Q: How Can I Create an Action for an External Content Type in SharePoint?

By Stefan Kowalewski, Tomek Stojecki, and Ethan Wilansky

Q: How can I create an action for an external content type (ECT) in the Business Data Connectivity Model (BDCM) if I don't want to use SharePoint Designer?

A: Here's a possible solution: While you can add an Action to the ECT in Central Admin, another approach is to edit the XML in the BDCM. Add the following code to the Entity element of your BDCM:

Name of Action"Position="1"IsOpenedInNewWindow="true"Url
  ="NavigateToUrl.aspx?Id=\{0\}">

ParameterId"Index="0" />

The name of the Action will be displayed as the text in the list of actions. You can also add as many parameters as necessary. Just be sure to assign a property to each parameter.

Add the following XML to the Properties element of your Entity to set the Action as default:

Name of Action

Only one Action can be set as the default.

There are a couple items worth noting with this approach:

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