BDLC V3.4.3 (Current Release) - Fixes and Changes

• FIX:  Type conversion issue (error message) with big integer data source types
  such as Int64 or BigInt fixed.
• FIX: critical access rights issue while write-back fixed.
• FIX: Ribbon button for update on-demand was sometimes not shown correctly. Fixed now.
• FIX: Logging for SP2010 improved, Log level issue fixed
• FIX: Localization issue with float data type fixed.
  

BDLC V3.4.1 - Fixes and Changes

• Fix: There were issues when using the new SharePoint List Provider with the Mapping of both, Title and ID Columns. That is fixed with the current release.
• Fix: Update Menu / Button in Action Menu / Ribbon was not displayed with specific access rights setttings while users have full access to list. That is fixed with the current release.
• Fix: Write-back did not work and stopped with error when connection string is hidden in web.config with V3.4. That is fixed with the current release.
• Fix: Automatic feature activation of solution on installation did not work under some conditions. That is fixed with the current release.
• Fix: Background update timer job has changed ALL entries in BDLC Configuration List on each run with 3.4. Now certain entries are changed only, and only if there is a requirement for change.
• Fix: Background update ends with error: "The context has expired and can no longer be used. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80090317)". Under some conditions and security settings the current user token expires during execution of background job. That is fixed with the current release. Now a new token is created without any error.
• Fix: Person / Group fields in a SharePoint list could cause errors when using with write-back. That is fixed with the current release.
• New: Improved log messages during write-back and workflow start for better debugging.

BDLC V3.4 - New major release (Free for customers with SA)

• New: SharePoint-to-SharePoint connections are supported now with the new Layer2 SharePoint List Provider. Connections are read-only (no write-back supported). SharePoint 2007 is supported as data source as well as SharePoint 2010. See FAQs for more information and connection strings.
• New: It's possible to completely hide the ribbon button / action menu for manual updates, e.g. if background updates should be used only. This is provided as advanced setting in the BDLC Configuration List (Hide Update Button = True, default=false).
• New: Auto-Activate on installation. If a web application has not more than 10 Site Collections, the BDLC feature is automatically activated as site collection feature. MySites do not count.
• Change: Primary keys are case-sensitive now.
• Fix: Improved error messages on write-back.
• Fix: Ribbon button / action menu is hidden / deactivated if the user has no rights to update a list.
• Fix: Formatting of preview data was improved and errors fixed. 
• Fix: While executing timer jobs for background update, sometimes the following error message was thrown:  "The context has expired and can no longer be used". This is a well-known SharePoint issue. It was fixed now with a workaround in the BDLC code.
• Fix: While updating manually the following error message was thrown: "List update failed. One or more Field types are not installed propery(…)". This is fixed now.

BDLC V3.1.13 - Fixes and changes

• Fix: Access denied error in some configurations while using manual list update via ribbon button is fixed now.
• Change: If a date format is unspecified for any reason in SharePoint, now UTC is used. 

BDLC V3.1.12 - Changes

• Change: The "Layer2 SharePoint Provider" was removed from provider list. It will be back again in future versions - but now CSOM-based - to connect to all SharePoint 2010 servers, including Office 365 and any other sandboxed.

BDLC V3.1.11 - Fixes and changes  

• Fixed: Declarative Workflow does not run on insert with background update.
• Change: The "bdlcGuid" column for automatic generation of unique GUIDs on insert is not case sensitive anymore.

BDLC V3.1.10 - Fixes

• Fixed: Validation error while using multimple primary keys.
• Fixed: Processing errors while updating lists with multiple primary keys

BDLC V3.1.9 - Fixes

• Fixed: DateTime can be used as Primary Key now.
• Fixed: Write-back typecast issues in case of float / double values in SharePoint and DB with specific language settings.
• Fixed: Pulling data from text fields in data source mapped to person / group lookups in SharePoint now works correctly.
• Fixed: Pulling data from text fields in data source mapped to URL columns in SharePoint now works correctly.

BDLC V3.1.8 - Fixes

• Writeback issues in case of different data types solved. Data type mapping generally improved.

BDLC V3.1.7 - Fixes and modifications

• The previous shareware limitation of maximum 3 lists per site collection was removed.
• Writeback issue in case of bool / int combination of columns / fields solved.

