Getting Users to Appreciate Lookup Columns in SharePoint – Part III

Use case 3: Lookup list for reusable items (many-to-many)

The last use case is the list of products which are stated on the invoice. Any invoice can contain more than one product. In this example, the products are software licenses.

The name of the list is “Invoice Items” and looks like this:

BP2_Invoice Items - All Items - Internet Explorer 2013-12-27 22.43.35

As you can see, it has couple of attributes but they are not so important for this use case. The important thing is: when you add a reference to this lookup column to the “Invoices” list, you should select the check box “Allow multiple values” (marked red below).

BP2_Change Column - Internet Explorer 2013-12-27 22.46.23

This will allow you to add/remove items on the invoice form (when entering new invoice or updating an existing one) by rendering Add/Remove control on the Invoice form that looks like this:

BP2_Invoices - New Item - Internet Explorer 2013-12-27 22.48.54

The benefit for the users is to refer to the same set of items on each invoice, but also to add as many items as necessary.


Finally, here is the list of all “Invoices” columns. I have marked all our lookup columns:

BP2_List Settings - Internet Explorer 2013-12-27 22.51.59


Hey there! I’m Toni, the Co-Founder and CEO of Syskit, creators of Syskit Point and SPDocKit. Welcome to Toni on Tech, where we explore the ever-evolving world of software, technology, and business.