Office 365 Cloud Connector - Version History - Known Issues & Workarounds

Version 3.2.1 - Current Release

Fixes:

• "Missing operand after 'XXXX' operator" error occurs during synchronization, if a primary key of a data entity contains white spaces. Issue fixed.

New Features:

• A new file system provider is included now to sync local file system with SharePoint 2010 document libraries, on-premise and SharePoint Online / Office 365.
• A new RSS Provider now is included in product. It allows to aggregate RSS newsfeeds in native SharePoint lists or any other data entity (e.g. SQL). See sample connection file and FAQs for connection strings and options.
• A new API folder is provided with sample source code to help users to develop their own ADO providers for Cloud Connector.
• Auto mapped fields are now displayed in GUI to have more information about default field mapping.
• GUI synchronization messages can now be copied, to send to support.
• Additional FilenameFilter connection string parameter for the file system provider allows to filter files by using search patterns like "*.pdf"
• The file system provider offers an additional column which holds the file's path to map to some data destination for additional information about source.

Fixes:

• While writing against OData sources with protocol version 2.0 using Layer2.Odata.Provider, you have got "Request version '1.0' is not supported for the request payload. The only supported version is '2.0'. " This issue was fixed.
• Sometimes wrong execution time displayed in log entry. This issue was fixed.
• Delete/Update conflicts are now better detected and solved according to the configured conflict resolution on the connection level.

Known issues:

• Large files will not sync with Office 365 or SharePoint Online.  That will be fixed in further releases.
• The OData provider gets first page of data only from Microsoft CRM. That will be fixed in further releases.
• Multiple document versions can be generated during a single synchronisation (SharePoint on premise, SharePoint online) to fetch metadata. 

Version 3.1.3

Fixes:

• While saving global configuration changes 'Could not load file or assembly 'SmartAssembly.Attributes, Version=4.1.0.0. An exception was thrown and changes were not saved. This issue is fixed.
• An error occurred while executing connection 'XXX': Expecting 1 value(s) for the key being indexed, but received 0 value(s). An Exception was thrown while executing unidirectional connection when primary key of source entity is used in mapping. This issue is fixed.
• If no mappings are provided, empty list items are created. This issue is fixed. Empty mappings are not allowed in connections anymore.
• In GUI synchronization status messages about amount of changes not always were correct. This issue is fixed.
• Synchronization progress bar oscillates. This issue is fixed.
• When the firstDate connection attribute could not be parsed (mostly different locale issues), a format exception was thrown and the Cloud Connector MMC snap-in was not loaded. This issue is fixed. Connections with wrong datetime format added to the invalid connections list now. You can correct the connection file manually (e.g. remove attribute).
• Automatically mapped columns were not considered by the conflict resolution, e.g. winner / looser. This issue is fixed.
• Long log messages were truncated in GUI. This issue is fixed.

Version 3.1.2

• Initial synchronization with mapped key issue. Cannot find column 'xxx' issue fixed.
• Backward compatibility of metabase files after version upgrade implemented.

Changes:

• Removed auto mapping for editor related meta data columns, e.g. created, created by etc.
• The "Overwrite destination" feature was extended to work with auto generated primary keys.

Version 3.1.1

• A new parameter ‘Overwrite destination’ is added on connection level for unidirectional connections. If true it allows deletes and updates in the destination list of an unidirectional connection on initial synchronization. Default is false.
• Both reading and writing complex types are supported in OData provider now. This can be used e.g. with Microsoft CRM Online connections. See sample files and FAQs for more details how to manage.
• All sample connections start with the connection title and file name "Sample..." now.
• Small interface improvements in Connection Manager

• Initial synchronization issues in some certain cases are fixed.
• SharePoint document library synchronization is stable now.

Version 3.1

New features:

• Document library synchronization feature added. See new sample connection file for more details.
  Please note:
  
  - The primary key needs to be set for both data entities to the column name “FilePath”.
  - There must be two field mappings for the columns FilePath and FileContent.
  - This is an issue of version 3.1 and will be automatically set in future versions.
  
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM support using Odata feature added. See new sample connection file for more details.
• Sample connection files added to the setup for document library synchronization, and CRM Odata
• Encryption option for select statement, connection string, primary key, replication key added.
• Save configuration command added to the Global setting screen(log level and service start mode
• A new optional 'Scope' parameter added to the Layer2.SharePoint.Provider connection string.
  
