Re: Multiple Form Controls Receiving from SP List: Custom Sorts for Each?

Hilary Stoupa — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:30:47 GMT

Hi:

The solution in the blog post you reference uses owssvr.dll for the data connection. Your data connection needs to be to an XML Document. You enter the url that includes the GUID to your list and to your view in the field that asks for the location of your XML file. In the next screen in the data connection wizard, you select 'Access the data from the specified location'. You should be able to leave the 'Automatically retrieve data when the form loads' checkbox selected.

You can test your URL with the GUIDs in a web browser. Paste it into the address bar, and you should get back XML showing the information from your view.

Here are a couple more links that may be helpful to you:

http://www.synergyonline.com/blog/blog-moss/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=24
http://www.sharepoint-tips.com/2007/01/infopath-form-services-implementing.html
http://www.infopathdev.com/files/folders/qrules/entry49214.aspx

The last link actually is for documentation for a new qRules command, but does show the basics of setting up a data connection using owssvr.dll.

I hope this helps, please post back if you need more information.

Multiple Form Controls Receiving from SP List: Custom Sorts for Each?

funniegrrl — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:02:17 GMT

Hi -- Not sure if this question belongs in Data Connections or Controls, but this is my best guess.

I'm using InfoPath 2007, WSS 3, and SharePoint Designer 2007. I'm comfortable with HTML to the point of being able to write it by hand. I am comfortable with copying/pasting code and tweaking it with good step-by-step instructions, but I'm NOT a programmer and I don't have Visual Studio.

I have a form, published to a Form Library, which has data connections to lists on the same subsite. I'll use one example, but I have several that are the same problem. The list in question has multiple columns. One form drop-down points to one column; another control points to another. As expected, the sort order of the drop-down is determined by the sort order of the default view of the list. That's fine for one of the controls, but I need to have the second control sort differently. To be more specific, Field1 in the list contains job titles; Field2 contains a job code number. In my first form control, the drop-down choices should sort alpha by that title; in the second, they should sort ascending by that code number. (And yes, I know that I could autopopulate the second based on the content of the first, but that's not what's needed here, they are independent of each other.)

In Googling around I've seen reference to having multiple data connections set up that point to different views of the list, where the sort is as desired. So, I set up the views and went to set up the data connections. I pasted the full URL for the list view in the appropriate box in the Data Connection Wizard. Indeed, the prompt under the box indicates that you can point to a specific view on a specific list and not just to the site in general. Going through the wizard, I'm still presented with a list of all the lists/libraries on the subsite, and when choosing the desired list, there is no way to indicate that I want to use a specific view. In the control, sure enough, the sort order is merely that of the default view of the list, not the specific view I was trying to use. Looking at the Data Connection, I see that the URL I provided has been truncated to http://site/subsite/ rather than the full http://site/subsite/list/view.aspx that I'd provided.

So ... I've also seen the solution posted here http://blogs.msdn.com/infopath/archive/2007/01/15/populating-form-data-from-sharepoint-list-views.aspx that's been referred to on these forums and elsewhere, which also utilizes the idea of setting up separate data connections to different views. The instructions are too much of a gloss-over, though -- assuming the reader will know the details of the missing steps between. For example, I think I understand how to construct the path that employs the GUID, but when I start the Data Connection Wizard, what next? I've tried choosing both XML Document and SharePoint Library or List in the second step of the wizard, and in both cases I get a message that it's not valid. Thus I am stuck.

If anyone can help with either of these attempts I've made, or have an alternate method, I'd be grateful for assistance.