InfoPath Dev

I am creating an InfoPath form with data pulled from SQL with DBXL’s data query tool that must match the original paper form as closely as possible.  However there are several issues that I am not certain how to proceed on.

#1 I am pulling full names including the middle name for the form, but all I need, or want is the first letter of the middle name, can I set that up to display/print the first letter only?

#2 I pull a 6 digit number from the database, ideally I would like to be able to put 1 digit in each column of a 1 row 6 column table so it would use the same number format as the paper form, rather than the entire 6 digits in a single cell.  Is that possible?

#3 Certainly the last item seems the simplest, but that just makes it the more irritating that I cannot solve it.  I have several 1 by 1 tables that I am filling in as sold black page breaks in the form, once again to replicate the original paper form, however, when I go to print the form the lines that I have filled in are printing as blank white tables rather than solid black ones, thanks for any tips on how to get that changed.

For at least #s 1 and 2 it seems that rules might be the answer, but I cannot see how and am grateful for any thoughts anyone might have.

Thank you,

J

Hi J-

#1 and #2 can be solved via string manipulation. So if you just need the first letter of the middle name, try substring(yourmiddlename,1,1) . For #2, you'll need to split the 6 digit number, so:

substring(number,1,1)

substring(number,2,1)

substring(number,3,1)

substring(number,4,1)

substring(number,5,1)

substring(number,6,1)

As far as the print view... print views in InfoPath are tricky. Getting it just right will require a lot of playing around to get everything aligned and looking pretty.  I don't understand this  "1 by 1 tables that I am filling in as sold black page breaks" but rest assured that InfoPath print views are not easy. If your current design didn't work, try using images, or try using a background. Good luck!

Thank you very much for the answers and pointing me towards strings, I think I would have gone in a very wrong direction without that.  #3 all I was saying was I went into borders and shading, and had the table shaded black to put a soild line between other tables, but now that I know that there can be some issues I will play with it and try to find another way to get it to work and see it on the printer.  Thanks again,