InfoPath Quick Tip: Setting a User Role as the Initiator

In Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003, you can assign users to distinct categories, called user roles, which are based on job title or other criterion. InfoPath can perform custom actions that vary based on the current user role, such as switching views, conditional formatting, data validation, or filter settings.

Some InfoPath form designers have found the Set as initiator option for user roles to be somewhat confusing when specifying a role using network accounts. (The Set as initiator option is available when defining a user role by clicking User Roles on the Tools menu, and then clicking Add). Setting a user role as the initiator will cause InfoPath to use that role whenever a new blank form is opened for the first time regardless of how the user is logged on to the network. However, the next time that user opens the same form, InfoPath will use the person's assigned user role instead of the initiator role

For example, suppose you create a form template with an Employee View and a Manager View and then create a rule to switch views based on whether the current user role is Employee or Manager as demonstrated in Lab 7: User Roles in InfoPath 2003. Because the Employee role is set as the initiator, when a user creates new blank form, InfoPath will always set the user role to Employee even if the current user is not a member of the network group or user accounts specified for the Employee user role. As a result, InfoPath will always switch to the Employee View the first time a user creates a new blank form. Only after the form is saved and re-opened will the rule be applied based on the user role defined for the user's network account.