How can I populate a dropdown list for an external list's infopath form

Question

I have a SQL table named jobs that has a columns id, name and status_id.  I have another SQL table called job_statuses with columns id and name.  I have these tables in BCS as ECTs.  jobs has an association with job_statuses.  I need the forms for the jobs External list to relate the status id to the job_status's id so that I can use at the status's name instead of id.  I found questions on here:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-CA/sharepoint2010customization/thread/5f5e270a-6957-45a7-a589-b38466e56d86

this one I think says this is impossible, but the moderator seems to not know what associations are, so maybe there is hope.  But again in this question:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-ZA/sharepoint2010customization/thread/9a2936cb-44b7-4c96-b448-8b25c3dea8ba

the moderator says "cannot add an external data source to an external list form"  Before giving up I find this:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff394643.aspx

this doesn't do a dropdown list but it does something similar.  Can someone please help me understand this stuff?  I'm not married to infopath, it just seemed like the better tool.

Thanks in advance!

 

---

J. Duke Rogers Communicore Technologies & Triangle Forensics

Answer 1

As I said, and as the InfoPath team told me, you cannot add secondary data connections to InfoPath.  However, yes, you can create associations between ECTs, and there is also the External Item Picker that you mentioned.  This is a way to combine all that: SharePoint External List– Using the Picker for Foreign Keys

Let me know if that works for you.

---

SharePoint Architect || Microsoft MVP || My Blog
Planet Technologies || SharePoint Task Force

Answer 2

Thanks Clayton,

If I was using only SP lists with no BCS would a dropdown combobox be an option?

---

J. Duke Rogers Communicore Technologies & Triangle Forensics

Answer 3

Yes, if this wasn't an external list form, then you could use a combo box control even if it's a browser form (couldn't do this in 2007).

---

SharePoint Architect || Microsoft MVP || My Blog
Planet Technologies || SharePoint Task Force