How to create a link to edit a SharePoint custom list item in InfoPath

Question

I have an InfoPath 2010 form that I want to open in InfoPath Filler when the user clicks on a link containing a reference to an item in a SharePoint custom list. I haven't been able to get Filler to successfully open the item. The closest I've got uses the following onclick handler:

 onclick="javascript: var objOpenXMLDoc = new ActiveXObject('SharePoint.OpenXMLDocuments'); objOpenXMLDoc.EditDocument2(window , 'http://myserver{@FileRef.urlencodeasurl}', 'InfoPath.Document'); return false;"

This will open the InfoPath Filler application but displays an error dialog saying the Internet address http://myserver/NOC/Lists/OperatorAreaOfResponsibility/11_.000 is not valid. Other posts I've read have suggested using {@Link} for this purpose but when I try that it renders as an empty string. A little help here?

Answer 1

In a scenario where you want to display existing SharePoint list data in an InfoPath Filler form, try this approach: Create a new InfoPath filler form, put in the tables, fields and buttons, and then publish it to a SharePoint Forms library. Save one instance of the form in the library. Now you can create a link to that existing form, which will open up in Filler. Use form loading rules to manipulate the form content upon opening, e.g. pulling in data from secondary data sources based on user ID etc.