InfoPath Forms Services 2007

1. InfoPath Forms Services 2007 Chris Beckett Principal Consultant, Portals and Collaboration chris.beckett@neudesic.com Mobile: (206) 965-8257 Presented to Puget Sound SharePoint User GroupDecember 2008 Presented by Chris Beckett chris.beckett@neudesic.com

2. Founded October 2001, Irvine CA Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, Microsoft Business Solutions Partner, Microsoft Managed Partner Microsoft National Systems Integrator Domestic Offices: Austin, TX; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Houston, TX; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Phoenix, AZ; Redmond, WA; San Diego, CA; Washington, D.C. International Offices: Hyderabad, India Primary Business Offerings: Business Intelligence, CRM, .NET Custom Application Development, Database Design & Optimization, eCommerce, Enterprise Application Integration, Hosting, Portals & Collaboration, Security

3. Agenda Forms Services Overview Demo – Publishing and Viewing a Simple Form to Form Services Differences between InfoPath Rich and Web Forms Advantages of Data Connections Demo – Using a Data Connection Library InfoPath Security Modes and Publishing Alternatives Demo – Farm Data Connection Library / Administrator-Approved Form InfoPath Forms Services Query Parameters Demo – Using Custom Query Parameters with VSTO Mobile Forms Demo – Viewing a Mobile Form Resources Q&A

4. InfoPath Forms Services Overview InfoPath Forms Services is a server technology that makes it possible for users to fill out InfoPath forms in a Web browser. Users don't have to have InfoPath installed on their computer to fill out this type of form, nor are they required to download anything extra from the Web. All they need is access to a browser, such as Windows Internet Explorer, Apple Safari, or Mozilla Firefox. The InfoPath Forms Services technology is available in the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Enterprise CAL and also, separately, in Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007.

5. Demo – Publishing a Simple Form An introduction to publishing InfoPath forms for display in InfoPath Form Services: Open Sample Template Set Compatibility for Browser Set Forms Options Save Locally Publish to SharePoint (Create New Library) Update Library to display in browser Demonstrate form displaying in browser

6. InfoPath Client vs. Forms Services Controls that work with Forms Services: Text Box Rich Text Box (Partial) List Box Drop-Down List Box Date Picker Check Box Option Button Button Section Optional Section Repeating Section Repeating Table File Attachment Hyperlink Expression Box Controls that require InfoPath client: • ActiveX Control • Bulleted List Control • Choice Group/ Section • Combo Box • Horizontal Region/ Repeating Table • Ink Picture Control • Master/Detail Control • Multiple-Selection List Box • Numbered List Control • Picture Control • Plain List Control • Repeating Choice Group • Repeating Recursive Section • Scrolling Region • Vertical Label

7. InfoPath Features Not Supported by Forms Services Filters Submitting data to a database Submitting ADO.NET Change Dataset Alerts that display dialog boxes Rules to open a new form Digitally signing entire form XSL customizations with xd:preserve Data Connections across site collections Custom code to save forms Custom code to merge data Legacy Code using InfoPath.SemiTrust User Roles / Current User Role Placeholder Text in Controls Custom Task Panes Prompting users to save changes when closing a form Rules to display a dialog box • Protected Views • Word-Based Print Views • Undo / Redo • Check Spelling • AutoComplete • Information Rights Management • Send to Mail Recipient • Merge Forms • Export to Excel • COM Add-Ins • There are also differences between what classes and members of the Microsoft.Office.Infopath namespace can be used with Forms Services http://www.silversandsassociates.com/InfoPath_Forms_Compatibility_Overview.pdf

8. Data Connections Universal Data Connection V2 Format Saved to a special document library called a “Data Connection Library” Managed from Central Administration under Application Settings Allows browser-based forms to access Web Services securely, even across domains Allows submitting forms across Site Collections and Web Applications UDC File Authoring Toolhttp://blogs.msdn.com/infopath/archive/2007/02/12/udc-file-authoring-tool.aspx

9. Demo – Data Connection Libraries Using data connection libraries to improve InfoPath Web Forms. Create a custom list to hold Trip Class options Add a receive data connection direction to the new list. Create a Data Connection Library Create a UDCv2 file pointing to the Trip Class list. Upload to the data connection library. Add a receive data connection to the new UDC in the data connection library. Review form manifest to demonstrate that data connections do not hard-code connection information into the form. Republish the form as a Content Type Create new form library and add new content type Display the form and demonstrate data being retrieved through data connection library

10. Form Security Modes USER FORMS / DOMAIN-TRUST Forms published directly to SharePoint Form Libraries or Content Types Forms that use Site Collection Data Connection Libraries Local to site collection – if published to another site collection completely independent copy (hard to manage changes) ADMINISTRATOR-APPROVED / FULL-TRUST Forms with code-behind Forms that use Data Connections from Central Administration Can be used in multiple site collections and web applications Single place to make changes Additional overhead to publishing process

11. Demo – Farm Data Connection Library / Admin Forms Use a Farm-Level data connection library with an Administrator-Approved Form Open Central Administration and upload UDC file to Farm Data Connection Library Add a receive data connection to the new UDC in the data connection library – specify “Centrally Managed connection library” Republish the form as an Administrator-Approved Form Open Central Administration and upload form template. Publish to demo site collection. Open demo site and display published form template and new auto-generated content type.

