To export the data to a SharePoint list, you use a wizard that builds an export query, which Access uses to query the Access table for data, and it then copies the data to the SharePoint list. You can save the export query, which you can do without using the wizard. Your saved exports can be found under the External Data tab in the Export group. Similarly, you can save your export as a Microsoft Office Outlook task, which you can then configure to remind you to run the export query.
When a SharePoint list is created from an Access table, the list does not automatically appear on the Quick Launch. To create a link to the list on the Quick Launch, you need to go to the General Settings page by clicking List name, description and navigation on the list’s Settings page.
In the following exercise, you will export a table from within an Access 2013 desktop database into a SharePoint site by creating a new SharePoint list, and then save the export query.
Set Up
This exercise uses the ExpImpWideWorldImporters.accdb Access database file, located in the Chapter12 practice folder; you could use any Access database that contains data in a table. Start Access 2013 and open the ExpImpWideWorldImporters.accdb database. Remember to use your SharePoint site location in place of http://wideworldimporters in the following exercise.
Important
Verify that you have sufficient rights to create a list. If in doubt, see Appendix A.
Under Tables, click FurniturePrices, if it is not already selected, and then, on the Access ribbon, click the External Data tab. In the Export group, click More, and then click SharePoint List.
In the Export - SharePoint Site dialog box, in the Specify a SharePoint site area, select the site where you want to export the table, or type the URL in the text box; for example http://wideworldimporters.
In the Specify a name for the new list box, type exportFurniturePrices.
Click OK to export the data and display the newly created list, exportFurniturePrices.
Return to the Save Export Steps page of the Export - SharePoint Site dialog box in Access.
Select the Save export steps check box to display the Save As and Description text boxes, as well as the Create an Outlook Task areas.
Click Save Export to close the Export - SharePoint Site dialog box.
Importing a list
By using Access, you can create a new table in either an Access app or an Access desktop database by importing data from an external data source, such as an Excel workbook, an ODBC data source, or a SharePoint website. The new table becomes an integral part of your database, and the data is not affected by subsequent changes made to the data source after it is imported.
When you import data from a SharePoint list, the imported data is based on a view, and only those columns and rows shown in the view are imported. The Get External Data wizard lets you select the required view from the Items To Import drop-down list.
Once the table is created and the data imported from the list into the table, you can edit the data in the table. Such changes will not be reflected back in the list on the SharePoint website.
Important
Changes to the SharePoint list are not copied to the Access table, nor are changes to the Access table reflected in the SharePoint list. A linked object is not created as part of this process.
In this exercise, you will import data from a SharePoint list.
Set Up
In this exercise, you will use the ExpImpWideWorldImporters.accdb file, located in the Chapter12 practice file folder. Start Access 2013 and open the ExpImpWideWorldImporters.accdb database that you used in the previous exercise. You can use your own list, if you want. Remember to use your SharePoint site location in place of http://wideworldimporters in the following exercise.
Important
Verify that you have sufficient rights to read list items. If in doubt, see Appendix A.
On the Access ribbon, click the External Data tab. In the Import & Link group, click More, and then click SharePoint List to display the Get External Data - SharePoint Site dialog box.
In the Specify a SharePoint site area, select the site that contains the list with the data that you want to import into the database.
Select the Import the source data into a new table in the current database option.
Click Next to display the Import data from list page of the Get External Data - SharePoint Site dialog box.
Select the check box to the left of the list from which you want to import the data, such as exportFurniturePrices.
Click OK, and then click Close.
Under Tables, in the Access navigation pane, double-click exportFurniturePrices to open the exportFurniturePrices table in Datasheet view.
Linking to a list
Data was copied in the previous section so that the same data could be stored in both a list on a SharePoint site and either an Access app or an Access desktop database. If you do not want to maintain two copies of that data, but you do need to refer to the data within the Access app or an Access desktop database, then Access provides methods of accessing external data that are physically located outside an Access database, known as linked tables, which were known as attached tables prior to Access 95.
