Promoting InfoPath Form Fields to SharePoint

Promoting form fields as SharePoint columns allows you to export InfoPath form fields into a SharePoint column. For example, if you plan on routing a form based upon a value in a field (such as True/False, a type of request, or a material number), you will need to promote your fields.

To promote InfoPath 2007/2010/2013 fields as SharePoint columns:

1. Create your form in InfoPath.
2. Name your controls.
3. From the Tools menu, select Form Options.

   Note: If you are using InfoPath 2010/2013, click the File tab, and then click the Form Options icon.

4. In the Category area, click Property Promotion.
5. Click Add.

   The Select a Field or Group window appears.

6. Select the field that you want to export to a SharePoint column and click OK. The field (name) is added to the Column Name list.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 as needed.
8. Click OK to close the Form Options window.
9. Save and publish your form.

Winshuttle Designer can use form fields exported as library columns to route a workflow, based on their values (data entered by the user of the form). To use a field in a form in Designer, it must be added as a Form Library Column.

In the following illustration, the form contains many fields (input controls), but only the fields added as Form Library Columns (name, file No, Owner) are available for use in Designer.

When the form is published in Designer, a corresponding SharePoint list is created with a matching set of columns that are based on the fields in the form that have been added to the Form Library Column option. Designer references these columns when they are used in a workflow.

NOTE: If you change a field name in InfoPath, it must be added to the Form Library Column option again because InfoPath does not update the Form Library Column contents.

Exporting InfoPath Form Fields as SharePoint Columns

This procedure assumes that you have started a workflow and have started to design a form.

1. In Designer, from the toolbar, click Add a plug-in action node to add a plug-in to your workflow.
2. In the Properties pane, select the plug-in action, and then select the PlugInName property.
3. In the property list, click Set SharePoint Column.
4. Click ValuePairs.
5. In the Valuepair Collection Editor, click Add to add a new argument. Click Name, and then click "site".