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Applies to:

  • Winshuttle Foundation

4-3. Connect form drop-down lists to SharePoint lists

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Steps in this phase

  1. Create SharePoint Lists
  2. Use Query to populate lists
  3. Connect drop down lists to SharePoint lists
  4. Connect a drop down lists to SAP Lookup
  5. Create a Rule to extract vendor number
  6. Promote form fields to SharePoint
  7. Deploy and test

In this step we will convert text box fields to drop-down lists, and set the drop-down lists to retrieve data through an external data connection (a SharePoint list) in order to populate the lists.

For additional information on data connections, see Adding data connections for instructions on how to run the appropriate Wizard in Composer to set them up.

We will want to create connections to the following SharePoint lists:

  • Countries
  • Terms of Payment
  • Currencies
  • Reconciliation Accounts

Convert fields to drop-down lists

First we'll convert the Countries field in the form to a drop-down field.

  1. Click the Countries field.
  2. In the Properties pane, next to Element Type, click the drop arrow.
  3. Select Dropdown from the list.

You can repeat this process for each field (Terms of Payment, Currencies, Reconciliation Accounts,etc.) now, and then return to each one and add a Data Connection to it.

Set data sources for drop-down lists to external data sources

Continuing from the previous 3 steps where we converted the Countries field to a drop-down list, now we want to change the Countries field (and then the Terms of Payment, Currencies, and Reconciliation account fields) to use an external data connection to a SharePoint list from which it will derive the options displayed in the drop-down list.

  1. Click the field (Countries, Terms of Payment, Currencies, or Reconciliation Account).
  2. In the Properties pane for the field, next to Options, click [...] (the Options button).
  3. In the Options Editor, select From Data Connection.
  4. If you have already established a data connection, you can select it from the drop-down menu under Data Connection. Otherwise, click Add.
    Options editor screen - selecting or adding a data connection
  5. If you clicked Add, configure the data connection by entering the following information:
  • Name: The name for the data connection, without spaces.
  • Type: Select SharePoint Library or List from the drop-down menu.
  • SharePoint Site URL: Enter the http:// address for the SharePoint site you are using.
  • Library or List: Select the Library or List from the drop-down menu.
  • Fields: Select the fields to use for the connection. Here is an example using the TermsofPayment data connection:SharePoint data connection example screen

Repeat this process for each of the following fields:

  • Countries
  • Terms of Payment
  • Currencies
  • Reconciliation Accounts

Tip: For the REGION/STATE field part of the CountriesandRegions data connection: In the Properties window for the drop down list, click Filterto filter the external list by the selected Country .

Data connection examples

Countries and Regions data connection example

Terms of Payment data connection example

Currency data connection example