Business Data List web part, format field from database as hyperlink

Question

Hi,

I have a BDC with an entity that selects fields from a table. One of the fields is the full pathname to a file, or it could be a hyperlink.
When I display the entity in a Business Data List Web Part, all fields are displayed as text, without any formatting. I know the formatting can be modified using the XSL editor (under modify web part), I have found a sample with date-time format . Some basic formatting can also be done with de sharePoint designer, but nowhere have I found an example that allows me to format the column with the link as a clickable hyperlink.
My strong points are sql server and .net , but not XSL , can anyone give me an example of how th eformatting needs to be done in XSL?

tnx in advance

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Jan D'Hondt - Database and .NET development

Answer 1

Sure, here is an example of how I formatted a field to show an image: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/sharepointbdc/thread/d2b18c36-c5b4-43d3-bae2-d9fd2b491a29. In the web part properties you can see the default XSL and then find the field you want to modify.

If you want to format it for a hyperlink and the field name is LinkUrl you can do it like this:

<xsl:element name="a">

<xsl:attribute name="href"><xsl:value-of select="@LinkUrl" /></xsl:attribute>

</xsl:element>

The above example assumes the LinkUrl has the absolute path in it. If you need to append text to the value and LinkUrl is a relative path you could do something like this:

<xsl:element name="a">

<xsl:attribute name="href">http://www.mysite.com/path/<xsl:value-of select="@LinkUrl" /></xsl:attribute>

</xsl:element>

Let me know if you have any questions on this, I would be glad to help.

Thanks,

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If this answers your question, please use the "Answer" button to say so | Ben Cline

Answer 2

Ben,

thank you for the reply.

this is what I cooked from your answer and some others that I found on the web.
Remember, the XSL I am editing is for a Business Data List web part. My Datafield contains an absolute url. so I had to find out where in the XSL was the formatting of the cell values (not the headers).

Original XSL

 

      <td class="ms-vb">
        <xsl:attribute name="style">
          <xsl:choose>
            <xsl:when test="$dvt_1_form_selectkey = @*[name()=$ColumnKey]">color:blue</xsl:when>
            <xsl:otherwise />
          </xsl:choose>
        </xsl:attribute>
        <xsl:variable name="fieldValue">
          <xsl:call-template name="LFtoBR">
            <xsl:with-param name="input">
              <xsl:value-of select="@DocumentationLink" />
            </xsl:with-param>
          </xsl:call-template>
        </xsl:variable>
        <xsl:copy-of select="$fieldValue" />
      </td>

 

Modified XSL

 

      <td class="ms-vb">
        <xsl:attribute name="style">
          <xsl:choose>
            <xsl:when test="$dvt_1_form_selectkey = @*[name()=$ColumnKey]">color:blue</xsl:when>
            <xsl:otherwise />
          </xsl:choose>
        </xsl:attribute>
          <a target="_blank" href="{@DocumentationLink}">
              <xsl:value-of select="@DocumentationLink" />
           </a>
      </td>

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Jan D'Hondt - Database and .NET development

Answer 3

I was definitely referring to the values not the headers, which are found in a different section of the XSL entirely.

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If this answers your question, please use the "Answer" button to say so | Ben Cline

Answer 4

The solution I have shown above is for the values , not for the headers. I see a column headers like usual and the a series of rows with the cell values formatted as hyperlinks. 

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Jan D'Hondt - Database and .NET development