The SharePoint Business Data List Connector is used to pull data into a SharePoint list (no Web Part) directly - possibly with background updates.
In the SharePoint BDLC list settings dialog you can enable or disable background updates only. There are no further settings about timer interval, next run etc. But how to manage these settings, if required?
Background updates in SharePoint BDLC are done, using a timer job. By default the timer job runs every 15 minutes to manage updates for each list every one hour. The timer job can be set to 10 min with SharePoint 2010. The shortest interval for BDLC is 15 min.
Remember: In the current version the SharePoint BDLC provides read-only connections to external data sources. If no primary keys(s) are given, all data is updated (deleted and re-inserted) in the list. If valid primary keys are given, modified data is updated only, including deleted and newly inserted data entries. So in case of valid primary keys, you can use workflow actions or change notifications.
The time, required for updating your list depends on
- configuration (hardware)
- external data source
- amount of changed / deleted / inserted data records
- # of columns.
Normally the updates should take a few seconds only. Fast batch update mode is used internally with API. See FAQs for sample statistics.
Warning: You have to consider this execution time, if choosing a smaller update interval carefully.
During installation of BDLC an additional list is created in the root site of the current site collection named
BDLC Configuration List
at
http://...//Lists/BDLCConfigurationList/AllItems.aspx.
You can read or write to this list with appropiate access rights on root site level only. Within this list, all BDLC connection settings are managed, including next runs and run intervals (in minutes) settings.
You can edit these items as usual with SharePoint lists. Please modify the fields for Next Run and / or Interval only. The minimum interval setting is 15 minutes, because the timer interval is 15 minutes by default.
Remark: You should modify interval settings for those BDLC entries only, that already have a list structure created successfully. Otherwise the results are undefined.