SharePoint connection

If you will be creating sources and datasets that process SharePoint or SharePoint Online (O365) data, you must complete additional tasks to enable processing by the processing agent.

Complete the tasks for SharePoint or SharePoint Online as appropriate for the data to be managed by Fusion. If you will process data by both SharePoint and SharePoint Online, complete the tasks for both implementations.

For the SharePoint version supported, see the supported data resources under "Agent installation and configuration".

SharePoint connection tasks

Complete the following to process data from SharePoint.

  1. Update the logon account for Fusion services

SharePoint Online connection tasks

Fusion requires non-user based SharePoint Online access using the “SharePoint app-only” access method. Familiarize yourself with the guidance from Microsoft regarding Accessing SharePoint using an application context, Granting Access to SharePoint App-Only, and Add-in permissions in SharePoint. This information will assist in understanding the tasks necessary to complete the connection between Fusion and SharePoint Online.

Complete the following to process data from SharePoint Online (O365).

  1. Create or identify an O365 user with, at a minimum, "SharePoint Administrator" permission at the O365 level. Fusion requires this user in order to access your SharePoint Online environment.

    You must perform the remainder of these tasks as this user.

  2. Create a “SharePoint app-only” definition at either the SharePoint Online tenant level or at the SharePoint site level.

  3. Grant permission to the created “SharePoint app-only” definition at either the SharePoint Online tenant level or at the SharePoint site level, as appropriate for the definition created.

When you create SharePoint Online (O365) sources in Fusion, you will need to provide the Client Id and the Client Secret.

SharePoint processing

When processing Microsoft Office items from SharePoint, Fusion uses the last modified date in the de-duplication calculation. Due to the way modified dates are handled in Office items and in SharePoint (including OneDrive), Fusion will not identify documents with different dates as duplicates.

  • When an Office item is uploaded to a SharePoint or OneDrive site web interface, the item's modified date is changed.

  • When an Office item is added to a local system and is then synchronized to the SharePoint site, the item's modified date is not changed.

SharePoint Lists are comprised of form records, called items in SharePoint, that contain various text fields and can have attachments. When deleting SharePoint files, Fusion does not delete attachments to items from SharePoint Lists.

SharePoint item counts

The document and item counts in Fusion may differ from the "item" count as seen in the SharePoint site interface. This difference relates to the following.

  • In Fusion, a document is an original file processed by Fusion and an item is an attachment to an original file. In SharePoint, an item is a row in a table, or a record in a database and a document is a type of item.

  • In SharePoint, item counts are derived from the total number folders, documents, and items (each entry in a SharePoint Item List). In Fusion, document counts are derived from the total number of documents from SharePoint Document Libraries and attachments in a SharePoint Item List. Fusion does not process the field, or entry, in an Item List, only the attachments from the Item List.

    For example, if SharePoint Item has zero attachments, SharePoint records this as one item. If a SharePoint Item has 10 attachments, SharePoint also records this as one item.

  • The item count listed on the SharePoint Site Contents page for libraries includes all items in the library, including folders. Folders in which files exist in SharePoint are not included in counts in Fusion.

  • When processing SharePoint content, Fusion does not process SharePoint library items that include the UIVersion field. These SharePoint items are SharePoint UI elements and are skipped. For example, the Form Templates and List Template Gallery library items are UI elements and therefore not processed by Fusion. However, when viewing the SharePoint Site Contents page, these SharePoint items are included in the item count.

SharePoint deletion tracking

Fusion tracks the deletion of managed SharePoint items using the SharePoint change logs. Each time processing is run on a dataset—on a schedule, or on demand—Fusion checks the SharePoint logs for deleted items. For each managed item that is deleted in SharePoint, Fusion deletes that item from the Fusion index. If an item within a container file (such as ZIP) is deleted in SharePoint, the item is removed from the index as part of updating the container file when the Fusion job run occurs.

To ensure accurate tracking of items deleted from SharePoint, ensure that the SharePoint datasets in Fusion are updated more often than the maximum number of days SharePoint logs are kept. For example, if your SharePoint logs are configured to be stored for 60 days, verify that your SharePoint datasets are updated at least every 59 days.