Additional Promoted fields added to an existing form library show up then disappear - InfoPath Dev
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Additional Promoted fields added to an existing form library show up then disappear

Last post 12-18-2017 05:10 PM by Hilary Stoupa. 5 replies.
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  • 12-18-2017 05:54 AM

    • gbmarc
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    • Joined on 12-15-2017
    • Posts 3

    Additional Promoted fields added to an existing form library show up then disappear

    This problem existsin InfoPath and SharePoint 2010. The basic problem is that when trying to add additional promoted fields to the SharePoint form library, they won't 'stick'. They appear briefly and then it looks like SharePoint reverts to a previous version of the library where they don't exist. Here's what happens:

    1. I re-publish an existing form to a SharePoint form library and promote a couple of new fields.
    2. In SharePoint I open the form library's settings. The promoted fields will show in the available columns. so far so good!
    3. I now go back and try to open one of the forms. I receive an error that this form can only be opened in InfoPath Filler.
    4. Now I try to modify any view of the form library. The promoted fields/columns will be missing.
    5. I go back in to the Form Library settings and my promoted fields have disappeared.

    Two other factors that may contribute:
    In my case there were two xsn templates for the same form. Both seem to update simultaneously no matter which one I open in InfoPath.

    Here's another weirdness that I see has already been discussed in other posts:
    Although the promoted fields are initially listed in the form library views the values for these new fields are blank. However, if you click on a specific form (whether it opens or even if you just get the error msg) the values will get filled in once you go back to the list view.
    Publishing the form first to Template.xsn and then closing InfoPath and then opening it again' and republishing a second time or third time eventually cleared the error and made the promoted fields appear. Basically, at this point the promoted fields are there but only temporarily. Various actions will now cause them to disappear. Like viewing the properties of a specific Form list entry or viewing the form library in Quickview. I can even modify a view to have the new promoted fields but it only holds until I try and access a form and then all the promoted fields are lost.
    Along with this is the very frustrating loss of workflow variables for the this form library which must be re-entered every time I republish the form in InfoPath.
    So there's 3 basic problems that make my library unuseable:
    1. Promoted fields don't hold but disappear
    2. Even if the promoted fields show up, their values don't get filled in, in any of the views unless you 'touch' an entry
    3. SharePoint Workflows based on this form library lose values after InfoPath form is republished

    It would all be very nice if it worked, unfortunately It doesn't.
    Mark
  • 12-18-2017 07:44 AM In reply to

    Re: Additional Promoted fields added to an existing form library show up then disappear

    I've never seen the issue of promoted columns disappearing. As to the issue of promoted fields not displaying data for existing forms, this a known issue. The easiest work around I know is to open the library in Windows Explorer, select and copy all the XML, and paste the XML locally. As the files paste to your local folder, they will be updated in the library.
    Hilary Stoupa

  • 12-18-2017 08:04 AM In reply to

    • gbmarc
    • Not Ranked
    • Joined on 12-15-2017
    • Posts 3

    Re: Additional Promoted fields added to an existing form library show up then disappear

    Thanks Hilary. I guess I'm on my own with something very specific to my site going on.
    What about the disappearing variables in the workflows associated with this library? This is very predictable and my colleagues also experience it on their workflows.
    Publish a form in InfoPath, and then in SharePoint Designer I check the workflows and instead of seeing "Current Item:somevariable" I see "Current Item:" So every time I publish a form I have to go back in and restore the workflows. It gets old.
    Mark
  • 12-18-2017 08:11 AM In reply to

    Re: Additional Promoted fields added to an existing form library show up then disappear

    I've also not seen this.... You are basically taking the currently published form, modifying it, and republishing it to the same library? I have seen issues with promoted properties when a form is published to a different library then back to the original (the column GUIDs in the manifest end up off, and columns get duplicated or recreated).
    Hilary Stoupa

  • 12-18-2017 10:55 AM In reply to

    • gbmarc
    • Not Ranked
    • Joined on 12-15-2017
    • Posts 3

    Re: Additional Promoted fields added to an existing form library show up then disappear

    Yes. The fact that my colleague experiences it in a totally different site, workflow and library, suggests that it is not something peculiar to my setup.
    Another one of my colleagues had indicated that a Microsoft patch was needed but he didn't have any details and I think it might have been something he heard second hand. Mark
  • 12-18-2017 05:10 PM In reply to

    Re: Additional Promoted fields added to an existing form library show up then disappear

    I agree - sounds as if it may be something to do with your SharePoint server. Do you have access to the logs? You may want to review those.
    Hilary Stoupa

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