Question

SharePoint Multi Column Lookup

Asked by: jmdyas

I have SharePoint WSS 3.0

Below example simplified for this exercise:

I have one list of meetings that has two fields: Meeting Date and Topics.  Topics is a lookup field with the multi-value option checked off.

The list that the lookup field is pointing to is called Meeting Topics.  It contains two fields: Topic and Description.

When adding a new meeting or editing an existing one, I would like the lookup field to display both the Topic and the description so that the user has a better idea of what they are selecting.  Currently, it only displays Topic.

I only have SharePoint Designer to accomplish this.

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Asked On
2009-09-08 at 14:57:13ID24716427
Tags

SharePoint WSS 3.0

Topic

MS SharePoint

Participating Experts
2
Points
500
Comments
5

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Answers

 

by: raybiesPosted on 2009-09-08 at 18:52:09ID: 25287715

Condition = I only have SharePoint Designer (SPD) to accomplish this;
Result = Not Possible using a standard form page;

I think you can use a DataView wp to achieve similar functionality, but it breaks the standard look and feel and causes user confusion.


To be honest SP's form handling abilities and field types are crap, I guess it's so they can sell InfoPath, which also sucks.
In order to accomplish what you want u need to develop a custom field type that also displays a 2nd value (for the description), not hard, but not possible with SPD.

 

by: jmdyasPosted on 2009-09-08 at 20:33:34ID: 25288047

I had created a new form called test to be used for new entries and inserted a new Custom List Form.  I was looking at the code for the left side box of the lookup field (it has a left and right box to allow you to multi select - transfers selections from left to right box).  I was wondering if I could manipulate that code so that the left box shows a second column, but I am not sure which to modify.

See code snipet for this section:

<SharePoint:FormField runat="server" id="ff3{$Pos}" ControlMode="New" FieldName="Topics" __designer:bind="{ddwrt:DataBind('i',concat('ff3',$Pos),'Value','ValueChanged','ID',ddwrt:EscapeDelims(string(@ID)),'@Topics')}"/>
                                          <SharePoint:FieldDescription runat="server" id="ff3description{$Pos}" FieldName="Topics" ControlMode="New"/>
                                    


