Update sharepoint list from infopath drop down list box

Question

I am new to sharepoint and this may be a simple issue but I cannot seem to find the results I am looking for by searching. It may be because I am not sure exactly what to search for.

What I want to do is, I have a drop down list box in my infopath 2010 form. this drop down is populated from a sharepoint list. When a user enters in a custom value, one that is not in the list I would like that value to be added to the list. My list only has one column for now called Name but more columns will be added down the road.

can anyone point me in the correct direction? Thanks

Answer 1

It's easy enough pulling in information from a SharePoint list but submitting information back isn't as simple. This is how I would do it with use of a SharePoint Workflow:

1. Create a new, or use an existing, SharePoint Form library to store InfoPath forms.
2. Promote the drop down list box field containing the new field value to the SharePoint library you're using to submit forms too.
3. Have a Submit button that saves the form to the SharePoint Form library.

4. In this form library have an automatic workflow run that:

   • Checks the list contents against the new value, then
   • If the list doesn't contain the new value then add to the list
   • If the list does contain the new value ignore and don't add

You'll need to use SharePoint Designer 2010 to connect to your SharePoint site, and then use the Workflow designer to create and publish a workflow.

Alternatively, I find this website a lot of use for various InfoPath/SharePoint related how-to guides.

Hope this helps :)

Jay.