InfoPath Forms Services Tips & Tricks

2. InfoPath Forms Services Tips & Tricks Eric Harlan Principal Architect Sogeti USA Session Code: OFC312

3. SharePoint List Mash Up’sAbout Eric Harlan • Lets have FUN! • Conversations not Lectures • First time in South Africa • First Tech Ed • SharePoint for 6 years, I.T. for 10 • Principal Architect for Sogeti USA • Twitter.com - @ericharlan • http://www.ericharlan.com

4. InfoPath Forms Services Tips & TricksAgenda • Brief InfoPath Overview • Some of the shortcomings of InfoPath • Demo: Overcoming 5 conditional formatting declarations • Demo: Getting a Sum Total, of a repeating tables field • Demo: Getting InfoPath forms into a web part • Questions

5. InfoPath Forms Services Tips & TricksWhat is InfoPath? • Digital Forms Creation Tool • XML Based • Data can be stored to SPFS, Web Services, Email, etc • Allows Code Behind • Offers a Tangible goal of a paperless office.

6. InfoPath Forms Services Tips & TricksPros & Cons Pros • Very quick to do simple forms • InfoPath does what .Net custom forms do with point and clicking • Mild to Power users can create forms in no time • Easy to integrate with MOSS and store data • Gives developers a huge launch pad in which to do custom forms • In browser mode, the user only needs a browser and permissions.

7. InfoPath Forms Services Tips & TricksPros & Cons Cons • If planning is not done on large forms with respect to: schema and groups/sections time and efforts can be wasted • Cryptic intricacies • Functionality goes down if you use InfoPath Form Services Browser Mode • If you do not use Browser mode, every user needs InfoPath installed

8. InfoPath Forms Services Tips & TricksThree Amigos Three of the most used and misunderstood elements • Sections • Conditional Formatting • Formulas

9. InfoPath Forms Services Tips & TricksSections (Optional, Repeating) Repeating Tables • One of the most critical parts of InfoPath to learn • Used in 99% of all forms • Each have very distinctive personalities • (For example, to hide “insert item” you must nest Repeating table in a section) • Filters, Rules, Conditional formatting apply to sections/repeating tables

10. InfoPath Forms Services Tips & TricksConditional Formatting • Allows you to hide or show based on various variables • Have to think in opposites since only options for hiding Only check box is “Hide this control” • Also Allows: Bold, underline, strikethrough, italic, font color change and shading

11. InfoPath Forms Services Tips & TricksFormulas • Allows you to populate fields based on other form data • Allows concatenation of multiple fields (ex: unique form entry “User_Name + Now()” ) • Various formulas built in from Sum to Substrings

12. InfoPath Forms Services Tips & TricksFormulas • Allows you to populate fields based on other form data • Allows concatenation of multiple fields (ex: unique form entry “User_Name + Now()” ) • Various formulas built in from Sum to Substrings

13. Win! • LifeCam Show • Ultra-Thin Mobile Design • World-Class High Definition Optics • Question: • Name another function or control not mentioned in the InfoPath overview (First three, most creative wins) • Please attend other business productivity sessions • Office and SharePoint track (OFC) • Unified Communications (UNC)

14. demo Getting the Sum of repeating Fields Eric Harlan Principal Architect Sogeti USA

15. demo Breaking the 5 C.F. barrier Eric Harlan Principal Architect Sogeti USA

16. demo InfoPath in a web part Eric Harlan Principal Architect Sogeti USA

17. InfoPath Forms Services Tips & TricksFarewell • Evaluations (5's are better) • Lets Chat after • Other Tech Ed Sessions • InfoPath tips and tricks • Federated Search • Architecture Panel w/Joel Oleson, Hilton Giesenow, ZlatanDzinic • Twitter.com - @ericharlan • http://www.ericharlan.com

18. question & answer

19. Required Slide Speakers, TechEd 2009 is not producing a DVD. Please announce that attendees can access session recordings at TechEd Online. Resources • www.microsoft.com/teched Sessions On-Demand & Community • www.microsoft.com/learning • Microsoft Certification & Training Resources • http://microsoft.com/technet • Resources for IT Professionals • http://microsoft.com/msdn Resources for Developers

20. Required Slide 10 pairs of MP3 sunglasses to be won Complete a session evaluation and enter to win!

21. Required Slide © 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries. The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.