Accessing external data in the questionnaire

External tables are used to reference data that is external to the template. You can reference data from HighQ iSheets, SQL and MySQL tables, SharePoint lists, Salesforce and OData, as well as Contract Express datasheets. External Table connections are configured in the Admin tab of Contract Express under the External Table section.
External Tables referenced in a template will appear in the Tables section of the Dictionary Editor. For examples of how to reference external data in the template, see Select Operator (from External Data Source).
External Lookup Table

Validating an External Table connection

Click "Validate" to test the connection to the External Table. This will populate the following fields:
  • Name
    : The name of the table referenced in the template.
  • Data Provider
    : The data provider of the table as defined in the Admin tab of the Contract Express server.
  • Defined in Admin
    : Checks whether the name of the table is listed in the Admin tab of the Contract Express server.
  • Test connection
    : Checks whether the connection to the table is successful.
The table that appears below these fields displays the column names referenced in the template and whether the connection to these columns was successful.
Validating Tables

Previewing data from an External Table

A sample of the first 10 rows of data of the External Table is visible in the Preview tab. Click the "Preview" button to pull the first 10 rows of data for the columns referenced in the template.
External Tables preview