Code Snippet: Execute an Updater Method Instance of an External Content Type

Applies to: SharePoint Server 2010

In this article
Description
Prerequisites
To use this example

Description

The following code example shows how to programmatically execute an Updater method instance of an external content type by using the BDC Runtime object model on the server.

Prerequisites

  • Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 or Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 on the server.

  • Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 on the client computer.

  • Microsoft Visual Studio.

  • At least one external content type registered in the BDC Metadata Store.

To use this example

  1. Start Visual Studio and create a C# Console application project. Make sure to select .NET Framework 3.5 when you create the project.

  2. From the View menu, click Property Pages to bring up the project properties.

  3. In the Build tab, for the Platform target, select Any CPU.

  4. Close the project properties window.

  5. In Solution Explorer, under References, remove all project references except for System and System.Core.

  6. Add the following references to the project:

    1. Microsoft.BusinessData

    2. Microsoft.SharePoint

    3. System.Web

  7. Replace the autogenerated code in Program.cs with the code listed at the end of this procedure.

  8. Replace the values of <siteUrl>, nameSpace>, and <entityName> with valid values.

  9. Save the project.

  10. Compile and run the project.

using System;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.BusinessData.SharedService;
using Microsoft.BusinessData.MetadataModel;
using Microsoft.BusinessData.MetadataModel.Collections;
using Microsoft.BusinessData.Runtime;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration;

namespace SDKSamples
{
    class Methods
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            BDCUpdate();
        }

        //How To: Edit an item from an External Content Type
        public static void BDCUpdate()
        {
            //Specify the SiteURL, Namespace and the Entity Name
            string SiteURL = "<siteUrl>";
            string nameSpace = "<nameSpace>";
            string entityName = "<entityName>";
           
            using (SPSite site = new SPSite(SiteURL))
            {
                using (new Microsoft.SharePoint.SPServiceContextScope(
                    SPServiceContext.GetContext(site)))
                {
                    BdcService service =
                        SPFarm.Local.Services.GetValue<BdcService>(
                        String.Empty);
                    IMetadataCatalog catalog =
                        service.GetDatabaseBackedMetadataCatalog(
                        SPServiceContext.Current);

                    IEntity entity = catalog.GetEntity(
                        nameSpace, entityName);
                    ILobSystemInstance LobSysteminstance =
                        entity.GetLobSystem().
                        GetLobSystemInstances()[0].Value;

                    // Accept the user input for identity value
                    Console.Write(
                        "\nEnter identity value for which you want to edit : ");
                    int identityColumnValue =
                        int.Parse(Console.ReadLine());
                    Identity identity =
                        new Identity(identityColumnValue);

                    try
                    {
                        IEntityInstance ientityinstance =
                            entity.FindSpecific(
                            identity, "Read Item", LobSysteminstance);
                        IFieldCollection fieldCollection =
                            entity.GetFinderView("Read List").Fields;

                        //Display the old values
                        Console.WriteLine("\nOld Values : ");

                        foreach (IField field in fieldCollection)
                        {
                            Console.WriteLine(
                                field.Name.PadRight(20) + ":" +
                                ientityinstance[field.Name].ToString());
                        }

                        // The following will work only for Sales.Customer table in AdventureWorks2008
                        // Changing value of "TerritoryID" field
                        string fieldName = "TerritoryID";
                        
                        // Example Value for TerritoryID will be 1,4,6 etc.
                        Console.Write(
                           "\nEnter the new value for the column {0}: ",
                           fieldName);
                        ientityinstance[fieldName] = int.Parse(Console.ReadLine());
                        ientityinstance["ModifiedDate"] = DateTime.Now;

                        ientityinstance.Update();
                        Console.WriteLine("Record updated");
                        
                        //Display the Updated values
                        Console.WriteLine("\nUpdated Values : ");

                        foreach (IField field in fieldCollection)
                        {
                            Console.WriteLine(
                                field.Name.PadRight(20) + ":" +
                                ientityinstance[field.Name].ToString());
                        }

                    }
                    catch (ObjectNotFoundException exception)
                    {
                        Console.WriteLine(
                            "Identity column with value {0} not found...",
                            identityColumnValue);
                    }

                }
            }
            Console.WriteLine("Press any key to continue...");
            Console.ReadKey();
        }
    }
}

See Also

Reference

BdcService

Services

IMetadataCatalog

GetDatabaseBackedMetadataCatalog(SPServiceContext)

GetEntity(String, String)

IEntity

GetLobSystem()

GetLobSystemInstances()

ILobSystemInstance

Identity

IEntityInstance

FindSpecific(Identity, String, ILobSystemInstance)

GetFinderView(String)

IView

Fields

IFieldCollection

Update()