InfoPath Dev

First time I've ever reached out to a support community for help, really hoping someone can provide some direction (that I can understand).

Scenario: I have a primary/master SP list that I am using to store general information about contracts, each list item has a unique CONTRACT-00XX identifier. I have multiple secondary lists that contain other information about the contracts and they also contain the same unique CONTRACT-00XX keys. (Because of the column limits I need to use multiple lists). When a user needs to update their information I have them utilize the editifs.aspx form for the item in the master list.

Desired Result - the editifs.aspx form for the master list item displays secondary list data for CONTRACT-00XX item. 1. Editifs.aspx form retrieve data from secondary lists based on the CONTRACT-00XX key. (I have accomplished this - I can get the data fields from secondary lists with the values as they exist in secondary source) 2. On Form Submittal/Save have the secondary list fields submit back to their respective list items (key = CONTRACT-00XX) with any changes the user may have made to the secondary data fields. This is where I am struggling.

Hopefully this question makes sense. Thank you in advance for any help!

So - this scenario, which seems so basic, isn't supported out of the box. Are you using InfoPath to customize your list forms? InfoPath doesn't support submitting secondary data sources unless you use code, which is not supported in SharePoint List forms. You may be able to use CAML for this in a list form as long as you aren't using SharePoint Online - so before I send you down that rabbit hole, I want to make sure you are using SharePoint on-prem. :)

 Hi Hilary, sorry for the delay on my end here; thank you so much for responding!  I am using InfoPath to customize my forms.  I need some clarification on the SP online question.  I access it via the web but my company had its own SharePoint server (although I'm not an admin and cannot get that access) - so I think this is SP on prem.    I have looked in to CAML and XML, and although I am proficient programmer in other languages, its the first time I've attempted to work with CAML service or XML so I'm having a difficult time finding a good tutorial to teach me, and no where to go with questions. 

 

Thanks again, and sorry for the delay. 

Ok. So these are list forms, and it sounds like you are using SharePoint on prem. So you may be able to do this with CAML (whether it works in the browser will depend on the server, so unfortunately you'll end up doing the work without knowing for sure if it will work until published). You should be able to find some posts / samples on this forum to help you. https://www.infopathdev.com/forums/p/39185/119661.aspx is one that has a sample with rules to update another list from a library form, but the logic would be similar in any form.

 Thank you for pointing me to that resource... unfortunately, system admin settings prevent me from opening form templates from the internet... I'm getting an error :/

Right click the link and download the file. Right click the saved file and select design - then you will have the form opened in designer.