<WebPartPages:DataFormWebPart runat="server" IsIncluded="True" FrameType="None" NoDefaultStyle="TRUE" ViewFlag="0" Title="Test Meetings" __markuptype="vsattributemarkup" __WebPartId="{4FE6EEB1-A0DF-479A-825E-52A2E91ACDED}" id="g_4fe6eeb1_a0df_479a_825e_52a2e91acded">
	<DataSources>
		<SharePoint:SPDataSource runat="server" DataSourceMode="ListItem" UseInternalName="true" selectcommand="&lt;View&gt;&lt;Query&gt;&lt;Where&gt;&lt;Eq&gt;&lt;FieldRef Name=&quot;ContentType&quot;/&gt;&lt;Value Type=&quot;Text&quot;&gt;Item&lt;/Value&gt;&lt;/Eq&gt;&lt;/Where&gt;&lt;/Query&gt;&lt;/View&gt;" id="Test_x0020_Meetings1"><SelectParameters><WebPartPages:DataFormParameter Name="ListItemId" ParameterKey="ListItemId" PropertyName="ParameterValues" DefaultValue="0"/><WebPartPages:DataFormParameter Name="ListID" ParameterKey="ListID" PropertyName="ParameterValues" DefaultValue="{38EF5692-0DC2-4154-AB3B-2E9689BBBE65}"/></SelectParameters><DeleteParameters><WebPartPages:DataFormParameter Name="ListItemId" ParameterKey="ListItemId" PropertyName="ParameterValues" DefaultValue="0"/><WebPartPages:DataFormParameter Name="ListID" ParameterKey="ListID" PropertyName="ParameterValues" DefaultValue="{38EF5692-0DC2-4154-AB3B-2E9689BBBE65}"/></DeleteParameters><InsertParameters><WebPartPages:DataFormParameter Name="ListItemId" ParameterKey="ListItemId" PropertyName="ParameterValues" DefaultValue="0"/><WebPartPages:DataFormParameter Name="ListID" ParameterKey="ListID" PropertyName="ParameterValues" DefaultValue="{38EF5692-0DC2-4154-AB3B-2E9689BBBE65}"/></InsertParameters><UpdateParameters><WebPartPages:DataFormParameter Name="ListItemId" ParameterKey="ListItemId" PropertyName="ParameterValues" DefaultValue="0"/><WebPartPages:DataFormParameter Name="ListID" ParameterKey="ListID" PropertyName="ParameterValues" DefaultValue="{38EF5692-0DC2-4154-AB3B-2E9689BBBE65}"/></UpdateParameters></SharePoint:SPDataSource>
	</DataSources>
	<ParameterBindings>
	 <ParameterBinding Name="ListItemId" Location="QueryString(ID)" DefaultValue="0"/>
	 <ParameterBinding Name="ListID" Location="None" DefaultValue="{38EF5692-0DC2-4154-AB3B-2E9689BBBE65}"/>
	 <ParameterBinding Name="dvt_apos" Location="Postback;Connection"/>
	 <ParameterBinding Name="UserID" Location="CAMLVariable" DefaultValue="CurrentUserName"/>
	 <ParameterBinding Name="Today" Location="CAMLVariable" DefaultValue="CurrentDate"/>
 </ParameterBindings>
	<datafields>@Title,Title;@Meeting_x0020_Date,Meeting Date;@Topics,Topics;@ID,ID;@ContentType,Content Type;@Modified,Modified;@Created,Created;@Author,Created By;@Editor,Modified By;@_UIVersionString,Version;@Attachments,Attachments;@File_x0020_Type,File Type;@FileLeafRef,Name (for use in forms);@FileDirRef,Path;@FSObjType,Item Type;@_HasCopyDestinations,Has Copy Destinations;@_CopySource,Copy Source;@ContentTypeId,Content Type ID;@_ModerationStatus,Approval Status;@_UIVersion,UI Version;@Created_x0020_Date,Created;@FileRef,URL Path;</datafields>
	<XSL>
<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:x="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:dsp="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/dsp" version="1.0" exclude-result-prefixes="xsl msxsl ddwrt" xmlns:ddwrt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WebParts/v2/DataView/runtime" xmlns:asp="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ASPNET/20" xmlns:__designer="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WebParts/v2/DataView/designer" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt" xmlns:SharePoint="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls" xmlns:ddwrt2="urn:frontpage:internal">
	<xsl:output method="html" indent="no"/>
	<xsl:decimal-format NaN=""/>
	<xsl:param name="dvt_apos">'</xsl:param>
	<xsl:variable name="dvt_1_automode">0</xsl:variable>
	<xsl:template match="/">
		<xsl:call-template name="dvt_1"/>
	</xsl:template>
	<xsl:template name="dvt_1">
		<xsl:variable name="dvt_StyleName">ListForm</xsl:variable>
		<xsl:variable name="Rows" select="/dsQueryResponse/Rows/Row"/>
		<div>
			<span id="part1">
				<table border="0" width="100%">
					<xsl:call-template name="dvt_1.body">
						<xsl:with-param name="Rows" select="$Rows"/>
					</xsl:call-template>
				</table>
			</span>
			<SharePoint:AttachmentUpload runat="server" ControlMode="New"/>
			<SharePoint:ItemHiddenVersion runat="server" ControlMode="New"/>
		</div>
	</xsl:template>
	<xsl:template name="dvt_1.body">
		<xsl:param name="Rows"/>
		<tr>
			<td class="ms-toolbar" nowrap="nowrap">
				<table>
					<tr>
						<td width="99%" class="ms-toolbar" nowrap="nowrap"><IMG SRC="/_layouts/images/blank.gif" width="1" height="18"/></td>
						<td class="ms-toolbar" nowrap="nowrap">
							<SharePoint:SaveButton runat="server" ControlMode="New" id="savebutton1"/>
						</td>
						<td class="ms-separator"> </td>
						<td class="ms-toolbar" nowrap="nowrap" align="right">
							<SharePoint:GoBackButton runat="server" ControlMode="New" id="gobackbutton1"/>
						</td>
					</tr>
				</table>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td class="ms-toolbar" nowrap="nowrap">
				<SharePoint:FormToolBar runat="server" ControlMode="New"/>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<xsl:call-template name="dvt_1.rowedit">
		<xsl:with-param name="Pos" select="concat('_', position())" />
		</xsl:call-template>
		
