Essential SharePoint 2007, 2nd Edition

Populate a Control from a List

InfoPath forms can retrieve data from various types of data sources, including SharePoint lists. InfoPath's access to lists is read-only; it can't directly modify items in a list. InfoPath refers to this type of access as a secondary data source. In InfoPath, primary data source refers to where the form data is stored.

Secondary data sources can populate controls, such as drop-down lists, and they can be used to create reports (or views) of lists from SharePoint. The major steps to populating controls from a SharePoint list are:

1. Create a data connection to the list.

2. Add controls and bind their values to list fields.

3. Add filters to display the appropriate data.

The following sections demonstrate these steps using a list on my site that contains InfoPath programming samples categorized by language.

Creating a Data Connection

To create a data connection from an InfoPath form to a SharePoint list:

1. Design a new, blank form and choose Tools → Data Connections → Add. InfoPath starts the Data Connection Wizard.

2. Enter the settings in Table 10-5 and click Close when done.

Table 10-5. Data Connection Wizard settings

At Wizard step	Do this	And click...
1	Select Receive data	Next
2	Select SharePoint library or list	Next
3	Enter http://www.essentialsharepoint.com/	Next
4	Select the InfoPath Code Samples list	Next
5	Select ID, Title, Language, Example, and Description fields	Next
6	Deselect "Store a copy of the data in the form template"	Next
7	Select "Automatically retrieve data when form is opened" ...