InfoPath Dev

The long and short is that I usually create workflows weather they are ran manually or on edit etc where these workflows manipulate/edit fields on the form. The fields are those that I promote from the Infopath form into SharePoint metadata etc. The issue I have is that when a form is living not only in SharePoint but also in DBXL/SQL the only way I can get the forms data to reflect back into DBXL/SQL is to press my handy "Submit" button or whatever I call it from the open form item itself.

 I have the need for a workflow to not only update fields in the form & submit the form. How can I have a workflow trigger a submit? Without a workflow being able to submt a form I have a situation where any edit to the forms visible or invisible fields have to be update manually by opening a form and pressing "Submit".

 Example:

My infopath form is a Incident Report. When it's created it goes through an approval. When approved I have a workflow that creates "Corrective Actions" which are list items on a list not the same infopath library. I have no problem via workflows to have it so that when a particular "Corrective Action" is completed it updates the respective "Incident Report" infopath form to show that there is 1 less active corrective action etc. The issue stands now that I have these forms also in a SQL DB via DBXL that this information is not reflected in the Database until someone then opens the form and presses "Submit" which sort of defeats the automation of field changes/edits via WorkFlow.

Thanks for any help on this. My thoughts are for someone to create a custom SharePoint Designer Workflow activity that allows you to query to select a specific form as you do currently specific forms etc then for this custom activity to enumerate any dataconnections to then allow you to pick which one you would like to use to trigger a submit function via workflow.

 Any help would be SUPER CRAZY MAD SILLY appreshiated.

Hi HomeSlacks,

We haven't had time to look at this today. In general, for DBXL solutions, we recommend that people use Forms-based Workflow. We even have a Webinar class on it. We find that while SharePoint workflow is sexy, it has some known limitations and ends up requiring code more often than not. With Forms-based Workflow, you use rules and status in the form to control routing and approval. Easier to configure and doesn't require as much code, but worflows aren't copyable to other form templates.

At any rate, this is a topic we need to address in DBXL 2.4 (due out in October). We may provide a plug-in to aid this scenario. In the meantime, I'm sorry but we don't have a good solution other than to use Forms-based Workflow.

Yours truly,

Hello Patrick,

 Regarding form based workflows, might you have a document that can guide me through setting a form based workflow up? Maybe a sample form, sample steps etc being that I've never used them please. If I had one walkthrough I'm sure I would sort out how to continue that development.

Thanks.