		<tr>
			<td class="ms-toolbar" nowrap="nowrap">
				<table>
					<tr>
						<td width="99%" class="ms-toolbar" nowrap="nowrap"><IMG SRC="/_layouts/images/blank.gif" width="1" height="18"/></td>
						<td class="ms-toolbar" nowrap="nowrap">
							<SharePoint:SaveButton runat="server" ControlMode="New" id="savebutton2"/>
						</td>
						<td class="ms-separator"> </td>
						<td class="ms-toolbar" nowrap="nowrap" align="right">
							<SharePoint:GoBackButton runat="server" ControlMode="New" id="gobackbutton2"/>
						</td>
					</tr>
				</table>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</xsl:template>
	<xsl:template name="dvt_1.rowedit">
		<xsl:param name="Pos" />
		<tr>
			<td>
				<table border="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
					<tr>
						<td width="190px" valign="top" class="ms-formlabel">
							<H3 class="ms-standardheader">
								<nobr>Title</nobr>
							</H3>
						</td>
						<td width="400px" valign="top" class="ms-formbody">
							<SharePoint:FormField runat="server" id="ff1{$Pos}" ControlMode="New" FieldName="Title" __designer:bind="{ddwrt:DataBind('i',concat('ff1',$Pos),'Value','ValueChanged','ID',ddwrt:EscapeDelims(string(@ID)),'@Title')}"/>
							<SharePoint:FieldDescription runat="server" id="ff1description{$Pos}" FieldName="Title" ControlMode="New"/>
						</td>
					</tr>
					<tr>
						<td width="190px" valign="top" class="ms-formlabel">
							<H3 class="ms-standardheader">
								<nobr>Meeting Date</nobr>
							</H3>
						</td>
						<td width="400px" valign="top" class="ms-formbody">
							<SharePoint:FormField runat="server" id="ff2{$Pos}" ControlMode="New" FieldName="Meeting_x0020_Date" __designer:bind="{ddwrt:DataBind('i',concat('ff2',$Pos),'Value','ValueChanged','ID',ddwrt:EscapeDelims(string(@ID)),'@Meeting_x0020_Date')}"/>
							<SharePoint:FieldDescription runat="server" id="ff2description{$Pos}" FieldName="Meeting_x0020_Date" ControlMode="New"/>
						</td>
					</tr>
					<tr>
						<td width="190px" valign="top" class="ms-formlabel">
							<H3 class="ms-standardheader">
								<nobr>Topics</nobr>
							</H3>
						</td>
						<td width="400px" valign="top" class="ms-formbody">
							<SharePoint:FormField runat="server" id="ff3{$Pos}" ControlMode="New" FieldName="Topics" __designer:bind="{ddwrt:DataBind('i',concat('ff3',$Pos),'Value','ValueChanged','ID',ddwrt:EscapeDelims(string(@ID)),'@Topics')}"/>
							<SharePoint:FieldDescription runat="server" id="ff3description{$Pos}" FieldName="Topics" ControlMode="New"/>
						</td>
					</tr>
					<tr id="idAttachmentsRow">
						<td nowrap="true" valign="top" class="ms-formlabel" width="20%">
							<SharePoint:FieldLabel ControlMode="New" FieldName="Attachments" runat="server"/>
						</td>
						<td valign="top" class="ms-formbody" width="80%">
							<SharePoint:FormField runat="server" id="AttachmentsField" ControlMode="New" FieldName="Attachments" __designer:bind="{ddwrt:DataBind('i','AttachmentsField','Value','ValueChanged','ID',ddwrt:EscapeDelims(string(@ID)),'@Attachments')}"/>
							<script>
          var elm = document.getElementById("idAttachmentsTable");
          if (elm == null || elm.rows.length == 0)
          document.getElementById("idAttachmentsRow").style.display='none';
        </script> </td>
					</tr>
					<xsl:if test="$dvt_1_automode = '1'" ddwrt:cf_ignore="1">
						<tr>
							<td colspan="99" class="ms-vb">
								<span ddwrt:amkeyfield="ID" ddwrt:amkeyvalue="ddwrt:EscapeDelims(string(@ID))" ddwrt:ammode="view"></span>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</xsl:if>
				</table>
			</td>
		</tr>
		
	</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>	</XSL>
</WebPartPages:DataFormWebPart>
                                              
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by: raybiesPosted on 2009-09-08 at 21:36:39ID: 25288250

jmdyas: I'm unable to get it to work (been trying since the last post)... I thought it may be possible by adding the lookup list as a "related data source" then adding the field value in.

This broke the saving, and also didn't add the field to the dropdown.

So it looks like your only option is to use a custom field type.

 

by: Leo_SkybirdPosted on 2009-11-05 at 22:49:56ID: 25757123

How about this one called Filtered Lookup some where. Seems it can handle lot of complicated lookup to me.
Just FYI.

 

by: jmdyasPosted on 2009-11-06 at 05:03:52ID: 25758707

Not exactly what I was looking for, but this would have useful application towards some other projects.

Thank you!

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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