Add an Updater method

You can enable users to update business data in a SharePoint external list by creating an Updater method. For more information, see Design a business data connectivity model.

To create an Updater method

1. On the BDC designer, choose an entity.

2. On the menu bar, choose View > Other Windows > BDC Method Details.

   The BDC Method Details window opens. For more information about this window, see BDC model design tools overview.

3. In the Add a Method list, choose Create Updater Method.

   Visual Studio adds the following elements to the model. These elements appear in the BDC Method Details window.

   • A method that's named Update.

   • An input parameter for the method.

   • A type descriptor for the parameter. By default, Visual Studio uses the entity type descriptor that you defined for the Finder method (for example: Contact).

   • A method instance for the method.

     For more information, see Design a business data connectivity model.

   Note

   If the identifier of the entity type represents a field in a database table that's not automatically generated, set the Pre-Updater Field property to True.

4. In Solution Explorer, open the shortcut menu of the service code file that was generated for the entity, and then choose View Code.

   The entity service code file opens in the Code Editor. For more information about that file, see Create a business data connectivity model.

5. Add code to the Update method to update data. The following example updates information for a contact in the AdventureWorks sample database for SQL Server.

   Note

   Replace the value of the ServerName field with the name of your server.

   C#

   public static void Update(Contact contact)
   {
       const string ServerName = "MySQLServerName";
       AdventureWorksDataContext dataContext = new AdventureWorksDataContext
             ("Data Source=" + ServerName + ";" +
              "Initial Catalog=AdventureWorks;Integrated Security=True");
      
       var contactToUpdate = (from contacts in dataContext.Contacts
                               where contacts.ContactID == contact.ContactID
                               select contacts).Single();
   
       contactToUpdate.FirstName = contact.FirstName;
       contactToUpdate.LastName = contact.LastName;
       contactToUpdate.EmailAddress = contact.EmailAddress;
       contactToUpdate.Phone = contact.Phone;
       contactToUpdate.EmailPromotion = contact.EmailPromotion;
       contactToUpdate.NameStyle = contact.NameStyle;
       contactToUpdate.PasswordHash = contact.PasswordHash;
       contactToUpdate.PasswordSalt = contact.PasswordSalt;
       contactToUpdate.ModifiedDate = DateTime.Now;
       contactToUpdate.rowguid = Guid.NewGuid();
       dataContext.SubmitChanges();
   
   }
   

   VB

   Public Shared Sub Update(ByVal contact As Contact)
       Const ServerName As String = "MySQLServerName"
       Dim dataContext As AdventureWorksDataContext = _
           New AdventureWorksDataContext("Data Source=" & ServerName & _
               ";Initial Catalog=AdventureWorks;Integrated Security=True")
   
       Dim ContactToUpdate As Contact = (From Contacts In dataContext.Contacts.AsEnumerable().Take(20) _
            Where Contacts.ContactID = contact.ContactID _
            Select Contacts).Single()
   
       With ContactToUpdate
           .FirstName = contact.FirstName
           .LastName = contact.LastName
           .EmailAddress = contact.EmailAddress
           .Phone = contact.Phone
           .EmailPromotion = contact.EmailPromotion
           .NameStyle = contact.NameStyle
           .PasswordHash = contact.PasswordHash
           .PasswordSalt = contact.PasswordSalt
       End With
   
       dataContext.SubmitChanges()
   
   End Sub
   

Related content

• Design a business data connectivity model
• How to: Add a Finder method
• How to: Add a specific Finder method
• How to: Add a Creator method
• How to: Add an Updater method
• How to: Add a Deleter method
• BDC model design tools overview
• How to: Add a parameter to a method
• How to: Define a method instance