In this walkthrough we will demonstrate how to integrate SharePoint 2013 and Oracle and display the data on SharePoint 2013 page. In order to do that we will describe how to create a new external content type for Oracle by means of Meta Man.
- Prerequisites:
- SharePoint Server 2013
- Meta Man (it doesn’t necessarily need to be installed on the SharePoint server but it requires .net Framework 4.5 installed on the machine where you are going to run Meta Man from)
- Oracle server with any sample database (for this walk through we are going to use the Oracle Database Express Edition 11g Release 2 with included sample database)
- Oracle Database 11g Release 2 Client (11.2.0.1.0) for Microsoft Windows (x64) must be installed on the machine where SharePoint 2013 is running and on the machine where you are going to run Meta Man from. Please ensure you select the “Administrator” type of installation when you install Oracle client.
- Open Meta Man. To connect to Oracle server click appropriate data source item on the left pane on the initial screen.
- Enter the name of your Oracle server and your user account details(you may also use tnsnames.ora file in order to connect to Oracle server). Press arrow in order to connect to Oracle data source
- Upon successfully connecting to Oracle server you’ll see another window. In order to get a list of tables click “Tables” item in the list on the left pane.
- Now we can see listed all the tables for this particular database.
- We create an external content type by dragging and dropping a table onto our design surface which is the large area on the right side. We will be working with the “DEPARTMENTS” table, to add it to the model , just drag it onto the “Diagram”.
- When you drop the table you will be shown the following dialog, which allows to configure the external content type before creation. You may modify the external content type name, change identifier and add the methods to the external content type. In this example we’ll accept all default values and click “Create” button.
- You can see created external content type on the design surface with the listed methods and identifier. Now simply click “Generate” button and your BDC model file will get generated.
- Now we need to import our BDC model file. Open up SharePoint 2013 Central Administration. Navigate to Manage Service Application->Business Data Connectivity Service. Click “Import” button on the ribbon.
- Use the browser button to locate our BDC model file, or type in the path and filename yourself. Leave all the other options as they are for the time being, and click “Import”
- SharePoint 2013 will now go through and validate your BDC model file is correct, once it is done you will get a success page.
- Browse to the site where you want to add the External List. Click “Site Contents”->”add an app”.
- Select “External List”
- Enter a name for External list and click on the icon to show the available External Content Types
- Select our generated xe_MetaMan.DEPARTMENTS External Content Type, click “OK”
- Click “Create”
- Your external data from Oracle database is now displayed in the SharePoint External List
We hope this walkthrough will be useful for you. If you have any questions feel free to email them to support@lightningtools.com
<Dmitry Kaloshin/>
