Professional Microsoft® SharePoint® Designer 2007

11.4. Data Views on the Move

Although you use SharePoint Designer to create Data View Web Parts, once they are placed on a page they can be exported to files through the web user interface. Exported Data Views retain not only the formatting XSL, but also the connection information required to access the data source. This can be very useful because it allows you to easily re-use a Data View in other environments.

An exported Data View Web Part is stored as an XML file with the extension .webpart. If you import it onto another SharePoint page and that server has access to the data source defined within the Web Part, the Web Part will work perfectly in its new home. The access rules for exported Data Views are similar to those for making connections to other Data Source Libraries in SharePoint Designer:

• Used on another page within a site collection, almost all Data Views function correctly. There is a limit to this: Data Views of a SharePoint list cannot be built from the default list connection in the site that hosts the list. You must build the Data View from a connected library.

• Used on another site collection, list-based Data Views do not work. BDC views do not work on sites other than those on the MOSS Enterprise farm containing the BDC entities referenced.