SharePoint Server 2010: Designer Error "data source already exists in BDCM"

Jul 19, 2011 · 1 min read ·

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So here's an error that, at the time I encountered it, did not have a great deal of information about it on the web:

The system definition with the same name as this data source already exists in the Business Data Connectivity Metadata Store and it refers to a different data source. Cannot complete operation generation. Add a connection to this data source with a different name and try again.

I encountered this error after deleting an External Content Type, then recreating it with the same name. The solution ended up being rather simple: close SP 2010 Designer and reopen again. Voila!