Error message when you configure the Content Query Web Part in SharePoint Server 2007: "The query cannot be completed because the number of lists in the query exceeded the allowable limit"

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SYMPTOMS

You add the Content Query Web Part to a Web page in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. Then, you configure the Content Query Web Part to query and to display the data that you want.

For example, you configure the Content Query Web Part by using the following API calls:

SPSite site = SPControl.GetContextSite(this.Context);
SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb();
SPSiteDataQuery query = (SPSiteDataQuery)getQuery();
DataTable items = web.GetSiteData(query);

When you do this, you receive the following error message:

The query cannot be completed because the number of lists in the query exceeded the allowable limit. For better results, limit the scope of the query to the current site or list or use a custom column index to help reduce the number of lists.

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CAUSE

This issue occurs if the Content Query Web Part is configured to query more than 1000 lists. The Content Query Web Part does not support more than 1000 lists at the same time.

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RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, configure the Content Query Web Part to query fewer than 1000 lists.

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MORE INFORMATION

A cross-list query across lots of lists may allocate lots of memory because the metadata for all the lists is held in memory at the same time. For example, if you configure the Content Query Web Part to query 5000 lists, as much as 500 MB of memory may be allocated to the operation. In this scenario, you may experience the issue that is mentioned in the "Symptoms" section.

For more information about how to customize the Content Query Web Part, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa981241.aspx (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa981241.aspx)

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