Tip
When using linked tables to reference a SharePoint list in an Access app, Access 2013 currently only supports read-only connections to SharePoint lists. Also, the list must be in the site where the Access app was added.
The easiest way to reference a SharePoint list externally is to use linked tables. You should use linking rather than importing if the data is maintained by either a user or a separate application on the SharePoint website. Also, to set up a connection to a list, the user who creates the linked table must have Change permissions rights to the list.
With a desktop database, the data from the linked tables is cached in local tables when the user is online with SharePoint, thereby improving large list performance. When server connectivity is lost, the database automatically goes into offline mode. When connectivity is restored, Access automatically synchronizes data changes for you. Text in the far right of the status bar at the bottom of the Access window indicates the connectivity status of Access with SharePoint.
With an Access app, the data is not displayed in Access; it is displayed in the browser and data is directly accessed from the tables in the app’s database.
Tip
External content types can be used to reveal external data in Office 2013 and Microsoft Office 2010 applications, including Access 2013 and Outlook 2013. Information on how to create External content types and how to use them in Access 2013 can be found in Chapter 22, “Working with external content,” in Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Inside Out, by Darvish Shadravan, Penelope Coventry, Thomas Resing, and Christina Wheeler (Microsoft Press, 2013).
In this exercise, you will link a table to a SharePoint list, enter data in Access, and check that the data appears in the list.
Set Up
Start Access 2013 and open the ExpImpWideWorldImporters.accdb database that you used in the previous exercise, if it is not already open. You can use your own Access database if you wish. Remember to use your SharePoint site location in place of http://wideworldimporters in the following exercise.
Important
Verify that you have sufficient rights to edit items in the list. If in doubt, see Appendix A.
On the Access ribbon, click the External Data tab. In the Import & Link group, click More, and then click SharePoint List. If an Access dialog box opens, stating that all objects must be closed prior to continuing this operation, click Yes to close the objects.
On the Get External Data - SharePoint Site dialog box, in the Specify a SharePoint site area, select the site that contains the list to which you wish to link.
Check that the Link to the data source by creating a linked table option is selected, and then click Next.
On the Choose the SharePoint lists you want to link to page, select the check box to the left of the list to which you wish to link, such as exportFurniturePrices.
Click OK.
Under Tables, right-click the linked exportFurniturePrices1 table, and then select More options.
Click Open Default View to display the exportFurniturePrices list in the browser.
Switch back to Access. Under Tables, double-click exportFurniturePrices1 to open the linked table in Datasheet view, and then click the cell in the first row under the Furniture Name column, and type Base Unit.
Click the cell in the second row under the Furniture Name column.
Switch back to the browser, click Refresh, and then verify that the first row has been modified.
On the ribbon, click the Items tab, and then click New Item in the New group.
In the StockNo text box, type W0033, and then click Save to add the W0033 list item to the list.
Switch back to Access. On the Home tab, in the Records group, click Refresh All.
Moving data from a desktop database to a list
Many Access applications grow from the need to manage and aggregate data. These data-centric applications often prove useful to more than one person in an organization, and thus the need to share them increases. However, Access is not truly meant for concurrent use. As Access desktop database applications grow and become more complex, it is necessary to consider upsizing them to a data repository that can support more users while increasing availability, reliability, and manageability. Beginning with Access 2000, various tools and wizards have helped with this process. Starting with Access 2007, you can upsize your Access desktop database to SharePoint, which is known as moving your Access database.
When you move data from an Access desktop database to a SharePoint site, this process creates a SharePoint list for each Access table. Data from Access tables is moved into these SharePoint lists, and each data row becomes a list item in a SharePoint list. Tables in the desktop database are replaced with linked tables that point to the newly created SharePoint list or lists. The Access database now becomes a user interface to the data by retaining views, reports, and relationships between tables.
