2012 Microsoft Heartland Region SharePoint Conference Slides

engageconnectsucceed

Funnel your Info down a new Path

Ryan DennisInformation Control Corporation

www.iccohio.com

ABOUT MERyan Dennis, MCTS, MCITPSenior SharePoint Engineer

SharePointRyan.com

@SharePointRyan

linkedin.com/in/ryandennis

rdennis@iccohio.com

Agenda

• Quick intro to Microsoft InfoPath 2010• How does it fit into the SharePoint 2010 Story?• What licensing do I need?• 4 Types of forms in SharePoint• DEMO - Creating a list form• DEMO - Creating a library-based web service

form• DEMO – Funneling Info down a new Path• Gotchas, Tips & Tricks• Q&A

What is InfoPath?• …a forms-creation and data-gathering tool to streamline

business processes…• …a tool for advanced business users to design

sophisticated electronic forms with no code…• …a point-and-click way to connect to LOB systems using

data connections…

Ok Ryan, so what is it really?• An awesome way for you to make data entry fun,

engaging and powerful…• A brilliant front-end to SharePoint list and library data…

• …an Office program…

And it works with SharePoint?• InfoPath forms can be used in SharePoint in multiple

ways, including…• List Forms• Customize existing SP Lists

• Browser-based Library Forms• Publish form templates for viewing in the browser

• Client-based Library Forms• Publish advanced form templates for viewing in the InfoPath client

• Workflow Forms• Modify SharePoint workflow forms using InfoPath for a richer

experience• Web Service Forms• Automatically create forms based on Web Services

What licensing do I need?• Client (InfoPath Designer)• Microsoft Office Professional Plus

2010• Server (Forms Services)• SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise

*Without SP Enterprise, you can publish your forms to SharePoint and launch them in the client – but the InfoPath client is then required on every machine

4 Main Types of Forms in SharePoint…• List form• Modify an existing list form using InfoPath

• Browser-based form template• Publish a form template for browser use

• Client-based form template• Publish a form template for client use

• Workflow form• Modify Workflow forms

www.iccohio.com

WORKING WITH SHAREPOINTLIST FORMS

www.iccohio.com

WORKING WITH SHAREPOINTLIST FORMSLists are a collection of data in a site…

calendars contacts

tasks

Scenario

Creating a SharePoint List Form

Demo Recap: • Created a standard Contacts List in SharePoint 2010• Customized the List Form using InfoPath 2010• Modified a few fields for better user experience• Added some AdventureWorks branding elements• Had fun doing it…

www.iccohio.com

WORKING WITH SHAREPOINTLIBRARY-BASED FORMS

Library Based Forms:• Utilize a form template (XSN file)…• Are stored in a SharePoint Form Library…• Can leverage data connections and external content

types…• Provide more functionality than list-based forms…• Can be launched within the browser, in an InfoPath Form

Web Part or in the InfoPath Form Client*

*Some features which are supported in client-based forms are not supported in browser based forms. More info later…

Scenario

Business User

I don’t want to give you permission to create sites…

I want to create sites!!!

IT Administrator

Using a Web Service form to create Sites

Demo Recap: • Created a browser-based form template based on a web

service schema…• Connected it to the Sites.asmx Web Service…• Used the form to create a site request for a new subsite

under our Site Collection…• Used an Approval workflow to manage the site request…• Had a lot of fun doing it…

www.iccohio.com

WORKING WITH SHAREPOINTRECORDS CENTER SITESFunneling your Info down a new Path…

InfoPath Form Records:• InfoPath Forms can be sent to a Records Center,

but there are some issues…− The Form Template exists in the source site collection, thus the form

won’t open…− By definition, a Records Center is a locked down site – shouldn’t have

dynamic files such as forms with workflow

• There are some cool opportunities here…

Convert forms to PDF• There is no out-of-the-box way to do this, but…

− There are 3rd party tools− You can write your own…

• Why don’t I just show you!

Business Case Scenario• AdventureWorks has made a business decision to start

leveraging InfoPath for different types of data gathering and process management…

• They would like to archive completed forms in a SharePoint 2010 Records Center Site as a searchable, read-only PDF…

Sending InfoPath Forms to a SharePoint Records Center

Demo Recap: • Sent a generic InfoPath XML form to a Records Center,

not so pretty…• Added some workflow and used Muhimbi PDF converter

to convert submitted InfoPath Forms to PDF• Leveraged SharePoint Designer Workflow and Muhimbi

Workflow Actions to send converted PDFs to a Records Center

(For more information on Muhimbi, go to www.muhimbi.com)

Gotchas• Some controls not supported on List forms…• External item picker• Template Parts

• Managed metadata not supported at all…• Writing to a People Picker column not supported… • Sending completed forms to Records Center…

Tips & Tricks• Use Template Parts to create reusable templates to

include branding, help, standard fields, rules, etc.• Use External Content Types to populate InfoPath Forms

with LOB data…• Gather requirements and understand them, InfoPath is

great, but it’s not the right tool for everything…• Don’t recreate the wheel!

www.iccohio.com

QUESTIONS?

thank youRyan Dennis, MCTS, MCITPSenior SharePoint Engineer – ICC

SharePointRyan.com@SharePointRyanLinkedin.com/in/ryandennisrdennis@iccohio.com