InfoPath Dev

I have a SharePoint list with two fields - Name and Description. In my form I have a drop down box which is tied to Name. I want another field in the form to auto-complete with the corresponding Description once the Name field is chosen by the user. The ways that I have attempted so far only populate the text box with the first item from the list of names. Hope this makes sense. Thanks!

Hi DavidZ,

The simplest way of doing this is through rules.  Create a new Action rule on the dropdown list box that goes something like "if Name is equal to Item1" then Set a Field's value to "Description1".  You can create a rule for every item you have in your list to have a different description for each.

Let me know if you need additional help creating the rules and I'd be more than happy to help!

Thanks Anson. Are you saying I would have to create a new rule for every "Name" in my SharePoint list?

 I'm looking for a way for InfoPath to grab the correct corresponding "Description" once the Name field is selected. Is this not possible?

Ah yes, that is certainly possible.  If you only plan to have a few Names (~4 to 5), then adding a rules for each is probably the quickest way.  If you have lots of names then you can create a secondary data connection to your SharePoint list and use query fields to search for the description that matched the selected name.  You can read more about query fields in thsi blog post below. You'll need 2010 to leverage queryFields in InfoPath.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/infopath/archive/2010/05/06/sharepoint-list-data-connections-in-infopath-2010.aspx

Unfortunately I'm on MOSS 2007 so it doesn't sound like Query fields are supported in the way that I need. I'm surprised this type of thing was not supported in InfoPath 2007. Thanks for your input Anson.

OK, here is the correct way to accomplish this:

1. Add a calculated field, hit the fx button
2. Insert field or group
3. Choose the appropriate data source
4. Expand the list and choose your field
5. Click Filter Data...
6. Click Add
7. Now change the expression so that the item chosen in your drop down matches an item in your data source.
8. Click OK all the way out and test

Now in your form, on preview, when you change the drop down field, the new calculated field will display the matching item from your list.