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Create or Customize a Data Feed Library (PowerPivot for SharePoint)

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A data feed library is a special-purpose SharePoint library that enables you to register and share Atom data service documents (.atomsvc). These documents provide XML data feeds to PowerPivot workbooks or other client applications that support the Atom data feed format. A data feed library is different from other SharePoint libraries because it gives you the ability to:

  • Create or edit a data service document, used to specify an HTTP connection to a specific feed.

  • Share and manage data service documents in a central location.

  • Visually identify data service documents by an icon, so that you can easily distinguish service documents from other documents stored in the same library: GMNI_IconDataFeed

A data feed library always contains data service document (.atomsvc) files, and never the data feed itself. Unlike a data feed, which consists of static XML data, the data service document specifies a URL to a service or application that generates a feed upon request, providing reusable connection information for repeatable import operations.

This topic contains the following sections:

Prerequisites

Create a New Data Feed Library

Add the Data Feed Content Type to Any Library

Prerequisites

PowerPivot feature integration must be activated for the sites for which you are creating the data feed library. If the data feed library template type is not available, the most likely cause is that this prerequisite has not been met. For more information, see Activate PowerPivot Feature Integration for Site Collections in Central Administration.

You must be a site owner to create the library.

Create a New Data Feed Library

Creating a data feed library is the first step to enabling data feeds for PowerPivot workbooks. Because a data feed library provides application and management pages for data service documents, you must have this library in place before you can create a new document.

A data feed library is based on a built-in template and a preconfigured data service document content type that defines properties and behaviors for a data service document.

  1. Click Site Actions at the top left corner of the page.

  2. Click More Options...

  3. Under Libraries, click Data Feed Library.

  4. Type the name, description, launch, and version preferences. Include descriptive information to help users identify this library as storage for data service documents.

  5. Click Create.

A link to the data feed library will appear in the navigation Quick Launch pane for the current site.

After you create a library, you can use it to create data service documents. For more information, see Use Data Feeds (PowerPivot for SharePoint).

Add the Data Feed Content Type to Any Library

If you do not want to create a dedicated data feed library, but you still want to create and manage data service documents from a SharePoint site, you can manually add and configure the data service document content type for any library that you will use to share data service document (.atomsvc) files.

You must have at least the Manage Lists permission to add and configure a content type. This permission is built into the Design permission level and above.

The following steps must be repeated for each library in which you want to create or edit data feed registration documents.

Step 1: Enable Content Type Management

  1. Open the document library for which you want to enable multiple content types.

  2. On the SharePoint ribbon, in Library Tools, click Library.

  3. Click Settings.

  4. Click Library Settings.

  5. In General Settings, click Advanced settings.

  6. In Content Types, in the "Allow management of content types?" section, click Yes.

  7. Click OK.

Step 2: Add the Data Service Document Content Type

  1. In the Content Types section, click Add from existing site content types. If you do not see this page, go back to the site, click Library in Library Tools, and then click Library Settings.

  2. In Content Types, click Add from existing site content types.

  3. In Select site content types from:, select Business Intelligence.

  4. In Available Site Content Types, click Data Service Document, and then click Add to move the selected content type to the Content types to add list.

  5. Click OK.

Step 3: Verify Data Service Document Configuration

  1. Open the site home page.

  2. Open the library.

  3. On the SharePoint ribbon, click Documents.

  4. Click the down arrow on New Document, and select Data Service Document. The New Data Service Document page should appear.

See Also

Use Data Feeds (PowerPivot for SharePoint) Delete a PowerPivot Data Feed Library PowerPivot Server Administration and Configuration in Central Administration PowerPivot Data Feeds