SharePoint 2010 for Project Management, 2nd Edition

Synchronizing Excel Tables with a SharePoint List

Now this feature is really cool. It’s similar to exporting an Excel spreadsheet to Share- Point, but this feature takes it further by allowing bidirectional updates between the Excel spreadsheet and SharePoint list (see Figure 8-13).

This feature is available out of the box in Excel 2003. However, in Excel 2010, a special add-in called “Excel 2007 Add-in: Synchronizing Tables with SharePoint Lists” has to be downloaded and installed. You can access the download at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=25836E52-1892-4E17-AC08-5DF13CFC5295&displaylang=en.

Once downloaded, the add-in has to be installed and configured:

1. Install the “Excel 2007 Synchronizing Tables with SharePoint Lists” add-in.

2. Start Microsoft Excel 2010.

3. Click File, and then click Options and access the Add-Ins tab.

4. Select Excel Add-Ins in the Manage drop-down menu, and click Go.

5. In the Add-Ins dialog box, click Browse, navigate to the Excel 2007 SharePoint List Synchronizing Add-In, and then click OK.

6. In the Add-Ins dialog box, verify that the SynchronizeWSSandExcel option is selected, and then click OK.

Figure 8-13. Excel spreadsheet synchronized with a SharePoint list

Using the add-in is simple when you take the following steps:

1. From an existing Excel file with an Excel table, save the workbook in the Excel 97– 2003 (BIFF8) file format by clicking File, pointing ...