12. Invoking InfoPath Forms URL that references a form template (*.xsn) or form file (*.xml) URL that references the built-in FormServer.aspx Web Page Custom Page containing the XmlFormView control Examples • http://ServerName/sites/SiteCollection/FormLibrary/Form1.xml?OpenIn=Browser • http://ServerName/sites/SiteCollection/_layouts/FormServer.aspx?XmlLocation=~sitecollection/FormLibrary/Form1.xml • http://ServerName/sites/SiteCollection/FormLibrary/Forms/template.xsn?NoRedirect=true

13. Passing Parameters to InfoPath Web Forms / Code-Behind Passes any additional query parameters not recognized by InfoPath Forms Services to browser form as Input Parameters in the Form Loading event. e.g. http://server/sites/team/forms/DeptReport.xsn?Dept=Accounting Reading Input Parameters for Form Opened with URL public void FormEvents_Loading(object sender, LoadingEventArgs e) { string purpose = e.InputParameters[“Purpose"]; XPathNavigatorxmlNav = CreateNavigator(); xmlNav.SelectSingleNode("/my:travelRequest/my:purpose“, NamespaceManager).SetValue(purpose); } Reading Input Parameters for Form Opened in XmlFormViewWebPart public void FormEvents_Loading(object sender, LoadingEventArgs e) { string param = HttpContext.Current.Request.Params[“myParam"]; … } Query parameters allow InfoPath to be invoked from links, the Business Data Catalog, a DataFormView on a custom SharePoint Designer page, etc.

14. Demo – Forms Services Query Parameters Demonstrate supported and custom query parameters for InfoPath Web Forms: Open the demo site and browse to Form Templates Display the form template using Form Services Query Parameters…\TravelRequest.xsn?OpenIn=Browser Switch to the InfoPath Form Open VSTO by selecting Tools > Programming > Loading Event from InfoPath Add code to copy the “Purpose” parameter to the Business Purpose field Republish the form as an Administrator-Approved Form Open the demo site and create a new form. Update the URL to add our new custom query parameter and refresh the browser Display how the query parameter became the value for the form field

15. Mobile Forms Mobile Form Design Differences ASP.NET Controls replaced with ASP.NET Mobile Controls HTML Tables and CSS not supported by some mobile browsers – visual fidelity is not guaranteed Mobile representation rendered during publishing – may look different on different devices Only support a sub-set of browser controls: • Text Box • List Box • Check Box • Drop-Down List Box • Repeating Section • Expression Box • Date Picker • Buttons • Recommendations • Used buttons and multiple views to organize controls for small screens • Use only supported controls to minimize rendering inconsistencies • Minimize dynamic data queries that require round-trips to the server

16. Demo – Mobile Forms Demonstrate rendering a form in a mobile device: Start the Windows Mobile 6 Emulator Start Pocket IE Browse to demo site mobile view Open the “BreakfastParis” file Demonstrate the form rendering in a mobile device

17. Form Services Administration Located in Central Administration > Applications > InfoPath Forms Services Allows configuration of farm settings for Forms Services Can be used to enforce secure policies around form connections to data, etc • Should publishing browser forms be restricted to Administrators? • Does access to data sources need to be secure? • Is cross-domain access to data allowed?

18. Resources Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007 SDKhttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms772301.aspx InfoPath Forms Server 2007 – An Essential Guide!http://www.marclenferna.com/blog/archive/2008/10/31/infopath-forms-server-2007---an-essential-guide.aspx TechNet Office System Tech Center – Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/bb267350.aspx Planning and architecture, deployment, and operations for Office Forms Server 2007 (Downloadable Book)http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc197347.aspx Office Online - Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/formsserver/FX100490391033.aspx Office Developer Center – InfoPath 2007 Resource Centerhttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/aa905443.aspx MSDN VSTO – InfoPath Developer Reference for Managed Codehttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/aa941030(VS.80).aspx InfoPath Team Bloghttp://blogs.msdn.com/infopath InfoPath Forms Services 2007 Web Testing Toolkit http://www.codeplex.com/ipfswebtest

19. Email me to get a copy of this slide deck Thank you – Questions and Answers Chris Beckett Principal Consultant, Portals and Collaboration chris.beckett@neudesic.com Mobile: (206) 965-8257 Presented to Puget Sound SharePoint User GroupDecember 2008 Presented by Chris Beckett chris.beckett@neudesic.com