Sharepoint 2007: best practice to put external database data onto web page

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I have Sharepoint 2007 site and have to implement filter (comboboxes) for the list of employees stored in external database.

I can develop web part with asp:DropDownList(s), data access library and asp:Repeater stuff, but don't wanna mess with paging and sorting. May be it's better to populate standard sharepoint list that will be present under my filters via my DAL ?

How would you implement such a task?

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sharepointsharepoint-2007

1 Answers

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Here are my suggestions:

  1. SharePoint List Source and Destination - this is a CodePlex project for an SSIS SharePoint adapter. We used it successfully earlier this year for transferring data between SQL Server and SharePoint.
  2. Custom Timer Job - you could create a SPJobDefinition class that is your own mini-homespun ETL comparing the SharePoint list to the database tables and then making any necessary transfers.
  3. Business Data Catalog (BDC) - I'm not a fan, but you might have better luck with it.
  4. SharePoint 2010 - I'm not sure if this is an option, but I'll mention it. The BDC of SharePoint 2007 has grown into Business Connectivity Services (BCS) in SharePoint 2010. I haven't had a chance to play with it yet, but it is supposed to be much improved for accessing external data.