Is it possible to have a form to have multiple data sources (SharePoint Lists) ?

[Anonymous]

Is it possible to have a form to have multiple data sources (SharePoint Lists) ?

Thanks in Advance,

Shay

[Pstork1 · Accepted solution]

A single form is designed to be bound to a single datasource. So in that sense no, you can't really connect a Form up to multiple datasources.  But you can have multiple forms on a screen which are connected to different datasources or individual fields that aren't inside the form that are bound to other datasources.  If you do that you're probably going to have to use Patch() to do the updates when you submit.  I've done several apps that have one Form that shows the master record from a relationship and another form/gallery that shows the detail records associated with that master record.

So it is more complex, but definately doable.

[Anonymous]

@Pstork1 Just a follow-up question to that, My back-end data is in 18 sharepoint lists, out of which "Master List" includes all the primary keys and all the other lists includes facts about different tables (kind of star schema design). 

For this can you please suggest the best way to design the application (Forms or using custom Insert text inputs ).If I take forms from dimension table, I won't be able to use look-ups to show values from the other tables, as they can't be added in the same form.

I am more inclined towards the forms, as the SharePoint List has over 200 columns and manuall creation will be very time consuming.

Thanks in Advance,

Shay

[Pstork1 · Accepted solution]

Unfortunately, in this case the answer is the standard one for consultants.... It depends.

More seriously.  In the case you dscribe I would normally have suggested you move that whole design out of SharePoint and into a relational database like Azure SQL.  At least I would have prior to the new licensing announcement for October 1. Now that option may be cost prohibitive unless you already have Dynamics or premium licensing.

If you don't and it needs to stay in SharePoint there are a couple possiblities. First, would be to have a central form that loads up all the key values from the other lists. That way you can have one form with one record and use the values in the field in that record to get records for other controls and child forms.  That one central form would also be the one driven by a selection in a gallery if you are using that kind of feature.

The other possibilty I can think of is to try to get all the info loaded from the various tables into a local collection and then drive your forms from the collection (kind of like doing a Sql view or a join to get a data set).

[Anonymous]

@Pstork1 Thank you for all the information.

[dyee4614]

The best solution, IMO, is to avoid making a form.  You can create a collection and display the questions via a gallery or you can have the questions as standalone then use patch.