InfoPath Dev

I'm trying to set the values of fields on my XML form using javascript.   I have no problem setting text values using the selectSingleNode method:

 XDocument.DOM.selectSingleNode("/my:myFields/my:strField1").text = "hello world";

 However, if I wan to set the value of a non-text field usinig similar code:

 XDocument.DOM.selectSingleNode("/my:myFields/my:dtField1") = "5/5/2008";

 Or even the hypothetical:

  XDocument.DOM.selectSingleNode("/my:myFields/my:dtField1").date = "5/5/2008";

 I get the error, "Object does not support this property or method." 

Now, I realize that I'm representing my date as a string here, which probably isn't helping things, but this brings up another issue:  How do represent dates in javascript?  In VBA, I would use the number sign to surround the date (e.g. dtToday = #4/21/2008#), but in javascript I get an invalid character error.

Since I was working with a string anyway, I thought I'd go back to my original statement to see if it would work with the date:

 XDocument.DOM.selectSingleNode("/my:myFields/my:dtField1").text = "5/5/2008";

Which gave me the error, "#PCData in nil content."  I went into the schema and removed the nillable attribute on the date field, which allowed me to force my string into the date field, but of course it created a validation error because I was forcing a string into a date field.  At this point it occurred to me that I was probably making things harder than they had to be, so I thought I'd post it here.

So, basically, my question is this:  If I have a date field on an XML form, how do I assign it the value 5/5/2008 (or any specific date value) using javascript?

First, nodes have two useful properties (well really just the one): .text and .nodeTypedValue. Basically the first is useful and the second does essentially the same thing. So trying to set .date (which doesn't even exist) won't help you.

Second, XML expects date in the sortable format, which is "yyyy-MM-dd", so setting a field with a date datatype, you need to set it as "2008-05-05".

If your date field is set as not required, then it will have the attribute xsi:nil="true" on it. This attribute says that the field CAN be blank... but it also says that it MUST be blank. Non String datatypes must use this attribute to identify that they can be blank. In order to set your date value, you must first remove this attribute from the node, or else your attempt to set a value will conflict with the "MUST be blank" part. When you clear the value of the date field, it will now be a required field unless you add the xsi:nil="true" attribute back on to the node.

Hope this helps!

 Thanks Greg, it worked great.  One more thing though:  What format would I use for a date/time value?  I tried "2008-04-22 08:01:00" but that gave me validation error.

Also, out of curiosity, what's the logic behind th nillable attribute?  I can see the benifit of having  field that can be blank, but what's the purpose of creating a field tha must be blank, and of what value is that field if must be blank?  And does this mean that any non-text field that I want to edit programatically must also be a required field?  I'm new to XML so I'm still trying to wrap my head around some of these concepts.

 Thanks again for all your help.

You are close... change the space character to a "T" character: "2008-04-22T08:01:00".

Please keep in mind that these are not InfoPath-specific standards, they are general XML standards. You can ask here, but you can also find all this information in XML documentation and specs.

Thank goodness I found this.  I never would have known about the forced date format when programmatically setting a date value on an infopath form and how to get rid of the nil error I kept recieving! 

Thank you!

How do you remove an attribute programmatically

 To remove the nil attribute (required before setting a value to a field with the nil attribute), you select the attribute the same way you would select any node, and then delete it. Then you can set the value.

Thanks for the help,

Mel

Hi Greg,

Can you assist me with this? I am unable to get my code to work (and I am not a programmer so I've really struggled with this).

What I want to do is set an int field to null or equivalent. I tried using ValueNode.SetValue("") but that gived me invalid data.

I really appreciate any assistance you can offer.

Danny

The problem here is most likely the presence of an xsi:nil attribute.  Search this forum for xsi:nil, and you should find plenty of help.

You were correct, in order to clear the value of the field I needed to add the xsl:nil attribute to the element. As you described in the how to add xsi:nil = "true" thread. I've pasted my code below for reference.
_____________

valueNode.SetValue(string.Empty);

if (!valueNode.MoveToAttribute("nil", "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"))

valueNode.CreateAttribute("xsi", "nil", System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchema.InstanceNamespace, "true");//required attribute for non-string values
________________________________

Thanks for your help!

Hi again guys,

My code (above) was working beautifully in preview mode in the designer, but now that it's been published it is failing again. Is there a reason this would not work in a browser form?

Sorry to be a pest.

Danny

 InfoPath 2010 features unavailable in Web browser forms (comparative compatibility matrix)

You aren't a pest.

It turns out this works differently in the browser - I had an email conversation with the InfoPath team at MS about this a couple of years ago, and was told:

             /* ...there are differences in the way MSXML (InfoPath client XML library) and System.Xml (IPFS XML library)
             * are validating the XML against the schema. After executing the SetValue() method, System.Xml
             * recognizes the empty text node as a child of the “my:file” node. As such, a validation error
             * occurs when you attempt to reapply the ‘nil’ attribute.*/

So, I did this instead:

            // Because of this, modifying from 'SetValue' to 'DeleteSelf'. MS dev states the following works in client and browser.

            // For details on the below 2 lines, refer to:
            // http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.xml.xpath.xpathnavigator.deleteself.aspx
            fileNode.MoveToFirstChild(); // This moves to the text value of the node.
            fileNode.DeleteSelf(); // This deletes the text value. On delete, node reverts to the parent.
            try
            {
                // Not sure what data type is, so if this fails, it is probably string, so ignore.
                fileNode.CreateAttribute("xsi", "nil", "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance", "true");
            }

This works beautifully!

I can't thank you enough Hilary, you've been a MASSIVE help! 

Danny