Today, I want to present a feature that was released with Sharegate 2.9. A unique and powerful feature that allows you to merge multiple SharePoint columns together without losing the metadata. Let me show you what I mean.
1) Basic scenario – Automatic mappings with identical columns
List A
Column 1 (Text field)
Column 2 (Lookup field)
List B
Column 1 (Text field)
Column 2 (Lookup field)
Mappings:
Column 1 in ‘List A’ mapped to Column 1 in ‘List B’
Column 2 in ‘List A’ mapped to Column 2 in ‘List B’
Nothing is too fancy here. Source and destination columns have the same name. Sharegate will map the columns automatically. No manual mappings are required. You’ll end up having your metadata assign correctly from the source columns to the destination columns.
2) Typical scenario – Manual mappings with different column names and types
List A
Column 1 (Text field)
Column 2 (Lookup field)
List B
Column 3 (Text field)
Column 4 (Managed metadata field)
Mappings:
Column 1 in ‘List A’ mapped to Column 3 in ‘List B’
Column 2 in ‘List A’ mapped to Column 4 in ‘List B’ (even if they have a different field type)
This scenario requires a little more work. In Sharegate, the user remaps the columns using the drag-and-drop feature in the property mapper. Again, you’ll end up having your metadata assign from the source columns to the destination columns and you’ll have your Lookup column converted to a Managed Metadata column at the same time.
3) Advanced scenario – Multiple columns to a single column
List A
Column 1 (Lookup field)
Column 2 (Choice field)
Column 3 (Managed metadata field)
List B
Column 1 (Managed Metadata field)
Mappings:
Column 1 in ‘List A’ mapped to Column 1 in ‘List B’
Column 2 in ‘List A’ mapped to Column 1 in ‘List B’
Column 3 in ‘List A’ mapped to Column 1 in ‘List B’
As you can see, we merge the three columns into a single one. In Sharegate, the user remaps the columns the same way he was doing before. Since Sharegate 2.9, any destination column that supports the ‘multi-values’ (Lookup, Choice, People, Managed Metadata) option will allow more than one column to be mapped to it. That’s it.
Why would I use a feature like that?
You’re stuck with lists having dozen of lookup and choice columns, and now you want to use a Managed Metadata column instead. Or you have two Lookup columns that should always have been one. It’s your opportunity to make it right with Sharegate.
Please read carefully
If you merge multiple columns into a single one, you have to make sure that the destination column contains all the corresponding values. To keep the integrity of your lists/libraries/term sets, Sharegate will not create automatically the values for you.
It means that if you merge three Lookup columns into a single Managed metadata column, you have to make sure that the ‘term set’ is already filled with terms having the same name as the Lookup values. If not, Sharegate will prompt an error saying that the values don’t exist.
