External Data Column keeps showing wrong value

Question

I have created an external data column that allows you to search by one of the columns. The column is a string in the following format: number-number. For example, "001-001".

I have a large range of values, but every time I select one, the value resets to the first number-000 (which is a valid value, but not the one I want!!).

So for example, my external data set includes the following:

• 001-000,
• 001-001,
• 001-002,
• 002-000,
• 002-001,
• 002-002

Anytime I search for, find, and select 001-001, it shows up as 001-000. The same for 001-002 -> 001-000, 002-001 -> 002-000, etc. Selecting 001-000 gives me the right value.

This is really bizarre and I'm at a bit of a loss as to how this happens. Has anyone seen this behavior before?

Answer 1

I had the wrong column mapped as an identifier in the external content type Read List Operation.

There was a column that corresponded only to the first number, which was being marked as an identifier. This number repeated over multiple entries, so when selecting any of the entries that had "001" as an identifier, it defaulted to the first "0001-xxx" entry. I changed the column marked as identifier to the full number and the issue was resolved.