Tip
Unlike in Access 2007, saving the Access database in a SharePoint library cannot be completed as part of the move process. When an Access database is saved to a SharePoint list, and users open the database in Access to make design changes, the last person who uploads the changed database back to the SharePoint library overwrites changes by other users. Therefore, use the checkout and check-in functionalities of SharePoint libraries when making database design changes.
Because the data is now in SharePoint, you can use SharePoint functionality. For example, you can restore deleted list items from the Recycle Bin and apply workflow rules to data items. If you choose to save the desktop database in the library, users who want to use the desktop database can go to the library in a browser, where the desktop database can be opened in Access.
Prior to Access 2007, multiple users kept their own copies of an Access database and amended it separately, often not viewing others’ amendments until they were included in official documents, and the need to amalgamate the changes was recognized. To allow users to keep their own copy of a database, a business process would need to be introduced to maintain the data integrity of the database and distribute updates to the appropriate users. By using the process outlined here, users can add and modify data by using either SharePoint or the linked tables within the Access database. New views, data relationships, and reports maintained in the desktop database file can be managed as any other document when saved in SharePoint, including check-in and checkout facilities. Security on the data and the desktop database can be maintained using SharePoint security. To take advantage of these features, you must move your data from your desktop database to SharePoint.
Note
SEE ALSO More information on developing Access hybrid applications can be found at blogs.msdn.com/b/access/archive/2010/07/20/the-access-show-developing-access-2010-hybrid-apps-with-dick-moffat.aspx. Although this example uses Access 2010 and SharePoint 2010, it is still relevant to Access 2013 and SharePoint 2013.
In the following exercise, you will move data from within an Access desktop database to a SharePoint site, and then save the desktop database in a library.
Set Up
This exercise uses the MoveWideWorldImporters.accdb file, located in the Chapter12 practice file folder. Start Access 2013 and open the MoveWideWorldImporters.accdb database. Remember to use your SharePoint site location in place of http://wideworldimporters in the following exercise.
Important
Verify that you have sufficient rights to create lists. If in doubt, see Appendix A.
On the Access ribbon, click the Database Tools tab. In the Move Data group, click SharePoint to display the Export Tables to SharePoint Wizard.
In the What SharePoint site do you want to use? text box, type the name of your SharePoint site, such as http://wideworldimporters.
Click Next to start the move operation.
When the message stating that “Your tables have been successfully shared” appears, select the Show Details check box to check which lists were created and the name of the database backup.
Click Finish, and then click File to display the backstage view of Access.
In the left navigation pane, click Save As. Under File Types, verify that Save Database as is selected, and then in the right pane, in the Advanced section, select SharePoint.
Click Save As.
In the Save to SharePoint dialog box, in the File name box, type the URL of the SharePoint site that contains the library where you wish to save your desktop database, such as http://wideworldimporters, and then press Enter to display the libraries of the SharePoint site.
Double-click Documents, and then click Save to complete the save process.
Working offline
In the previous section, you moved data from an Access desktop database to a SharePoint site, and you created linked tables pointing to a SharePoint list where the list items can be viewed and updated using Access. In these tables, the data is stored outside Access. However, you might still like to access the data in a disconnected environment. When using Access 2007, Access 2010, or Access 2013, you are able to cache SharePoint list data locally in an offline mode. The data that is held locally is not independent of the data in the SharePoint list. You may synchronize changes back to the SharePoint site any time that you want.
To switch from working online to offline, on the External Data tab, click Work Offline—the first command in the Web Linked Lists group. The command changes to Work Online and the previously inactive Synchronize and Discard Changes commands are enabled. All data is cached within the desktop database, and links to the SharePoint lists are cut temporarily. However, Access behaves much as it did online. The only indication that it is offline is the Access status bar at the bottom of the Access window, which reads OFFLINE WITH SHAREPOINT.
In Access, when you are online with a SharePoint website and you modify data within a row in a table, moving out of the row causes Access to synchronize changes. However, when you are working offline, a dimmed pencil icon in the first column of the row that you have amended indicates that you have made changes to the row and synchronization has not occurred.
