Microsoft Access 2010 Bible

1117

CHAPTER

Integrating Access

with SharePoint

IN THIS CHAPTER

Considering SharePoint as a

data source

Understanding the SharePoint

and Access interfaces

Using SharePoint data on

Access forms

Displaying SharePoint data in

Access reports

Looking at SharePoint

collaborative applications

S

everal of the previous chapters of this book have touched on different
data sources for Access. You’ve seen how Access supports importing,
linking, and exporting data. Microsoft Access has no equal when it
comes to sharing data with other applications.

This chapter explains how to use Microsoft SharePoint as a data source for
Access applications. Microsoft has taken great pains to ensure that Access
and SharePoint interoperate seamlessly, providing Access developers with a
rich source of data accessible from anywhere on the Internet.

SharePoint data are stored as lists. SharePoint lists can be exported from, and
imported into, Access applications. SharePoint lists are available from any
SharePoint site, sharing data across the Internet. In earlier chapters, you read
about the SharePoint basics, about the services provided by SharePoint
Services, and how various types of applications can be implemented using
SharePoint. Additionally, you read about how a SharePoint Web site and
Access can integrate with each other.

Linking to SharePoint lists makes data stored on a SharePoint Web site
appear as linked tables in Access. From a data perspective, linking to a
SharePoint list is no different than linking to a SQL Server database table or
other remote data source. The only difference (from the user’s perspective)
may be a slight delay as data is transferred from a remote SharePoint site to
Access and back.

Essentially, SharePoint is a way of sharing data over the Internet. Quite liter-
ally, SharePoint represents an Internet address from which data can be
shared between multiple applications. Those applications can be virtually
anywhere on the Internet. Most SharePoint installations, however, are strict
intranet applications and are only accessed from within a company on its