InfoPath Dev

I am a relatively new InfoPath 2010 designer. I am attempting to create a system of InfoPath forms forms tied to multiple backend Sharepoint 2010 Lists. The Lists are hierarchical in nature and are updated in sequence to form a process life cycle. I am able to create the basic InfoPath form which replaces the default user entry dialog of a typical Sharepoint List. However, due to approval workflow, select fields in the previous Lists need to set the default values for similar fields in future Lists but not change themselves. Previous List values cannot be modified after approval.

I am attempting to use a secondary data connection to link one Sharepoint List to another Sharepoint List so I can retrieve multiple fields. The fields I want to retrieve should be governed by a drop down list. Here is a basic use case:

List 1

• Request ID
• Request Name
• Old Field 1
• Old Field 2
  

List 2

• Request ID
• Request Name
• New Field 1

I want an InfoPath form tied to List 2 to present a drop down list with values from List 1 Request ID. Upon selecting a List 1 Request ID, I want to set List 2 Request ID = List 1 Request ID to tie the life cycle path of the forms together. I also want to retrieve List 1 Old Field 1 and List 1 Old Field 2 and display them in the form for List 2.

 I feel I am on the cusp of making this work. I experiment and get pieces of it working, but nothing in total as of yet. I have perused the web searching for examples but I cannot find a straightforward example. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 bDs

Hi there,

You can either pull all the data from both lists into your form and then filter the entries from either list using the Filter feature in InfoPath.  Here is a video tutorial that discusses filtering: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH7xUEcQwwg

Or you can use the queryField list data connection to return only the entries that match a given Request ID.  Here is another video webinar that may help you with this approach: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQlWiCdbKBg&list=UUevFL_5LD2E2t9SxCle35iw&index=3&feature=plcp

Good luck!

 Hello Anson,

Thanks for the reply. I did watch your second video concerning secondary data sources but it did not quite answer my question.

Here is the best analogy I can present:

I want to enter a value in an InfoPath form and perform an action identical to Excel's VLookup function.

That is, given an index, return 1 to many fields tied to that record only. Display these additional fields on the form and allow some to be written to the main data connection and stored in the Sharepoint List to which the InfoPath form is tied. I do not want to use a filter or query to provide another selection object for the end user -- I want the user to select only 1 value and then have the form automatically populate 1 - many additional fields based on that selection.

 If I had two fictional Sharepoint Lists:

I want to provide a drop down box for Name X which retrieved its values from Lookup Table Name field.

Upon selection of Name X, the InfoPath form would automatically populate values into ID X and Status X based on the selection previously made.

The ID X field and Status X field, in this case, would save their values to the main list upon submit. However, I could extend this analogy to include retrieval of additional fields from the Lookup table which I want to display on the form but not save. The key is that I want to populate all of these objects based on the single selection made by the user.

Thanks,

bDs