Add to Lookup Column Values During Form Lifespan

Question

Has anyone ever successfully added a new item to a list which is used as the source for a lookup column while using an EditForm (or NewForm, same mechanism) and been able to save the form successfully with the new value?

Here’s what I mean:

• I have a list called Regions with a lookup column called Country
• Country is a lookup into Countries.Title
• In my Regions EditForm, I’ve got a call to UpdateListItems using SPServices which adds a new value to Countries
• I add the new option to the Country dropdown (select) using the new ID and innerHTML and set it as “selected”
• When I save the Regions EditForm with the new value selected I get the dread “An unexpected error has occurred.”

I've checked with Firebug and the correct ID for the newly created lookup value is what is sent with the POST, so I believe that my script is doing what it should.

I can still save the form with no problem if I select any of the previously existing lookup values. Only the new value throws the error.

I’ve fiddled with this too much. I’m wondering if SharePoint’s trying to be “smart” here by only allowing values which existed when the form was originally loaded.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

After considerable work on this, testing over and over, and having a really interesting discussion (see the comments above), I am thoroughly convinced that this is not possible.

My current belief (I'd love it if someone could confirm or deny) is that something in the viewstate "tells" SharePoint something about the state things were in when the form loaded which prevents the new value from being acceptable.

I've moved on to other approaches to solve the particular client requirement which triggered this question, but if you have other ideas, please add them!

Answer 2

I have been successful doing this for most forms with the following code. This code is after you have done the mods to the lookup list and you are ready to save the form.

function PreSaveAction() {
    var qv = $().SPServices.SPGetQueryString();
    if (qv["PreSave"] == "skip") {
        return true;
    }
    else {
        var loc = new String(window.location);
        loc = loc.split("?");
        var formpage = loc[0];
        formpage += "?PreSave=skip";
        $("#aspnetForm").append("");
        $("#iframea").attr("src", formpage);
        setTimeout("copyfields()", 4000);
    }
}

function copyfields() {
    try
    {
        var i = 1;
        $("td.ms-formbody").each(function() {
            $(this).attr("id", "tdelement_" + i);
            i += 1;
        }); 
        i = 1;
        $("#iframea").contents().find("td.ms-formbody").each(function() {
            $(this).attr("id", "tdelement_" + i);
            i += 1;
        });
        for (var z = 1; z < i; z++) {
            var tid = "tdelement_" + z;
            $("#iframea").contents().find("td[id='" + tid + "']").html($("td[id='" + tid + "']").html());
        } 
    }
    catch(e) {alert("Error " + e);}
    // Once copied submit the form and then redirect to the original source page.
    $("#iframea").contents().find("input[name*='SaveItem']").trigger('click');
    setTimeout("refreshpage()", 3000);
}

function refreshpage() {
    var qv = $().SPServices.SPGetQueryString();
    var source = new String(qv["Source"]);  
    window.location = source;
}

This uses the presave action to create a hidden iframe. A new copy of the form is added to the frame and your selections are then copied to this hidden form. The code will then submit this form and reloads the page after a few seconds. I have tested this several times and it has worked each time. It is not perfect and I would like to find a way to make it cleaner, but it does work.

Answer 3

I believe that an out of box list form will have the issues described and it will not work because viewstate is enabled. Viewstate does store the valid values of a select and when you post back it will not accept an updated item. However, you can do this using SPDesigner and a custom form for the list. I created a list of categories and a list that used the categories list for a lookup fittingly called category. The list was called DataSourceTest and is just a custom list. In Designer I copied the NewForm.aspx page into a new file called NewFormTest.aspx and then removed the default listform. I added a SharePoint:SPDataSource element and an SharePoint:DVDropDownList to the form. The DataSource was set to the categories list and the DVDropDownList was bound to the category field and its EnableViewState property was set to FALSE (This is important!). I added a dummy dropdown that had some data that using SPServices would update the category list with a new category and return the new ID back to the form and then add this new item to the DVDropDownList. I could then save the form and it would post the changes including the updated value back to the list with no errors. This is not the most ideal solution I know, but it does work!

Answer 4

I solved this by adding a hidden ASP button on the form. I set UseSubmitBehavior="False" for that button but it still causes postback which in turn reloads the lookup list (which is what we want) while retaining form data. I invoke that button's click event with javascript after successfully adding a record to target lookup list with ajax. It causes validation as well so I set all fields to optional and made sure to validate their values using javascript in PreSaveAction() function. Quick and easy.