BDLC V3.1.6 - (Internal version only)

BDLC V3.1.5 - New Features:

• There was an issue using unique identifiers with BDLC with write-back enabled. Now there is a new best-practice approach, how to use SharePoint as a database frontend and manage inserts using GUIDs as a primary key:
  
  1. Create a database field bdlcGuid (case-sensitive) as uniqueidentifier (for SQL Server) or String field for other systems as primary key or use this alias in the query for such a field.
  2. Create a SharePoint Column bdlcGuid (case-sensitive) as string field.
  3. Take care, that both fields are mapped. Check mapping for this.
  4. Set bdlcGuid as primary key in the BDLC Settings dialog 
  5. When new items are created on the SharePoint side, bdlcGUID is pre-set with a newly generated Guid automatically.
  6. When new items are created on the database side, GUIDs are also created in case of SQL Server. Please enter something similar manually in case of other systems.
  7. In this way SharePoint can be used for database data acquisition with BDLC.
  
  Please note, that the title column by default is set to the primary key value, if not mapped. We advice, to map the title column in the query to something more useful, e.g. an expression of important columns.
• Improved feature: In case of licensing issues advanced error messages are displayed in the BDLC configuration dialog.

BDLC V3.1.4 - Fix:

• Write-back database update operations failed in datasheet view for certain column / field types (e.g. float, datetime). That is fixed in 3.1.4. 

BDLC V3.1.3 - (internal, not released to public)

BDLC V3.1.2 - Fix:

• When SharePoint list item properties are modified by workflows (e.g. manually triggered) with write-back enabled, changes in mapped fields are written to the database immediately (update operation). But there was an issue, that delivered NULL instead of current values. This is fixed in 3.1.2. Now all mapped current properties (unchanged and changed) are correctly delivered to the database.

BDLC V3.1.1 - Fix:

• Blanks in database text fields (e.g. instead of NULL values or empty strings) have caused ongoing background updates because of an issue with the SharePoint batch import API.
  This is fixed in 3.1.1. Now these columns / fields are updated on data change only, as expected.

BDLC V3.1 - Changes, fixes and new features:

• New: There is an installer now for the SharePoint 2010 version too. No need for dealing with Powershell anymore. It can be used to savely install, upgrade and remove BDLC.
• New: There is an update button now in the toolbar for SharePoint 2010, similar to the update action in the action menu in MOSS 2007. For manual update on demand there is no need anymore to enter the BDLC settings dialog. Users must have create / update / delete rights for the list content. There is no need anymore to have the right to modify list settings.
• New: In the BDLC settings dialog, if no primary key is set, there is a warning now on save. Please keep in mind that without any primary key, items are completely deleted and re-inserted on each update! That might be no problem with small lists. But it is advised to set a primary key in any case, if possible. These "primary key" is related to a SharePoint column only, not to a database field. It has to be unique, but it must not be a native primary key in the database. For SharePoint 2010 you can set the "Unique" property for the column to ensure this.
• New: There is an API now also for update actions. Now all BDLC related features can be programmed using the API, e.g. list creation, connect to external database, configure BDLC Settings and start data update.
• New: There will be an additional product "Key Value Lookup Column" that allows native lookups to another list. For those type of lookups not the SharePoint Item ID is used (as in SharePoint OOB lookup column) but any pair of key / value columns in a SharePoint list.
  In this way complex database projects normalized with foreign keys can be moved completely to SharePoint without any loss of integrity. 
• Fix: There was an issue with starting declarative workflows (SPD and Visio - not VS-based) with background updates. The issue was originally causes by MOSS 2007 SP1. This is fixed in BDLC V3.1. Now all types of workflows start with manual and background update for changed items only in the same way for WSS, MOSS and SharePoint 2010. Please keep in mind that a primary key must be used in this case.
• Fix: There was an issue with ignored database inserts when entered in datasheet view. This is fixed in V3.1.
• Fix: Column / Field mapping: Database fields, that have similar names to SharePoint system columns (id, contenttypeid, contenttype, modified, created, author, editor, attachments, last_x0020_modified, created_x0020_date, uniqueid, guid) are now mapped and handled correctly. They will be created and mapped with the prefix "bdlc" in the SharePoint list. Please note, that you cannot update any SharePoint system column with database content.
• Fix: There was an issue with datetime fields (database) mapped to text columns (SharePoint). The content was found different in any case, so there where contignous updates. This is fixed in V3.1
• Fix: Writeback will be disabled now automatically, if no primary key is set.
• Change: Lookup columns / fields are now mapped and supported with BDLC. Lookup fields will be updated bi-directional and - if there is valid content in the respective database string field - the lookup field will work as expected for those type of fields.
• Change: Custom columns / fields are now supported with BDLC. The columns are mapped to database fields and the content is updated bi-directional.
• Change: Some error messages are changed. Please see resource files for more details and localization possibly required for non english / german systems.
• Change: BDLC Settings Page: Layout was changed.

