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Sick of InfoPath? Come get sicker… a quick look into developing no-code business forms for the curious cookie. Presenter: Hector Perez. Special Thanks to our Platinum Sponsor. …and our Gold Sponsor. Bio. Admin/ Dev for LDS Church Exercise Science
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Sick of InfoPath? Come get sicker… a quick look into developing no-code business forms for the curious cookie Presenter: Hector Perez
Special Thanks to our Platinum Sponsor …and our Gold Sponsor
Bio • Admin/Dev for LDS Church • Exercise Science • Babe – never been stumped on a pop culture/movie question • Baby – specimen • Football (soccer) • Shoes /pub/hector-perez/42/a90/992 /Heckshmek_SP
Agenda • InfoPath Intro • BIG ANNOUNCEMENT • Form building tips and pointers
What’s this form thing? • A Microsoft forms software fully integrated with SharePoint allowing for rapid development of forms solutions • Used to design forms that submit to SharePoint lists and libraries • Versions: 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013 - the FINAL version
BIG ANNOUNCMENT from Microsoft "Industry trends and feedback from our customers and partners make it clear that today’s businesses demand an intelligent, integrated forms experience that spans devices. We are looking to make investments that allow you to easily design, deploy, and use intelligent, integrated forms across Office clients, servers, and services -- forms that everyone can use on their PC, tablet, or phone. Our goal is to deliver tools that are flexible and agile, so you can quickly connect to your data and processes in new and exciting ways." http://blogs.office.com/2014/01/31/update-on-infopath-and-sharepoint-forms/ InfoPath to be retired…
BIG ANNOUNCMENT from Microsoft • 2. Support: • The InfoPath 2013 client will be supported through April 2023. • InfoPath Forms Services for SharePoint Server 2013 will be supported until April 2023. • InfoPath Forms Services in Office 365 will be supported until further notice. 3. Continue using InfoPath 1. “…there will not be another version of the InfoPath desktop client or InfoPath Forms Services. We are focusing all of our investments on new intelligent, integrated forms experiences across Office technology.” 4. Migration: “We’ll provide more details on migration scenarios and guidance in Q4 of CY 2014.” 5. New form capabilities? “We’ll be sharing updates throughout the year, with a sneak peek in March at the SharePoint Conference.”
List vs. Library forms • List • Form uniquely tied to list • Each control you add is saved as a column in list • Flat data • Saves to list the form is tied to • “Main Data Connection” set up by default • Library • Templates designed can be published to different form libraries • Saved items stored as XML files on SharePoint • You “promote” fields to publish to SharePoint library • You define save locations • Complex business rules • Repeating or nested data • Managed code
Tool Set • That Ribbon List Library
Tool Set • Fields and Rules Panels • Rules • Validation • Formatting • Action
“Fishing” for changes? • InfoPath Designer 2010 vs. 2013 • No major change • OnlinePics
“Rigg” it your way… • Wireframe and plan out form flow • Using the ribbon options vs. buttons with rules • If using workflow with form, plan on how that will interact with submitted form data etc. (i.e. trigger fields)
Views • Create multiple views • List Form - Create a Display view (read only) • Form Options select a Display View • Views and Form Load rules
Drop-Downs • Manually enter options • Get options from other fields in form • Get choices from a LIST • Allows for management outside of form • Sort drop down? • Modify data connection
The POWER of queryFields • queryFieldsvs. dataFields
Layout & Visuals • Use tables to stay organized • Use sections to show and hide fields and buttons • Use simple (button) images for workflow visualization
Rules of people pickers • Work around for running rules off of people pickers Example: I want to get email of user entered into people picker.
Create validation check before submitting • Avoid that annoying SharePoint error… • Disable your Save/Submit button • Use a view to inform user they are missing a required field
List URLs • New Item /<SiteName>/Lists/<ListName>/Item/newifs.aspx • Existing Item /<SiteName>/Lists/<ListName>/Item/displayifs.aspx?List=<List GUID>&ID=1 ID is unique to list item – useful for building dynamic links via workflow
Form Library URLs • New Item /<SiteName>/_layouts/15/FormServer.aspx ?XsnLocation=/<SiteName>/<Library>/Forms/template.xsn &SaveLocation=/<SiteName>/<Library> &OpenIn=Browser &Source=/<SiteName>/<Library>/AllItems.aspx
Form Library URLs • Existing Item /<SiteName>/_layouts/15/FormServer.aspx ?XmlLocation=/<SiteName>/<Library>/<DocumentName>.xml &OpenIn=Browser &Source=/<SiteName>/<Library>/AllItems.aspx
2 Query Parameters for Library forms • &OpenIn=Browser • &Source=/<SiteCollection>/<Page> • Used to redirect user to specified location within the same site collection