InfoPath Dev

I need to update a value in a form library. I fired up the mappings form and can't get a list of form libraries....is this possible? Thanks

Which mappings form are you referring to?

qdabra infopath to sharepoint list tool.

 That tool only returns lists, I'm afraid. If you map a list and look at the mapping file, you may be able to see what you'd need to change for submitting to your library - I'd test with just a couple columns first to make sure you are able to update the library item - you'd be using this to update an existing library item, I'd think? Because I don't know that you'd be able to create a new item in a library w/out a file....

Sorry, but the Mapping Tool won't show form libraries because qRules' SubmitToSharePointList only allows mapping data into SharePoint lists.

thanks................ Any blogs on how to do this without qrules?

I'm not clear on what you want to do, sorry.

A SharePoint form library stores XML forms. To update one of these, you open it (in InfoPath or the browser) and then resubmit to update.

A SharePoint list stores flat data with no underlying XML form, thus we can update it using qRules.

original post "i want to update a value in a form library". I would like to update a column value in a form library, i can't use qRules so i wondered if there was a blog out there showing how to do this manually without code.

As far as updating a value in a SharePoint form library, without code, the answer is to open the XML, update the value, resubmit the form.

But as I said, I'm not clear on what you want to do. Perhaps you'll want to open a new thread and add information about your scenario and what it is you want to accomplish.

why would i want to open the form and update this then save it etc? that is not workable. Just like with qRules i would like to update a sharepoint list, but instead of using a list i would like to update a form library. At the moment we have lots of forms in a form library. The forms need assigning to a user. So i want to create a form to administer this. I have created a form that loads the list of forms in one list and the list of users in another list. The user will select a form from the form list and select a user from the user list. They will then click Assign Form which is a button, this should update the form library, the column i want to update is Assigned To. So i was going to use qrules, but it doesn't work with Form Libraries, so i asked if there are any blogs on how to update lists/doc+form libraries Thanks.

I just verified that I can use qRules SubmitToSharePoint list to update a column for an existing item in a form library - as long as the promoted property is set to allow editing from the library.

As mentioned above - the challenging thing is just that you'll need to manually modify your mapping file - and then have logic in your form to set whatever field you are going to use in the main data source to hold the ID of the item you want to update.

I set my mapping to use the list name, then manually changed the mapping.xml to have the correct name for my library. I manually modified the mapping to use the correct columns in my library. Take a look at a mapping.xml in a text editor and let me know what all you need help with and I can probably help you get this set up.

 

thanks for the information Hillary. The form name uses a timestamp so this is unique, i can use this as the ID for updating. Will take a look at the mappin.xml and see how far i get. Thanks.

So, just to be painfully clear here - in qRules, one of the things we can map is the actual item ID (the SharePoint List Item ID - an auto incrementing integer that every single list or library item has, whether displayed in the view or not). For updating list items, qRules uses this ID to know what to update. The mapping for the field can look like this:

   <Mapping>
      <FormField IsRichText="false" IsId="true" IsAttachment="false">/my:myFields/my:field2</FormField>
      <SharePointColumn></SharePointColumn>
    </Mapping>

So, in my case above, I'm mapping field2 in my form and have IsId set to true. In order to update my library item, prior to executing the SubmitToSharePointList command, I set field2 to the list item ID of the item I want to update.

Likely, you will use your timestamp to query the library and get the ID of the item you want to update, or you may already have it in your data connection to the library, but I wanted to clarify this in case there was any confusion.

Also - I unit tested only in preview, not in the browser, so we may or may not have challenges there if this is a browser form.

thanks once again!

What do you think the best way is i should try and do this? Should i create a SP list that dummys the Form Library i am trying to update, for example.

1. Create a List with, Filename, AssignedTo fields
2. Create the form that lists all the forms and people to choose who to assign the form to
3. Open the tool to create the mappings, map out the fields etc
4. Save mapping
5. Open in text editor and try to customise it

do you think that would be a good way of working around this?

 Yes - that sounds like a good approach. Be sure you name your list columns exactly the same thing as your library uses - that is, if you have spaces in between words in the promoted properties in your library, be sure you have spaces in the columns in your dummy list. SharePoint generates fun internal names like My_x0020_Name_x0020_With_x0020_Spaces.