InfoPath Dev

I have three InfoPath forms on SharePoint that I would like to submit to a single SharePoint library. How can I view fields from each form in the common SharePoint library? For example, I have the field Job_Name that is a key on each form (the field is tied to different Access tables on the back-end). When I submit the form to the common SharePoint library, I want to be able to see the Job_Name tied to each form in my display view. Is this possible? If I create a new field in the SharePoint library with the same name, the field remains blank.

Thanks for the help,

Chip

I don't think you can create the field in SharePoint -- you must do it in InfoPath:

1. Choose Form Options from the Tools menu.
2. In the Form Options dialog box, select the Form Library Columns tab.
3. Add the fields that you want to show up in SharePoint.
4. Click OK.
5. Publish.

Now try again... when you save an InfoPath form, the library column is filled in from the InfoPath field. You have to do this from the form side, not from the SharePoint side.

Greg,

I have all of my fields defined in InfoPath like you mentioned above. This does show the fields in the SharePoint library for that form. However, I want to submit the form to a different library within SharePoint. The second library does not show the fields - it only has default SharePoint fields or any fields tied to the InfoPath form for that specific library.

It seems like I can only show fields that have been defined in the InfoPath for for that specific library. If I post/submit to a different library, I am losing the fields. Does this make sense?

Thanks,

Chip

I have not personally tried what you are attempting to do. But I wonder if it would be possible to publish your form template to both libraries--thus establishing the promoted fields in both libraries. Then you might be able to remove the template from the second library and still be able to post to it anyway.

Bear in mind that InfoPath has a GUID generated for each field you promote to SharePoint and that these GUIDs might change for each library you publish to (not sure on that). If they do change, then that would be a problem.

Let us know what you find!

I was able to get this to work. For the common fields you want to display, each form must have the same fields, with the same names, and located on the same level (won't work if one field is in a section and the other field is not). Then publish all of these fields. You will then be able to submit the form to either library or a different library that has the same setup (same fields, same names, same level).

If you are writing to a backend database (like Access or SQL Server), you can create "temp" fields that store the same information as the database field. The "temp" fields will be consistant on each form and these fields will be published. This way you can keep the same structure like I mentioned above (if you have two forms, with two different tables, but similar fields, SharePoint won't recognize the fields if you publish the database field. This is because the fields are named differently because the table names are different. A "temp" field would resolve the issue).

Chip