  For scope value 'Recursive': it reads recursively all items in a SharePoint list with folders.
  Please note that no folders returned. All items are placed in a flat list.
  For scope value 'RecursiveAll': it reads  recursively all items in a SharePoint list including folders.
  Please note that folders are returned as items. All items are placed in a flat list.
• Form-based Authentication (FBA) now supported for SharePoint servers using Cookie Manager. Please use in connection string: Authentication=IECookie.
• Further usability and performance improvements

Bug fixes:

• Black window issue using the connection wizard with windows 7 theme activated is fixed.
• 32 bit compatibility improved.
• SharePoint client libraries merging issue (on GUI side) fixed.
• On merged version Cookie Manager does not show cookie's URL and expire date bug fixed.
• High memory consumption during synchronization on 'Trace' log level issue fixed.
• Mapped primary key issue fixed

Next Steps planned:

• Document library and file system replication.
• Dedicated providers for Microsoft Exchange and other web services
• If you have any detailed requirements, please send to sales@layer2.de.
  We will help you as soon as possible to meet your requirements.

Known issues:

• Calendar type of list is not supported because of CSOM issue with End Date. As a workaround custom lists can be used with calendar view to sync date / time-based information.
• There is a SharePoint limit for lookup fields using the default view allitems.aspx. As a workaround create your own view and connect, that works great.
• Attachments are not synced with lists.
• Folders are not fully supported with SharePoint lists. See above for scope option to workaround.
• Managed Metadata is not supported at this time.
• SharePoint metadata like created, last modified, user information is modified during sync.
• SharePoint lookups are not "translated" between different systems.
• SharePoint user or group fields are not "translated" between different systems.

Version 3.0

• Connection Manager comes with GUI now as Microsoft Management Console snapp-in. You can continue to edit the XML-based connection files, if required. We advise to use the new UI.
• Support for Open Data protocol, e.g. to more flexible access SAP, Dynamics CRM etc.

Version 2.3 - 2011-10-10

• Primary keys can be case sensitive now.
• In some configurations bi-directional connection was forced instead of unidirectional. This is fixed in the current release.
• SQL Azure is fully supported now.

Version 2.0 - 2011-09-06

• Bi-directional replication is supported now (if supported by data source). Please simply remove the data entity type (source/destination) or set to "bidirectional" to activate this feature.
  Please note: Bi-directional is the default connection type starting with this release.
• See manual for conflict resolution options, e.g. on field level.
• Mapping of primary keys is no longer needed. But both data entities must continue to have primary keys.

• An issue with workflow fields in destination list was fixed.
• There is an unfixed issue with lists using lots of fields, especially a large number of calculated fields. It may cause "Server Error 400" in some cases. Please adjust batch size in this case down to some items only, to give SharePoint time to recover. By default is: BatchWriteItems=5000

Version 1.1 - 2011-07-15

• Authentication issues with alias domains are fixed with this version. You could not authenticate with V1.0, if using alias domains (not ???.sharepoint.com). Now you can add an additional Realm option to connection string in this case that contains the original domain for authentication:
  Realm=https://myOriginalDomain.sharepoint.com
  That fixes the authentication issue.

Version 1.0 - First production release

• A Windows Service is provided to operate your background updates automatically without any restrictions. Please note: When changes are made to the configuration files, the service has to be restarted. Alternatively you can force the connection service to run as application in foreground for better testing.
• Office 365 Cookie Manager is installed with "Complete Installation" option only. It os not required to establish a connection to Office 365. Please use Authentication="Office365" with user name and password instead of cookie based login. 
• All field mapping is done by field names via XML. The SharePoint INTERNAL column names are used for mapping (not column titles). See log mapping check in log files for more information. In case of database connections, please use aliases in the SQL query or view (e.g. select myField as myAlias from myTable) to use the auto-mapping feature - or map columns manually.
• A "primary key" is required on both sides, data source and destination, e.g. a customer ID or SharePoint item ID. It can be a combination of multiple fields / columns (e.g. contact full name and company). In most cases (including SharePoint) it will be detected automatically.
• Primary keys must be mapped. Example: A primary key "ID" in a SharePoint data source list can be mapped to a column "SourceID" (integer) in the SharePoint destination list in the connection settings file.

• You have to use the so called invariant name to declare a provider in the configuration file as data entity property (see your machine.config for installed providers). Typically the follwing providers are used:
  Layer2.SharePoint.Provider ... comes with the Cloud Connector to connect to SharePoint 2010 via CSOM (Client Side Object Model)
  System.Data.Odbc ... the .NET Framework Data Provider for Odbc used to connect via ODBC
  System.Data.OleDb ... the .NET Famework Data Provider for OleDb used to conenct via OLEDB
  System.Data.OracleClient ... the .NET Framework Data Provider for Oracle used to connect to Oracle database
  System.Data.SqlClient ... the .NET Famework Data Provider for SqlServer used to connect to Microsoft SQL Server

• Calendar lists are not supported yet because of an currently unsolved Microsoft CSOM issue.

• User / Group columns that cannot be resolved at the destination system can cause circular updates. Please exclude those fields from auto-mapping.
• Be careful using lookups in data destination. Item IDs in source list and destination list can be different. SharePoint has no API to create new items with a defined item ID.
• There is an unsolved authentication issue with URLs that use an alias instead of the original namespace. That is fixed in V1.1.