Add a SharePoint list or library as a data source

By default, every Microsoft SharePoint list and library in a site has a corresponding data source connection in the Data Sources list. To add a SharePoint list or library to the Data Sources list, you can either create a new list or library or create a new connection to an existing list or library.

Note: SharePoint surveys are a type of list and also appear in the SharePoint Lists section of the Data Sources list.

As with other types of data sources, the SharePoint lists and libraries that appear in the Data Sources list are actually connections to the original data that display the results of a query on that data. However, SharePoint lists and libraries are different from other data source types in two important ways:

• You cannot modify the query for SharePoint lists and libraries as you can for other sources in the Data Sources list. You can, however, copy the connection for a SharePoint list or library and then create a custom query on the list or library so that it displays the exact data that you want. When you create a new data source connection for a SharePoint list, you do not copy the source data. Instead, you create an additional connection to the same data.

• You can change the original source data for a SharePoint list or library through the Data Sources list by changing the list properties, which you cannot do for other sources in the Data Sources list. For more information about how to change the list properties of a SharePoint list, see the See Also section.

Create a SharePoint list or library

When you click the Create new SharePoint list link in the Data Sources list, the New dialog box opens. In the New dialog box, you can create a new SharePoint list by using one of the built-in SharePoint list templates.

The icon for a SharePoint list looks like this and for a library looks like this .

1. Click Lists and Libraries in the Navigation Pane.

2. On the Lists and Libraries tab in the ribbon, in the New group, click SharePoint List to create a list or Document Library to create a library, and then select the list or library type from the dropdown menu.

3. In the Create list or document library dialog box, enter a unique name for the list or library, and an optional description.

4. Click OK.

The new list appears in both Lists and Libraries and Data Sources in the Navigation Pane.

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