InfoPath Dev

Hi,
I've created some custom control using C#, i want on form load, via JScript, to pass some data to my control.
However, i can not access any of my control propeties using the script:

var usersControl = XDocument.DOM.selectSingleNode("//my:field1");
usersControl.Value = "456";
or
usersControl.displayField = "33";

Altought those properties are com visible:
[ComVisible(true), Browsable(true)]
public string displayField...

It seems like the DOM.selectSingleNode returns the control's data from the form's XML and not the control instance itself.

How can I interact with my custom control using script in the form? My main goal is to pass data from web service to my contro.

Thanks.

As you have surmised, selectSingleNode() returns a reference to an XML node, not a control.  There isn't really any way to directly interact with an InfoPath control from within the form's code.

To set the value of a node object (usersControl in the code you pasted), you can set the text property.

usersControl.text = "456";

I hope you're kidding when you say "There isn't really any way to directly interact with an InfoPath control from within the form's code."

I'm new to InfoPath but an old-timer building applications in Office with VBA.  I've learned that InfoPath doesn't support VBA; OK, I can live with that.  But if I can't set properties for controls programmatically or even get a control's value then I've got a problem and maybe InfoPath isn't as useful a tool as it appeared.

I assure you I would not kid in a forum such as this.

As I said, there is no way to directly interact with a control from the code.  An InfoPath form is a visual representation of an XML document, and you can indirectly interact with controls (get and set values, add and delete rows from repeating sections) by interacting with the form's XML.  Some changes to form controls' visual properties can be accomplished through the use of conditional formatting in a form template's settings.

I and many others on this forum have found InfoPath to be quite a handy and versatile tool.  I recommend having a poke around this forum to see examples of its uses and capabilities.

I agree that there are scenarios where InfoPath appears to be a good tool for a specific job and I'm sorry if the tone of my last post was strident.  As a long-time VBA developer I find it frustrating not to have access to familiar tools/methods/properties/events.  My frustration level was high when I wrote the post.  Since then I've been experimenting, trying to accomplish my goals using vbscript and jscript, and am getting close.  Thank heaven for Google and forums like this.  I find pearls of knowledge hither and yon.