InfoPath Dev

I have a form and I need to have a unqiue number attached to that form when posting to a SharePoint from library.

I think using the date/year/seconds would be perfect but the number seems too long. I have also tried the SharePoint ID but that didn't work out.

 has anyone figured out a way yet?

Attached to the form?  You mean a piece of data in the form, an attachment, or in the filename?  I have an auto-generating filename method and an auto-numbering method (yes, the SharePoint ID can work for you if done right):

InfoPath – Auto-Generating Filenames

this would be perfect but is there any way of shortening it? we would be giving this refernce over the phone

Any way of shortening what?  Giving what reference?

 Sorry it's late in the uk.

 I'll start from the beginning, I have been creating a Help Desk logging tool using Infopath and SharePoint. I originally had a reference which was taken from the SharePoint list however when I was creating workflows and moving lists about I found there could be duplicate ID's.

I started looking at your Auto-Generating filenames which would be perfect but is there any way or shortening it to 6digits long? as this would be used as a reference for our users when a job is logged.

That's up to you on the 6-digit thing.  You know the technique now, but you need to figure out something that is unique and is only 6 digits.  I use the now() function, because it goes down to the second, and I concatenate it with the username, because it's nearly impossible for a user to submit two separate forms in the same split second.  I can't just use the date or time from now(), because those are much less unique.

Why can you not use my auto-numbering technique that leverages the SharePoint ID for the form itself?

Check out the blog by Hilary Stoupla regarding generating a unique ID.  It requires a SQL table, but it is very simple and she steps through each piece including the table, stored procedures, and code.  I was able to get this working in a couple of hours.  Hope this helps. 

http://www.infopathdev.com/blogs/hilary/archive/2008/11/21/fun-with-sequential-form-ids-sql-and-sprocs.aspx