InfoPath Dev

The relative path is the path from the repeating node. Your repeating node is: my:expenseReport/my:items/my:item

Your relative path would be:

 <my:Mapping>
<my:FormField my:IsRichText="false">../../my:employee/my:name</my:FormField>
<my:SharePointColumn>User</my:SharePointColumn>
</my:Mapping>
<my:Mapping>
<my:FormField my:IsRichText="false">../../my:employee/my:emailAddress</my:FormField>
<my:SharePointColumn>email</my:SharePointColumn>
</my:Mapping>

I'm assuming that this has the full path because that is what you entered in the mapping tool. One way to figure out the relative path is to set up a rule on your repeating group. Add a condition. For the first drop down for your condition, select the field you want (like name in the above example). Then change the first drop down to "The expression" - you'll see the relative path in the text box that displays in the condition. Then you can delete your rule.

Ok, I entered the relative paths (still learning as I go) and am still not returning the values.  The updated xml is as follows:

<my:Mappings>
    <my:IsRepeating>true</my:IsRepeating>
    <my:RepeatingGroup>my:expenseReport/my:items/my:item</my:RepeatingGroup>
    <my:Mapping>
      <my:FormField my:IsRichText="false">my:date</my:FormField>
      <my:SharePointColumn>Item_x0020_Date</my:SharePointColumn>
    </my:Mapping>
    <my:Mapping>
      <my:FormField my:IsRichText="false">my:description</my:FormField>
      <my:SharePointColumn>Title</my:SharePointColumn>
    </my:Mapping>
    <my:Mapping>
      <my:FormField my:IsRichText="false">my:category</my:FormField>
      <my:SharePointColumn>Category</my:SharePointColumn>
    </my:Mapping>
    <my:Mapping>
      <my:FormField my:IsRichText="false">my:amount</my:FormField>
      <my:SharePointColumn>Amount</my:SharePointColumn>
    </my:Mapping>
    <my:Mapping>
      <my:FormField my:IsRichText="false">../../../my:employee/my:name</my:FormField>
      <my:SharePointColumn>User</my:SharePointColumn>
    </my:Mapping>
    <my:Mapping>
      <my:FormField my:IsRichText="false">../../../my:employee/my:emailAddress</my:FormField>
      <my:SharePointColumn>email</my:SharePointColumn>
    </my:Mapping>
  </my:Mappings>

Can you tell me what you mean by "returning values" - do you mean that the values of your higher level items aren't being populated in your list?

I'm pretty sure, given the previous sample you showed, that you have one too many "../" in your relative paths.

Did you try the syntax I suggested in my earlier post?

 <my:Mapping>
<my:FormField my:IsRichText="false">../../my:employee/my:name</my:FormField>
<my:SharePointColumn>User</my:SharePointColumn>
</my:Mapping>
<my:Mapping>
<my:FormField my:IsRichText="false">../../my:employee/my:emailAddress</my:FormField>
<my:SharePointColumn>email</my:SharePointColumn>
</my:Mapping>