InfoPath Dev

I have created an order form where users enter in data which includes: Name, address, phone number, what was ordered etc. I want to be able to invoke a dispatch form using a button on the order form which passes common information over on creation of the dispatch instance. For example the name and address field is passed over thus retyping is not necessary. The only built in functionality I could find can launch the dispatch instance ( an action that says "Open a New Form to Fill Out") but won't pass any data. Does anyone have any idea or example of how I can code this so information into a button so it will pass information between form instances?

Cheers
Luc
;->

Instead of using a completely different form, you could build a new view into your current form. This will be beneficial in a situation like this because you will have the same set of Customer data for any number of views that you wish to add. To add a new view open the View menu, choose Manage Views, and click on Add a new view in bottom of the task pane.

With this new view you can design it to display any data that you wish (such as some entered in another view) and edit/add new data. Since you already have your other form created, try copying and pasting your design from the dispatch form and rebinding the fields.

If your still not satisfied after all that and REALLY want to use a seperate form, it will take some coding. Take a look at this tutorial to get you started:
http://www.infopathdev.com/howto/tutorials/default.aspx?i=af9e48a6e43c41f4be62296a7fa0e494

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Matt Faus
InfoPath Dev Texas

Matt,

Thank you so much for your response. The view concept has opened up a whole new area for me. That is a much cleaner way of doing things in my stituation.

Cheers

Lucian

Sure thing! Let us know how things turn out :)

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Matt Faus
InfoPath Dev Texas

Matt,

Forms have turned out fantastically. Everyone is happy on the reduced data entry required. Thanks once again for your advice. Much Appreciated

Next task is to pull the initial data entry from an existing datasource.

All my data is in a SQL database on the server. Can you point me in the right direction of what I need to read in order to extract data from this datasource.

I created an ODBC connection from infopath which works but when I publish the infopath forms through Sharepoint (IIS) on the server the lookups don't work.

Regards

Lucian

Check out these articles to get you started:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dno2k3ta/html/odc_OfOfficeandSQL.asp
http://www.databasejournal.com/features/mssql/article.php/3070881

Now that you have information for a lot of different customers in your database, you can use a master/detail table to view the database. The master table would have a listing of all customer name alphabetized by last name, and when you click on a certain customer the detail table would populate with all of that customers information.

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Matt Faus
InfoPath Dev Texas