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Two-Way Relationships between SharePoint Lists and Document Libraries

Anonymous
2024-07-02T14:28:55+00:00

Hi all! I'm trying to create two-way relationships between lists and document libraries in a SharePoint. I have a Directory (list of people in the group), a list of Projects (the various activities our organization does), and a Document Library (showing relevant research materials, publications, etc.). A simplified version of each of these (with fabricated data, of course) is below:

Directory:

Person Project(s) Document(s)
Jane Doe Project A; Project C Document X; Document Y
John Smith Project C Document Y; Document Z
Kathy Johnson Project A; Project B Document X; Document Z

Projects:

Project People Document(s)
Project A Jane Doe; Kathy Johnson Document X
Project B Kathy Johnson Document Z
Project C Jane Doe; John Smith Document Y, Document Z

Documents:

Document People Project(s)
Document X Jane Doe; Kathy Johnson Project A
Document Y Jane Doe; John Smith Project C
Document Z John Smith; Kathy Johnson Project B; Project C

Ideally, these lists/libraries would be linked to each other such that adding an entry to one list/library updates the contents of the others. For example, if I were to add Document W, written by John Smith and Jane Doe for Project C to the document library, the lists would automatically change to the following. The bold represents data added automatically, not manually.

Directory:

Person Project(s) Document(s)
Jane Doe Project A; Project C Document X; Document Y; Document W
John Smith Project C Document Y; Document Z; Document W
Kathy Johnson Project A; Project B Document X; Document Z

Projects:

Project People Document(s)
Project A Jane Doe; Kathy Johnson Document X
Project B Kathy Johnson Document Z
Project C Jane Doe; John Smith Document Y; Document Z; Document W

Documents:

Document People Project(s)
Document X Jane Doe; Kathy Johnson Project A
Document Y Jane Doe; John Smith Project C
Document Z John Smith; Kathy Johnson Project B; Project C
Document W Jane Doe, John Smith Project C

As far as I can tell, Lookup columns can't achieve this as they only determine the options for a column's input, and they don't do any actual data entry.

The other wrinkle in this problem is that I do not have access to Microsoft PowerApps through my organization's license. I've seen answers on other similar questions directing people to PowerApps or DataVerse, but those are products I do not have. I am able to tinker a bit with some more behind-the-scenes coding, but ideally not too much. The goal is to make this SharePoint as maintenance-light as possible, or it will likely not be used.

I am working on a MacBook Air on Sonoma 14.5. I have access to a windows system, but, again, ideally this will be fairly accessible by everyone in the organization.

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-07-02T21:58:27+00:00

    Hi dani_595,

    Thanks for posting in the community. We are happy to help you.

    To my knowledge, the built-in SharePoint features can't meet your needs. One workaround I can offer is to use PowerApps and the Power Automate flow to achieve this. Since you don't have the relevant licenses, I have no suggestions.

    Also, we welcome community members to share ideas about the situation if one has related experiences.

    Sincerely,

    George | Microsoft Community Moderator

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