BDLC V3.0 - Changes, fixes and new features:

• Write-back to data-source was introduced
• See more information here.

BDLC V2.0 - Changes, fixes and new features:

• BDLC lists are no longer of a special type. You cause al existing list types, e.g. contacts or custom list. The BDLC list type is kept for compatibility reasons.
• There is an Action Menu now to update BDLC lists.
• Usage of Access Rights was improved: If you update with action menu, "Add Item", "Delete Item", "Update Item" right is required only. To access the settings dialog, "manage Lists" rights are required. That could prevent users from acess to security relevant information like connection strings or select statemenets.
• The connection string can be stored in the web.config instead of the settings dialog for security reasons. If you define a term myConnectionString in your AppSettings section of web.config, you can use web.config:myConnectionString as BDLC connection string.
• You no longer have to use the prefix "bdlc" to create a field mapping to data source fields. Simply chose the same name for data source fields and Sharepoint list columns to map. Use the "Check Mapping" feature to verify that, because sometimes Sharepoint choses unexpected internal field names.
  But the prefix "bdlc" in internal field names is still supported for compatibility reasons.
• There is no "Create" button anymore, to completely re-create the list structure It is replaced by an "Add Columns" button. Any external data source fields, that are not in the SharePoint list, are added. You have to delete unused columns manually as usual in SharePoint, if no longer required.
• If list data is updated using the update button, a new warning dialogue is displayed. List data could be changed, with respect to your external data source. Take care, if you connect and update an existing SharePoint list the very first time. If, for example, the data source is empty - all SharePoint list items are deleted.
• There are some improvements with support of certain data types, e.g. float, yes/no, currency, lookup, text, note etc.
• Licensing issues in some certain configurations with V2.0.0 are solved in V2.01
• Until V2.01 all list items are deleted, while adding new columns in SharePoint to the BDLC list. That was changed in V2.02. Now no items are deleted while adding a new column to the BDLC list. The items can be updated after adding a new column to fill data into the newly added column.
• More details you will find here.

BDLC V1.6 - Changes, fixes and new features:

• Most special characters in field names are mapped automatically now, including öäüß.- etc.
• Field/Column mapping is no longer case sensitive, e.g. CustomerID is mapped to Customerid
• Mapping errors raises an errror message after creation of SharePoint list structure now, so that you can check field mappings and see, what's happened. 
• String fields are created as "Single line text" column in SharePoint with < 256 characters now and shortened if required by default. You have to modify the SharePoint list column type from "Single Line Text" to "Multiline  Text" to store strings that are longer as 255 characters. In this way SharePoint list features like filtering will work by default.
• The "All Items" view is modified by default to show the title column with edit link
• The Title column is filled with the primary key(s) by default, if not mapped otherwise.
• Update improvements in case of date / time fields
• Update improvements for float data type
• HTML content in fields is now transferred correctly to SharePoint
• BDLC based lists can now updated on demand per URL or page load without to go to the BDLC settings dialog
• In some cases empty columns are not correctly updated with non-empty external data in V1.6. This was fixed in V1.61.
• V1.62 was released to provide advanced error messages during import. The first error is reported more detailed now.
• In some cases update/insert errors occur, if list columns are deleted in SharePoint after first import. That was fixed in 1.63.
• More details see here.  

BDLC V1.5 - Changes, fixes and new features:

• BDLC list configuration dialog can't be accessed (Unspecific SharePoint error message). Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 is not installed. Please update your .NET Framework to current version. This is fixed in V1.5
• Please take care, if you have columns in your data source with special characters or spaces in column name, e.g. "tel nr" or "Straße". These columns are shown in preview and are correctly created in the SharePoint BDLC list. But they are not updated. This is fixed in V1.5
• If one update timer job ends with error for any reason, no other Jobs are executed.
  The job is set to locked in the configration list. This is fixed in V1.5