SharePoint List

Synchronizer for Excel

Q&A

June 2017

SharePoint List Synchronizer for Excel 2

Table of Contents I. PRODUCT ................................................................................................................................................. 3

A. WHAT IS SHAREPOINT LIST SYNCHRONIZER FOR EXCEL? ......................................................................................... 3 B. WHICH VERSIONS OF EXCEL ARE SUPPORTED? ...................................................................................................... 3 C. WHAT VERSIONS OF SHAREPOINT ARE SUPPORTED? .............................................................................................. 3 D. IS SHAREPOINT LIST SYNCHRONIZER COMPATIBLE WITH OFFICE 365? ....................................................................... 3 E. WHERE CAN I FIND THE PRODUCT DOCUMENTATION? ............................................................................................ 3 F. CAN I SAVE A WORKBOOK THAT CONTAINS A SYNCHRONIZED LIST? ............................................................................ 4 G. HOW TO INSERT A ROW FROM A SYNCHRONIZED LIST IN EXCEL? ............................................................................... 5 H. HOW TO DELETE A ROW FROM A SYNCHRONIZED LIST IN EXCEL? ............................................................................... 5 I. CAN I HAVE MULTIPLE SYNCHRONIZED LISTS IN ONE EXCEL WORKBOOK? .................................................................... 6 J. CAN I SYNCHRONIZE ANY TYPE OF COLUMN? ........................................................................................................ 6 K. ARE POWERSHELL-CREATED COLUMNS SUPPORTED? ............................................................................................. 7 L. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN TWO PEOPLE EDIT THE SAME ROW IN EXCEL AND THEN SYNCHRONIZE? ....................................... 7

II. LICENSING ................................................................................................................................................ 8

A. DO YOU WORK WITH RESELLERS? ....................................................................................................................... 8 B. IS THE LICENSE FOR SHAREPOINT LIST SYNCHRONIZER A PERMANENT LICENSE? ........................................................... 8 C. DOES THE PRICE INCLUDE MAINTENANCE/UPGRADES? ............................................................................................ 8 D. WHAT ARE THE PURCHASE AND DELIVERY METHOD? .............................................................................................. 8 E. IS THE PRODUCT AVAILABLE PER USER OR PER MACHINE? ........................................................................................ 8

III. TROUBLESHOOTING PROBLEMS .............................................................................................................. 9

A. I'M USING MICROSOFT EXCEL AND HAVE INSTALLED THE TOOL BUT NOT ABLE TO GET "SYNCHRONIZE WITH SHAREPOINT"

OPTION? ................................................................................................................................................................ 9 B. THE SYNCHRONIZATION PROCESS SOMETIMES DUPLICATES ROWS............................................................................ 12 C. SUPPORT ..................................................................................................................................................... 12

SharePoint List Synchronizer for Excel 3

I. Product

A. What is SharePoint List Synchronizer For Excel?

In Microsoft Office Excel 2003, you can connect to (read from) and update (write to) lists that reside on SharePoint sites. This allows you to keep the information in your Excel 2003 tables synchronized with the information that appears on the SharePoint site.

In Microsoft Office Excel 2007, 2010, 2013 & 2016, the ability to update the information in SharePoint lists from Excel has been deprecated by Microsoft. Instead, Microsoft Office Access is the recommended platform for writing data to SharePoint lists and for using lists offline.

However, the SharePoint List Synchronizer for Excel, presented here, addresses this issue and allows Excel users to open SharePoint Lists in two-way sync.

B. Which versions of Excel are supported?

SharePoint list Synchronizer supports:

- Microsoft Excel 2007,

- Microsoft Excel 2010,

- Microsoft Excel 2013,

- Microsoft Excel 2016

C. What versions of SharePoint are supported?

All versions of SharePoint since SharePoint 2003 are supported.

D. Is SharePoint List Synchronizer compatible with Office 365?

Yes, you can synchronize a list between Microsoft SharePoint Online (Office 365) and Microsoft Excel.

E. Where can I find the product documentation?

The documentation is available on our web site: http://www.softfluent.com/community-support/sharepoint-list-synchronizer

SharePoint List Synchronizer for Excel 4

F. Can I save a workbook that contains a synchronized list?

Yes you can. To keep the bi-directional synchronization, you have to use the Excel 97-2003 Workbook format (*.xls):

SharePoint List Synchronizer for Excel 5

G. How to insert a row from a synchronized list in Excel?

Right click on one cell of the table, then Insert / Table Row Below or Table Row Above.

H. How to delete a row from a synchronized list in Excel?

Right click on one cell of the row you want to delete, then Delete / Table Rows. It does not work if your table is currently filtered in Excel.

SharePoint List Synchronizer for Excel 6

I. Can I have multiple synchronized lists in one Excel workbook?

You can have more than one list by Excel file but you can have only one synchronized list by worksheet. Here’s the procedure to create an Excel workbook with many lists:

1. Export SharePoint lists to Excel => you now have one workbook by list.

2. Copy worksheets to the first workbook

3. Refresh list data

4. Save the workbook with all lists

J. Can I synchronize any type of column?

Most column types are supported. Here are the known limitations:

SharePoint List Synchronizer for Excel 7

- Computed formulas: Note that Excel does not support some SharePoint formula. If your list contains computed columns with formula not supported by Excel, the synchronization may not work as expected.

- Multiple selection: Excel doesn’t support drop downs with multiple selections. - Enhanced rich text: read only. It will be displayed in Excel, but will not offer the option to

change it (Excel will display an error message before any error is done).

