InfoPath Dev

I have a form made by a coworker who is no longer with the company. The users of this form have asked to have a field changed from one multi select field to a drop down and a multi select field that work with each other. So, the existing multi select has car features (dually, single cab, double cab, etc.) as well as make (Chevy, Ford, etc.). They want it changed to a drop down that identifies the make and then, based on what is selected in that drop down, a multi select which has the car features (different features visible for different makes of car). There are forms which are already filled out using the old (multi select only) and, when they try to update those existing forms, they are being prompted to fill in the new drop down and multi select features (the old forms must be edited for approvals, etc.). Is there a way to make these old forms auto populate the new drop down and multi select fields based on the old multi select fields that were filled in previously so the users don't have to update it each time they attempt to go through the approval process on the old forms?

I don't think this is possible without using code (or an add-in like qRules) - the main issue is that the original multi-select is a repeating field (in the form's schema) and there isn't a way via rules to add new instances to the new multi-select to populate all the options that have been selected. What about using content types in your form library, or starting a new form library for the changed form? Then the old forms can continue to use the original multi-select, and the new forms can use the new format? Or maybe use conditional formatting in the form to show the old control for the existing forms, and the new controls for the new forms? Does that sound like it might work for your situation?

Thanks for your reply! I think conditional formatting would work to make the old options show only if already filled out and the new options show only if the old options aren't filled out. I need the options that are visible to be mandatory. Is that possible and how do I put conditional formatting to make this work?

Hmmmm - since the fields are required based on the form version, I'd probably actually leverage the form version number to determine them and to determine which controls to show - you could use a string comparison with a function to return the form version....

msxsl:string-compare(substring-before(substring-after(/processing-instruction()[local-name(.) = "mso-infoPathSolution"], 'solutionVersion="'), '"'), "1.2") > 0  for example (more here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/dotnet/netframework-4.0/ms256114(v=vs.100))

But you may have other info in your form you could use. Maybe you have a date created or something you could leverage?