Linked Sharepoint Updates

[Lorlai]

I have a linked table with a Sharepoint site. The table is populated with data that comes from an external source. This means that while my table may have the data: Bob, 123 Fake St, 80232, Alive, "Bob is a great customer". There is a chance that "alive" may change to "deceased" without any of the other information changing. How can I create an update statement that will notice the small change and only update this field?

Additionally, the field for comments can be updated through the external data source and through the SharePoint. Anything that is updated on the SharePoint should remain in tact. So if a user were to add "He likes oranges" via the SharePoint, Bob's comments should read "Bob is a great customer. He likes oranges." And if the external source were to not see the "he likes oranges" but has an additional comment of "his favorite color is blue", the final table should include both the external data and the SharePoint input: "Bob is a great customer. He likes oranges. His favorite color is blue." Any idea how I can do this?



Thanks for your help!

[NTC]

fundamentally your issue is sync. the fact that sharepoint is involved isn't really relevant. tracking sync between 2 tables is the art of replication and can become pretty complicated pretty fast. but more or less it comes down to the need to periodically check for nonduplicates.

it would make for a very long post if I attempted to explain the ins & outs of this. but 1 key concept is for you to segregate your table into 2 tables (with a 1:1 join) so that 1 of the two tables is identical to that other changing table. this way your compare or non-duplicate checking will be as straightforward as possible - and also the updating.

Hope this helps a bit,