SharePoint Web Parts can not be connected via hyperlink fields

Question

In short: I'm trying to filter an XSLTListViewWebPart based on what is selected in another XSLTListViewWebPart. Using a String field as connection this is working fine. Using a hyperlink field no data is displayed.

In more detail: I have two lists, say Accounts and Projects. Both have a hyperlink field accountURL. All accounts have different accountURLs. Different projects can have the same value for accountURL. Both are displayed on a page using the XSLTListViewWebPart. The simple goal is to filter the Projects list based on which item is selected in the Accounts list using the accountURL field. So I established a web part connection using the acountURL as a filter.

Alas, when an item in the Accounts list is selected no items are shown in the Projects list although I double checked that there are matching values. When using a string field instead of a hyperlink field for accountURL everything works like a charm. Problem is, I need the hyperlink field.

Is this desired behaviour? Do you have any suggestions for a workaround? (I already tried converting the hyperlink field to a string field via a calculated column which did not work out either.)

All was and is to be done in the web interface or SP-Designer. Coding a WSP is not an option for this problem. As I'm not quite familiar with the correct terminus technicus I use field and column interchangeably.

All help is greatly appreciated.

Ben

Answer 1

Someone on the Microsoft forum suggested the following workaround which does its job well:

• Add a hidden text column to both lists.
• Use a workflow which is triggered on item creation and update to copy the value of the hyperlink column to the hidden text column.
• Connect both webparts using the hidden column as filter.

Nonetheless, I still wonder whether it is possible to use hyperlink columns or other special columns for filtering. I also had the problem that I cannot use a person column as lookup.

Does anyone know if whether there ist some kind of overview which column types can be used for filtering/formulas/lookup/...?

Cheers,

Ben