InfoPath Dev

Hi everyone,

I have a problem with nested repeating sections.  Here is my set up:

List 1 - Categories (ID, Name)

List 2 - Subcategories (ID, Name, Category)

List 3 - Items (ID, Name, SubCategory, Category)

I created a form using List 3 and checking repeating boxes.  I can make a repeating section of List 2 and inside that have a repeating table of List 3 FILTERED by subcategory to match the one I'm repeating for.

However, I can't seem to have all 3.  I can't make a repeating section of List 1 that has repeating sections of List 2.

I want to see:

Category1

 -Subcategory1

--Item1

--Item2

-Subcategory2

...

etc.

I'm even okay with visual tricks to achieve that formatting.  I've tried everything I can think of - right now I'm using a repeating section of List 2 with a filtered repeating table of List 3 - but it either won't show List 1's info OR it will show List 1's info (category name) on every instance of the subcategory.

Anyone have any ideas?  I'm not adverse to coding, but don't know a whole lot about Infopath coding.

Thanks!

-Casey

Hi Casey,

You definitely can do this and I've done it before. You will have to specify a double filter for the Items. Remember that you are filtering in the children, not the parent. In other words, the item dropdown should have a filter that only chooses items that match the subcategory AND category.

Hi Patrick, Thanks for the quick response! The only problem is that I don't see the option to filter on the middle level - there is no "Filter" option for the List 2 repeating section. I tried to instead set the individual items to not show (basically use rules to not display items that don't match the filter) but that does not work. Does it have something to do with the fact that these are Sharepoint Lists and not a regular Data Connection? Thanks, -Casey

Hi Casey, so you've got three SharePoint lists and dropdown field in your view which is bound to a text field in your main data source is bound to them, right? If so, you should be able to filter just fine. You can filter main data source data based on secondary data sources. No problem. Sometimes tricky xpaths are required, but it can be done. I think you should just get some in person help to resolve this. You can keep going through the free forum, post your XSN and people will respond, but for a quick resolution, I recommend just using Qdabra's paid support. An hour of support can be pretty inexpensive and well worth your time and training. :)

I'll try to ask someone to post an example of a three SharePoint list dropdown filter, but it may take a few days.

Hi Casey,

I believe this is what you want:

I've attached the sample form I created with these filters. You may change the data connections to your own so you could test.

Hope that helps!

 Mel,

That looks great, but I think there might be some confusion - I'm attaching a screenshot of what I'm looking for (note that this screenshot doesn't work, it's just a mockup).  The user is only entering data for the lowest level items.  The form will pull data from the first two lists.  In the screenshots, anything that is green is not editable.  I used the example of cars.

 

Here are my sharepoint lists:

• CarCategories (contains entries for HONDA CARS, TOYOTA CARS, etc). - fields: Name, ID
  
• CarSubCategories (contains entries for CIVIC, ACCORD, COROLLA, etc.) - fields: Name, ID, Category
• CarProducts (contains entries for NORMAL CIVIC, HYBRID CIVIC, TURBO CIVIC, NORMAL ACCORD, etc..) - fields: Name, ID, Category, Subcategory, Month, Price, etc..

So the user would load the form, select the month and it would load all CarProducts - but sorted by category / subcategory for easier entry.  They won't be adding any new items.  I just can't get Sharepoint to filter the CarSubCategories level.  I even have all of the CarCategories / CarSubCategories data available at the CarProducts level - so if there's a way to just sort or "GROUP BY" in infopath on a repeating level, that would be great.

 Thanks for all the help so far!

-Casey

Did you ever get a response or solution for this? I am having the exact same problem.