XML definition for ContentType

If one don´t include the FieldRef for a column in the FieldRefs collection of the ContentType (for the schema.xml in the List Instance) then the field is not available in the SPContext.Current.Fields collection.

"The given key was not present in the dictionary"

Error message when activating a feature with field definition included. Could not display any site columns via the site either. Fired up SPM and browsing the Fields collection and got an error message about a field type not correctly installed.

It turned out I had misspelled "Number" to lowercase "number" in my field definition file. Amend the line and upgraded the solution and the problem was resolved

Why BDC columns doesn´t work in Office / Doc Mgmt

Using BDC columns in document libraries feels as a great option, but when trying to use it for any serious document management (using mostly OOB functions) it fails for the following reasons:



1. A BDC column can not be used as a field reference in Word. If you want to display information in header or footer the field reference can not be used.



2. The BDC column can not be configured as a site column (MacroView is workaround, but it can not be edited from the DIP). Major drawback to any usage of content types.




4. If you click the refresh button in the document library all your documents will be checked out again.


We are developing a workaround based on "Choice" columns and eventhandlers instead.

BDC on the other hand is great if you want to display information in web parts :)