InfoPath Dev

I have a form with fields Project ID, Project Name, Project Start Date, Project End Date and more, i am autopopulating all other fields based on Project ID from a secondary data connection (access DB). Users fill this form with some manual inputs and save it (or submit) to the sharepoint form library. where all the data is promoted to sharepoint columns.

The actual problem is the data in secodary data connection(access DB) might be changed sometimes, since the data in access DB is source of truth, users want the infopath form to automatically update with the latest data.

 i have created rules that load the updated data when the form opens and saved when users save the form. but users cant open each and every form and save it all the time. is there anyway around it so the data is always in sync with the access DB table?

Thanks in advance.

I don't know the exact solution to your problem, but here are some thoughts.

Each XML form needs to be opened in order for the data query and rules to execute (and bring in the latest data from the secondary data source), then the form is resubmitted to overwrite the XML file in the form library.

Having the user open the form and resubmit is the issue you've run into.

So it seems as though what you'll want is some way of automatically having the server open and resubmit each XML in the form library, perhaps on a schedule (daily/hourly)? I haven't heard of such functionality, sadly.

I don't know whether a SharePoint workflow would allow updating the XML file in this way, but it's worth a Google search. This discussion seems to suggest it be done within the form itself.

Good luck!