Creating External Content Types: Best Practices

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Applies to: SharePoint Server 2010

When creating external content types, be aware of the following best practices:

  • It is strongly recommended that you add a limit filter to an external content type based on a database to limit the number of rows coming from the database.

  • In a production environment, it is likely that your database and SharePoint Server are on two different physical computers. In such a case, you should use the Secure Store Service to store your credentials to resolve the double hop problem.

  • Always define at least a Read List method and Read Item method for your external content type. Other Microsoft Business Connectivity Services (BCS) presentation features such as external lists rely on these method instances.