Important
If you provide a copy of an offline Access database, the data in the database will be visible to users who may not have permissions to view the data on the SharePoint site. This could be a security risk.
In this exercise, you will explore synchronizing data with a table linked to a SharePoint list when working offline. This exercise uses the linked tables that were created during the move operation in the previous exercise. You can use your own tables that are linked to a SharePoint list, if you want.
Set Up
Start Access 2013 and open the MoveWideWorldImporters.accdb database that you saved in the Shared Documents library in the previous exercise.
Important
Verify that you have sufficient rights to edit items in the lists linked to the Access tables. If in doubt, see Appendix A.
Under the Supporting Objects group, click the double down arrow, and then right-click Opportunities. Select More Options, and then click Open Default View to open the Opportunities list in browser, so that you can verify changes to the list later in the exercise.
Switch back to Access. On the Access ribbon, click the External Data tab, and in the Web Linked Lists group, click Work Offline.
Under the Supporting Objects group, double-click Opportunities to display the contents of the table in Datasheet view.
Click the cell in the first row under the Title column, and then type Bianca Corner Unit. Click a cell in the second row.
Switch back to the browser. Click Refresh, and then verify that the first row has not been modified.
In the browser, click the cell in the first row under Title, type Woodland Bench, and then click a cell in the second row.
Switch back to Access. On the External Data tab, in the Web Linked Lists group, click Synchronize to force Access to temporarily connect to the SharePoint list to synchronize changes.
In the Resolve Conflicts dialog box, click Discard My Changes.
Under Supporting Objects, double-click Opportunities to open the table in Datasheet view, and verify that the Title column of the first row contains the text Woodland Bench.
In the Datasheet view of the Opportunities table, click the cell in the first row under the Title column and type Bianca Corner Unit. Click a cell in the second row.
On the External Data tab, in the Web Linked Lists group, click Work Online.
Switch back to the browser. Click Refresh, and then verify that the first row contains the text Bianca Corner Unit.
On the ribbon, on the List tab, in the Manage Views group, click Create Column.
In the Column name box, type Advertisement and select the Yes/No option. Click OK.
Switch back to Access. Under Supporting Objects, right-click Opportunities, click More options, and then click Refresh List.
Open the Opportunities table, if necessary, and check that the Advertisement column is visible.
Key points
You can create a custom list from the browser by importing data from an Excel spreadsheet.
You can create an Excel spreadsheet from the browser and export data into it from a SharePoint list.
From within Excel, you can export data from an Excel table into a newly created SharePoint list.
You can synchronize changes between a SharePoint list and an Excel spreadsheet. This is a one-way synchronization process.
Integration with SharePoint makes Access 2013 a great collaboration tool, while also permitting data to be stored on enterprise servers for better manageability.
In Access 2013, databases can be published to SharePoint Server 2013 as an Access web app, also known as an Access app, where data is stored in its own SQL Server 2012 database. The browser is used to view and edit data, and Access 2013 is used to design the Access app.
In Access 2010, databases can be published as an Access web database. These can only be created using Access 2010 and Access Services 2010.
Both Access apps and Access web database can only be used when SharePoint Server Enterprise Client Access Licenses (CALs) have been purchased. You can integrate Access desktop databases with any edition of SharePoint 2013.
When using an Access desktop database, you can export data from a table to SharePoint lists. Data in the Access table is not affected by subsequent changes made to the SharePoint list because there is no synchronization process between Access and a SharePoint site.
Using either an Access app or a desktop database, you can use linked tables. This lets you take advantage of SharePoint features such as workflow, security, and searching.
At the time that this book was written, data from a linked table in an Access app is read-only; however, in a desktop database, two-way synchronization is provided and you can maintain a cache to use when working offline.
You can move an Access desktop database to a SharePoint site. Data is moved into SharePoint lists, and if you want, you can save the desktop database in a library.