How to connect Microsoft Excel Online with SharePoint

This "how-to-connect" documentation will explain the initial configuration of an example connection from Microsoft Excel Online to a SharePoint Online List in Office 365. We will be synchronizing data stored in Microsoft Excel Online.

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.

Contents

1. Configuring Microsoft Excel Online

2. Configuring the Layer2 Cloud Connector

2.1 Creating a new connection

2.2 Configuring the Data Entity 1

2.3 Configuring the Data Entity 2

2.4 Running your connection

3. Hints and known issues

3.1 Connection direction

3.2 Data model

3.3 Pop-up

3.4 Backend service and authentication

1. Configuring Microsoft Excel Online

You do not need to configurate Microsoft Excel Online. After setting the workbook you want to access to, click on Preview Data to authorize the Layer2 Cloud Connector through the log in.

2. Configuring the Layer2 Cloud Connector

2.1. Creating 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 Excel Online 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 synchronisation finished successfully.

2.2. Configuring the 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 an overview when you decide to set up multiple connections.

Select the Data Provider for Microsoft Excel Online from the data provider list. You can search for Microsoft Excel Online by typing into the selection box.

For the Connection String, we need first the workbook id. Use this query to see all available workbooks and ids:

SELECT * FROM Workbooks

Copy the workbookId you want to connect to and the workbook name. 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.

InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;Workbook=01U3LZBBOHU2GKCEIMEJELSHBV2HD6VLAB;Header=true;	

• "InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH" this property creates a new token for the connection.
• "Workbook=workbookid;" this property defines which workbook you will be connected to.
• "Header=true;" this property defines that the table header will be ignored.

The Select Statement text box is used to define specific data queries. We will be gathering all data from our weeklyemployees sheet inside our Mappe file. The table name must be build this way "filename_sheetname". You can copy the below select statement and adjust it to match your needs. Save your changes by using the right-hand pane option Save Changes.

SELECT * FROM Mappe_weeklyemployees

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 Excel Online entity.

2.3. Configuring the 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 below 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. Microsoft_Modern is the default authentication method to access Microsoft Office 365 / SharePoint Online and should work in most cases, even if the SharePoint site is connected to an ADFS. This authentication does not need any further connection string settings, other than the URL of the connected system.

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. Save your changes by using the right-hand pane option Save Changes.

2.4. 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. 

Below is a data 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. See section 3.1 for further information.

3. Hints and known issues

3.1. Connection direction

As far as tested, this connection supports uni-directional as well as bi-directional synchronizations. 

After adjusting the direction to bi-directional, you should check your Mappings settings again because some systems might include read-only columns that cannot be mapped directly.

We also recommend choosing a Conflict Resolution that matches your environment's needs. You can find out more about the different conflict resolutions in our Layer2 Cloud Connector User Documentation.

3.2. Data model

To see all the tables and views you can access with the Microsoft Excel Online provider, use this queries in the Select Statement:

SELECT * FROM sys_tables

SELECT * FROM sys_views

If there are more tables or views available, you can load them with the option "load more" in the popup window.

3.3 Pop-up

When clicking on Preview Data, some browser versions are not supported. You can change the selected browser version for the Preview Data pop-up window adding or changing a specific registry key in Windows.

Open your registry editor and follow this path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION

Create a new DWORD (32bit) with the name mmc.exe and set the decimal value to 11001. Restart the Cloud Connector.

You can find more information about it here.

3.4 Backend service and authentication

The connection to this system uses a custom authentication. The provider needs the running account connected to the backend service from the Cloud Connector. 

Open services.msc and search for the Layer2 Cloud Connector Backend Service. Right-click on it and go to Properties. Set your account with the password in the tab Log On. Restart the service.

NOTE: if you update your Layer2 Cloud Connector, this step must be repeated.

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