InfoPath Dev

Background: I have users who are resistant to the paperless workflow. They are resistant to change. Currently they fill out a MSWord document form where they just "Save As" each time. This allows them to re-use consistent information within a previous form, for use in a new form. We are currently using InfoPath 2007, but will be upgrading to 2010 in the next 3-4 months.

So bear with me while I try to describe what I want to do. We have a product for which we need to fill out a form. On this form there are 20-25 different fields of information -- representing a variety of control types (dropdown menus, look up fields, text boxes, date pickers, etc.). Our users typically execute their work based on a batch of these forms. A batch is identified by common information in some fields, and unique information in other fields.

Can you build functionality in the form where you, basically, duplicate your form and add a second (and a 3rd, 4th, etc.) page that is exactly the same as the first. The user would then go in and update information, that has already been entered or selected, on the subsequent pages.

 I think this is a long shot, but any help would be appreciated.

Hi Metonda and welcome,

Sure you can do that. We call that feature "data templates". Here are your options:

• Rely on Internet Explorer's autocomplete
• Pro: auto-complete remembers what you typed before and shows it as you start typing. This is field specific, easy-to-use and you may not even have to turn it on
• Con: field specific (not batched) and doesn't work for complex data types (rich text, images)
• Use Default Data in the InfoPath designer.
• Pro: a good option for quick surveys since same data defaults all forms that open
• Con: hard to update and applies to all new forms so bad for storing data specific to each user; doesn't work for complex data types
• Import the previous form using File->Merge Forms
• Pro: out-of-box functionality to merge forms; powerful extensions using XSLT and special aggregator commands in the XSLT; all without writing code (assuming XSLT isn't code for you)
• Con: you will need a custom merge (XSD+XSLT) for repeating sections. See Status Report form or Meeting Agenda samples for an example of this. InfoPath 2003 SDK also has a more involved example.
• Pull data from an existing form. Use a dropdown on your form called "Copy data from: " and list all of the previous forms (maybe filtered by user)
• Pro: easy to understand and use; you can restrict which fields you allow to be copied using set field command
• Con: you have to use rules to set fields and there might be a lot; setting repeating groups (tables/sections) requires CopyTable rule in qRules (see Qdabra.com site for trial download)
• Reopen old form and change name on save/submit
• Pro: very easy to implement. Supports complex data types.
• Con: user has to have access to previous forms and form template has to be changed to make sure name is unique 

Hope these techniques can help you! Let us know if you have more questions.

 This is very very helpful. We're going to explore each of these and see if one of them will work for us.

 THANKS!

I realize this is an old post but I'm looking for a solution that allows me to merge status reports so that I can have one form that pulls in all users, showing accomplishments for each user (for that week). My goal is to pull it all in (from a SharePoint library) to one form and allow the manager to edit those accomplishments to remove duplicates or simply move an accomplishment bullet point up or down. Is this possible? If so, can you point me to something that will get me started? I'm trying to avoid the method of actually having to use the Merge feature available in the SharePoint list library. I was hoping to provide a button or simply create a view in a form that simply pulls all of this data in.

 Your advice is greatly appreciated.