The administration interface includes a Sites and Lists tab that is used to identify the lists to use in the Cross-Connect display. The Summer 2006 release supports a single parent list and a single child list.
When you are finished making your selections on this tab, you can select another administration interface tab or click OK to save your changes and return to the Cross-Connect display.
NOTE 1: Because of browser performance limitations with page refreshing, CorasWorks recommends that you try to limit the Cross-Connect to return no more than 1000 items. CorasWorks also recommends that whenever possible, a filter be applied to either or both of the native SharePoint views used in the Cross-Connect.
NOTE 2: When creating views in the parent and child lists to use with Cross-Connect, do not utilize the following columns. The Display and Other tabs provide properties that can be enabled to link to the item’s display form, edit form, or a URL provided within the list.
• Edit (link to edit item)
• Title (linked to item)
• Title (linked to item with edit menu)
This property is used to identify the URL where the parent list is located. If the parent list is not located in the same site as the Cross-Connect, type the appropriate URL here and click Refresh Available Lists. Otherwise, you can leave this property blank.
This drop-down is used to select the parent list or library to work with.
• If you select a document library, be aware that folder structures are not currently supported; only items in the root folder will be displayed
• This list can exist anywhere, as long as it is on the same virtual server as the Cross-Connect
This drop-down is used to select the view to reference from the selected parent list.
• This is a native SharePoint view
• The view determines the fields to be displayed, the sort order, and any filters applied to the parent list; the Cross-Connect respects these settings
This drop-down is used to select the column to reference to “connect” with the child list. The column selected here contains the value that will match the value in the corresponding Child List Key Column.
• See “Guidelines for Selecting Key Columns” below
This property is used to identify the URL where the child list is located. If the child list is not located in the same site as the Cross-Connect, type the appropriate URL here and click Refresh Available Lists. Otherwise, you can leave this property blank.
This drop-down is used to select the child list or library to work with.
• If you select a document library, be aware that folder structures are not currently supported; only items in the root folder will be displayed
• This list can exist anywhere, as long as it is on the same virtual server as the Cross-Connect
This drop-down is used to select the view to reference from the selected child list.
• This is a native SharePoint view
• The view determines the fields to be displayed, the sort order, and any filters applied to the child list; the Cross-Connect respects these settings
This drop-down is used to select the column to reference to “connect” with the parent list. The column selected here contains the value that will match the value in the corresponding Parent List Key Column.
• See “Guidelines for Selecting Key Columns” below
When you are finished with these properties, either click OK to see the Cross-Connect display or click any other tab on the administration interface to continue the configuration process.
When selecting the parent key column and the child key column, keep these points in mind:
• The Parent List Key Column must exist in the selected Parent List View, and the Child List Key Column must exist in the selected Child List View.
• The names of the Parent List Key Column and the Child List Key Column do not have to match; only the value stored in the columns has to match.
• The data type of the Parent List Key Column and the Child List Key Column must be the same.
• The parent/child relationship should be one-to-many. The values in the Parent List Key Column should be unique. If there are two or more parent items with the same key value, the Cross-Connect may have side effects such as multiple "Add New…" links.
• CorasWorks recommends that either a single line text column or a numeric column be utilized as the key column. Calculated columns are not supported for use as key columns.
• If you utilize a lookup column as a key column:
o Do not make the key column the first column in the view
o You cannot add any actions to the Cross-Connect that create a new child record. However, you can still use the “Add New…” link at the bottom of each child section of the display.
• There are options on the Display tab that allows you to hide the key columns from the Cross-Connect display if you wish.