InfoPath Dev

Hi again,
I've been tasked with changing a datasource for a drop down list. Now, technically I know how to do this but wonder what effects this will have when viewing existing forms. There is a sharepoint list set up of clients and I intend to change this so that this list is pulled from a CRM system. The problem I have is that it is highly likely that the selected value for existing forms will be different in both the list and the CRM system.

If I change the drop down list data source then the text in the existing field will not match and hence the correct company will not be selected. The way I see it I could select the "Do not update existing forms" option to ensure that new forms only use the new data source. I do not however know what the consequences will be for doing this.

The way I see it is that the most likely outcome of this is that the template will not populate and probably give an error or force the user to reselect the company. If they are in a different view then this may stop forms from submitting and probably produce the error "some of these fields have not validated please correct fields highlighted in red" and then I'll have to manually go in and change every form so that the correct company is selected. This will of course be annoying at best.

Has anyone encountered a similar situation who can give me a bit of a heads up about this before I do the change?

 a work around : why dont you create another drop down and hide the old one, also leave the old data connection in place for old forms,  so old forms continue to use the old dropdown and the connection, and the new one use the new dropdown of course you need to hide the old one.

alos you will have to select "do not update existing forms"). so that existing forms dont turn bad

Thanks Qazi,
Every InfoPath solution is a messy solution.

For beginners, infopath seems to be messy, infact when i started working with InfoPath, it was more because of compulsion than preferrences, but 2-3 months down the lane everything changed when i realized the power of infopath in office automation. I hope your view point about infopath will change sooner or later..

I've had two experiences with changing the datasource, or list of selectable value, in a drop list.

1. The original value on old forms still displays and actually stays as an option in the drop list until it is changed - at which point the user can't get it back.

2. The original value does not display, because it is not a value in the current drop list - but the value actually still is in the field.

Both results seems to be dependant on how you retrieve your values (e.g. through SQL data connection).

I still think there is a couple of lateral solutions which you could try (not sure if it will work)

1 have a read only text box above the drop list which displays the current value - old values will still display

2 if you are changing the available options - this usually means the old options are no longer relevant, and should be removed or replace with one of the new ones. Try a Open rule on the form which updates the field's old value to a matching new one, if you are using dataconnection for Main datasource - you could put the rules in code on the query event.