Sharepoint user-based list filter

Question

I have a Sharepoint 2007 site and want to create a list that users can filter dynamically using a form or something similar. The use case is as follows:

1. A user is shown a list with any number of items. The list itself includes a metadata column to be used by the filter form.
2. The user opens the filter form and uses a drop-down selector bound to the metadata columns mentioned in (1) to select what items they want to see, or default to show all.
3. After submitting the form, the user is returned to the list which is now filtered to only show what they selected.

Is something like this possible? Any insight is appreciated.

Answer 1

One quick hack is to use some javascript to add filter parameters to the url, e.g.

page.aspx?FilterField1=FIELD&FilterValue1=VALUE

A better option is to look into web part connections.

Your list will be a Filter Consumer web part so you need to create a Filter Provider web part that will supply it with the values to filter on.

If you filter values are somewhat static you can use a simple html form or pick the values from a list.

If they are dynamic or you have more complex logic you can write your own filter provider web part.

If you have MOSS/SP2010 Enterprise there are some filter provider web parts built in. If not there are some open source filter providers and plenty of commercial ones such as FilterPoint (disclaimer - my own companies product).