How to connect microsoft dataverse with sharepoint lists
This "how-to-connect" documentation will explain the initial configuration of an example connection from Microsoft Dataverse to a SharePoint Online List in Office 365.
This guide presupposes that you have installed the Layer2 Cloud Connector and that you are familiar with its basic functionality. The Layer2 Cloud Connector User Documentation will provide you with all necessary information.
Connect your Microsoft Dataverse step-by-step
Your learn how to configure your Microsoft Dataverse and how to configure Layer2 Cloud Connector. We provide you with practical hints and knwon issues for a smooth start.
Step 1 - getting the required information for Microsoft Dataverse
Find the table you want to synchronize in your PowerApps environment and note down the internal name (cr529_employee in the sample).
Go to Advanced settings to find the Url of your organization.
You can see in the image where you will find your Url.
Step 2 - create a new connection
Create a new connection by using the Create New Connection option in the Actions pane (right-hand side). The new connection will appear at the bottom of the Connection Manager List (left-hand side). Click on your newly created connection to open the connection configuration settings.
Choose a meaningful name for your connection and replace the current "New Connection" Connection Title with it.
Connections to Microsoft Dataverse can be bi-directional, an initial connection should always be uni-directional to assure that both data entities are identical before switching to bi-directional. Therefore, choose Left to Right as Direction. You can change this setting after your initial synchronization finished successfully.
Step 3 - configure Data Entity 1
We will now set up our Data Entities. Go to the data entity “Data Entity 1” to open the configuration settings.
Choose a Data Entity Title. It is recommended to give your entities meaningful names to maintain a good overview over the two entities.
Select the Data Provider for OData from the data provider list. You can search for OData by typing into the selection box.
For the Connection String, we need the in step 1 mentioned information. You can copy the below connection string and adjust it to match your gathered information. Use the Verify Connection String option to evaluate if the provided connection string is valid.
Click on “Refresh Authentication Token” sign in and confirm the consent dialog, if required.
Url=https://<yourOrganizationsUrl>/api/data/v9.1;Authentication=microsoft_modern_crm;collection=cr529_employees;
- "<yourOrganisationsUrl>" this fragment must be set to the copied organization URL from step 1
- "Authentication=microsoft_modern_crm;" this property defines the authentication method.
- “collection=cr529_employees” this property defines the table name as noted down in step 1 with an appended “s” to get the plural. You can omit the collection parameter here if you specify the table in the select statement.
SELECT * FROM cr529_employees
The Select Statement text box is used to define specific data queries. We will be gathering all data from our employees table if nothing. You can copy the below select statement and adjust it to match your needs. In case a collection is specified in the connection string, you do not need to specify a select statement. Save your changes by using the right-hand pane option Save Changes.
If different tables are specified in connection string and select statement, the table as specified in the select statement used.
To check if all necessary columns are received, you can use the Preview Data option on the right-hand pane which will provide you with a pop-up window showing your sample data from your Microsoft Dataverse entity.
Save your changes by using the right-hand pane option Save Changes.
Step 4 - configure Data Entity 2
We are going to send the data to a custom SharePoint Online list. It's required that you set up this list prior to the next steps. Your list should contain matching columns according to your source entity.
Use the left-hand pane to switch to the data entity "Data Entity 2".We will be using the Layer2 SharePoint Provider for this setup.
For more information about the SharePoint provider visit: https://www.layer2solutions.com/support/cloud-connector-faqs/layer2-csom-sharepoint-ado-net-provider.
You can copy the Connection String which contains the minimum of required properties to connect to your custom SharePoint Online list.
URL=https://your_custom_sharepoint_list_url/AllItems.aspx;Authentication=Microsoft_Modern
- "URL=https://your_custom_sharepoint_url/AllItems.aspx;" this property defines the URL of your custom list that will be addressed.
- "Authentication=Microsoft_Modern" this property will determine the authentication method used.
Click on “Refresh Authentication Token” sign in and confirm the consent dialog, if required. Save your changes by using the right-hand pane option Save Changes.
In the next step, we will configure our mapping settings. Click on the Mappings option on the left-hand pane. If your fields from SharePoint are named identical to the fields from your source system.
The Enable Auto Mapping option will match those columns. Disabling this option allows you to match your columns as needed manually. We enabled auto-mapping in our setup.
Save your changes by using the right-hand pane option Save Changes.
Step 5 - running your connection
To run your connection switch back to the main connection configuration node and use the Run Now Button located on the bottom of the setup page. The Run Synchronization Toolbox will also display the synchronization process.
Here you can see a preview of the information we have accessed in our source entity.
This will be the result in our SharePoint Online List after our initial successful synchronization.
If you want to use a bi-directional synchronization, you can now switch your connection direction after our first initial synchronization run finished successfully. After adjusting the direction, you should check your Mappings settings again because some systems might include read-only columns that cannot be mapped directly.
We also recommend to choose a Conflict Resolution that matches your environments needs. You can find out more about the different conflict resolutions in our Layer2 Cloud Connector User Documentation.
Hints and known issues
For more information about how to query your data see the OData system query options or some sample select statements here.
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