Cascading drop downs and Nintex Forms for SharePoint

[#1]

Here we demonstrate how to create a cascading dropdown using Nintex Forms.

The video is shown on Nintex Forms 2010, but the same applies to Nintex Forms 2013.

In this written example, I demonstrate with a common State to Store relationship. You'll need to create three SharePoint lists, two of which contain the lookup information for the cascading drop down.

Create the SharePoint Lists

Create two custom lists. These custom lists form the basis for the lookups, which the main list will look the cascading information up from.

1. Navigate to a SharePoint Team Site.
2. Click the Site Settings icon, and select Add an App. Select Custom List, and call it "State". Click Create.
3. Open the newly created SharePoint list, and click new item. In the Title field, enter "VIC", and click Save.
4. Repeat step 3 and enter “NSW”, “ACT”, “NT”, “QLD”, “WA”, “TAS”, and “SA”.

Create the Second SharePoint List - Stores

1. Click the Site Settings icon, and select Add an App. Select Custom List, and call it "Stores". Click Create.
2. Open the new list, click on the List tab and select List Settings.
3. Click Create column from the available options.
4. Fill in the following options:
   1. Type “State” as the Column name.
   2. Select Lookup (information already on this site) in Thetype of information in this column is section.
   3. Select Yes for Require that this column contains information.
   4. Select States from the Get information from drop-down.
   5. Select Title from the In this column drop-down.
      
5. Navigate to the Stores list and click on new item.
6. Type  “Melbourne” in Title.
7. Select VIC from the State drop-down and click Save.
8. Repeat steps 5-7 for the below stores:
   1. “Geelong” and VIC
   2. “Ballarat” and VIC
   3. “Sydney” and NSW
   4. “Newcastle” and NSW
   5. “Canberra” and ACT
   6. “Perth” and WA
   7. “Adelaide” and SA
   8. “Hobart” and TAS
   9. “Darwin” and NT
   10. “Brisbane” and QLD

The information that will be used for the cascading dropdown items has been created.

Customizing the SharePoint List Form using Nintex Forms

Now that we have created the two lists required for the cascading drop down, we need to create the Nintex Form to display this information on a SharePoint list.

1. Create a new list or open an existing one where the data will be collected using Nintex Forms, for example “Car Dealerships”.
2. Click Nintex Forms in the Ribbon.
3. Select all of the controls on the form except the Nintex Forms label, the Save, and the Cancel buttons.
4. Right-click and select Delete so that the form looks similar to the one below.
5. Add two Label controls to the form and change their title to “State” and “Store”.

1. Add a List Lookup control from the SharePoint category of the Form Controls. Place the List Lookup control next to the State label. Resize the control to reduce its default height. Double-click on the action to open the settings.
2. Type “MyFormState” as the Name of the control.
3. Select States from the Source List drop-down, and click Save.
   
   
4. Add another List Lookup control from the SharePoint category of the Form Controls. Place the List Lookup control next to the Store label. Resize the control to reduce its default height. Double-click on the action to open the settings.
5. Type “MyFormStore” as the Name of the control.
6. Select Stores from the Source List drop-down.
7. Expand the Filtering section:
   1. Select By a controls value from the Filter available selections drop-down.
   2. Type “State” in the Where field box.
   3. Select MyFormState from the Filtered by control drop-down. Click Save.

Your form should look similar to the image below.

Preview the Form

1. In the Ribbon, click on Preview. Select Generate Preview, and test out the cascading dropdown.
2. When the configuration of the form is complete, Save and Publish.

Cascading Dropdowns in Nintex Forms Visual Diagram

We've also created a visual diagram on the concept of a cascading drop down. Hopefully this will help you visualize the concept

[shyamshinde08 · Accepted solution]

Hi,

I have a managed metadata control in my nintex form. Depending on the value selected in the control I need to hide or make visible the panels below.

I referred this document and tried to implement the same but its not working.

http://nintexdownload.com/nsupport/NF2010_Tutorial_JavaScript_Switch_Using_RadioButton.pdf

Can anyone please help?

Thanks in Advance.

Regards,

Shyam

[#3]

Hi Shyam,

Nintex Forms currently does not support building formatting rules around the output of a Managed Metadata control. You can add this as a feature request on our Customer Forum, Customer Feedback for Nintex .

Thanks

[#4]

Hello

Can anyone please help me.

I have installed Nintex Forms (the 30-days trial). While trying to do the same as the video above i came across a 'small' problem. When i open the control settings got the list look up i cant find the Filtering settings as in the video. Why is that?

Do i get the filtering section if i buy Nintex Forms? or am i missing something.

[#5]

Omar, are you trialing Nintex Forms for Office 365? Unfortunately the cascading drop down functionality is not available on Nintex forms for Office 365. If you want to trial it on Nintex Forms 2013, you can request a trial here http://www.nintex.com/en-US/Products/Pages/TrialDownload.aspx

Thanks,

Emily

[#6]

Hello

Yes it is the trial for O365. When Will it Be available for the trial i have? And is there another way doing cascading in the trial i have?

Sendt fra min Windows Phone

[#7]

Is there a way to do a cascading dropdown for 3 things? For example I have 5 main groups, 3 regions, and numerous units. Is this possible?

[#8]

Hi Omar, to test out cascading drop downs, you will need to download the Nintex Forms 2013 trial, and test it out on our SharePoint on-premise product. http://www.nintex.com/en-US/Products/Pages/TrialDownload.aspx

[#9]

Hi Brandon,

You can add more dropdowns. Simply add an extra list and a list lookup. The list lookup looks at the value of the second list for the filtering.

[#10]

I understand that, except what I need it to do is filter based on the value of previous 2 drop downs. For example, lets say your first drop down has 2 items: Microsoft, and Apple. The second list has regions: America, Asia, and Europe. The third list has 25 different locations, some attached to each company at different regions. When the third list lookup filters based on the second list's value it gives your all the different locations for that region regardless of if they are attached to Microsoft or Apple. Does this give a better understanding of what I am trying to accomplish?