K. Are PowerShell-created columns supported?

Yes, as long as they expose the same information as manually created columns.

You might need to add an attribute List="UserInfo" in the XML file you use to create your column.

L. What happens when two people edit the same row in Excel and

then synchronize?

Regarding conflict management, the following article might come handy: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/synchronize-an-excel-list-with-the-sharepoint-site-HP001031719.aspx

Basically, if ever there’s a conflict, a conflict window pops-up and the user is in charge of resolving it. Regarding synchronization, after the first sync, it only syncs the items you’ve changed. Therefore, when working with synchronized lists, what you should do is start by doing a “Discard and Refresh” on your list to ensure your data is up-to-date and then start working from there.

SharePoint List Synchronizer for Excel 8

II. Licensing

A. Do you work with resellers?

Of course. However only active resellers promoting our products qualify for reseller discounts.

B. Is the license for SharePoint List Synchronizer a permanent

license?

Yes! SharePoint List Synchronizer is a permanent license.

C. Does the price include maintenance/upgrades?

Not only the license is perpetual, but when a new version is released, your license key will still be valid, allowing you to download and activate it.

D. What are the purchase and delivery method?

The purchase method is online through credit card or PayPal. You will get the license key on your account page immediately after your payment. You just have to send the key to your end user with the following link http://www.softfluent.com/trials/sharepoint-list-synchronizer to download the installation files (xlsyncsetup.msi).

E. Is the product available per user or per machine?

The product is a client product on the desktop and its license is available per user with the following variations:

Single user Up to 5 users Up to 20 users Up to 50 users Up to 100 users Up to 300 users Up to 1000 users

Unlimited

SharePoint List Synchronizer for Excel 9

III. Troubleshooting Problems

A. I'm using Microsoft Excel and have installed the tool but not able

to get "Synchronize with SharePoint" option?

The menu is available when you right click a synchronized table (as explain in the documentation).

So you have to export the SharePoint list to Excel and then you’ll have access to the menu. If the menu is not available:

Check 1

The first thing to check is the level of security of your Excel:

- File/Options/Trust Center

- Button Trust Center Settings

- Make sure you have “enable” or “prompt” for both

SharePoint List Synchronizer for Excel 10

Check 2

The installation of our tool is on a per user basis. If it was installed using another windows account, the association is not done.

The tool below allows to check the association:

- Menu All Programs\Softfluent\Sharepoint List Synchronizer For Excel\Sharepoint List

Synchronizer For Excel - Configuration

- Click on the About… button to check the license expiration date

You can also click on Disassociate then back on Associate before testing again

SharePoint List Synchronizer for Excel 11

Check 3

If the same user is used to install and use it, can you check the *.iqy association with our product is present here

- “Start menu > Control Panel > Programs > Default Programs > Set Associations

If it was not in the list, something on your computer prevented the installation from adding this association (see next to get detailed logs during installation)

You can do the association yourself and check again

Check 4

Microsoft Office stores information about your SharePoint server in the registry. You can delete them:

- Open regedit.exe

- Navigate to:

“HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\Internet\Server Cache”

(Replace “12.0” by your version of Office)

- Delete keys that refers to your SharePoint server

Check 5

SharePoint List Synchronizer for Excel 12

When you save the file, it must be in the XLS format (Excel 97-2003). If you use the XLSX format (Excel 2007+), the synchronize menu won't be available.

Check 6

- Open the list in SharePoint

- Click "Export to Excel" and download the .iqy file

- Run the following command line:

Windows 64bits (x64):

"c:\Program Files (x86)\SoftFluent\XlSync3\XlSync.exe" "/f:<Full path to the downloaded iqy file>"

Windows 32bits (x86):

"c:\Program Files\SoftFluent\XlSync3\XlSync.exe" "/f:<Full path to the downloaded iqy file>"

Excel should open and the synchronized list should be there.

B. The synchronization process sometimes duplicates rows

The SharePoint List Synchronizer only opens Excel in the right setting for the synchronization feature to be accessible, and does nothing else regarding the synchronization between data. The synchronization process is still handled by Excel and SharePoint, and it is done using the ID column, which may not appear on the list (on either Excel or SharePoint). Duplicated rows usually mean that the IDs do not match; thus, the rows are added instead of being updated.

Here are some troubleshooting guidelines:

1. A suggestion would be to display this ID column and make sure everything works normally.

2. An Excel sheet linked to a SharePoint list changes (more precisely, increments) all the IDs in

the first ID column. Since SharePoint updates existing rows based on the ID passed by the

Excel sheet, it becomes confused when the IDs do not correspond to the original item ID and

might cause the errors described in the Issue Description section.

It thus appears that sorting a SharePoint list in Excel is unsupported and usually results in errors. You could fix this issue creating a new View already sorted in SharePoint instead of sorting in Excel

3. If you try to copy rows that don’t have consecutive row numbers in Excel. It appears that

Microsoft Excel does not support the ability copy such rows into new rows in the same linked

table.

4. Anything configured on the server side, for example, SharePoint event handlers may impact

what will ultimately will be persisted on the database

(http://blogs.msdn.com/b/brianwilson/archive/2007/03/05/part-1-event-handlers-

everything-you-need-to-know-about-microsoft-office-sharepoint-portal-server-moss-event-

handlers.aspx)

C. Support

Experiencing some difficulties? Support is available via email.