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172 posts from: InfoPath Team Blog

Tips and Tricks for Making Form Filling Faster

(Indexed 2010-07-29):

The less time it takes to fill out your forms, the more time your users can spend on other tasks. Also, odds go up that form fillers will complete forms when they take less time to fill out. This blog post will give you a few tips for speeding up form filling and improving accuracy so your forms are completed faster.In this post we will coverUsing defaults Using contextual defaults for bringing in the current day and user Setting up default valuesFor questions where one answer is much more commo...(truncated)...

Peer to Peer Solutions using SharePoint Workspace 2010

(Indexed 2010-07-15):

In the 2nd of 2 videos about InfoPath 2010 and SharePoint Workspace integration, Shirish Pulikkal from the InfoPath test team shows how to create and maintain an Asset Tracking list for both online and offline use, using InfoPath designer and SharePoint Workspace. The Scenario: In the 1st video, Taking a list offline using SharePoint Workspace 2010, Shirish showed how to take a SharePoint Asset Tracking list offline in SharePoint Workspace. Smaller organizations with budget constraints may not...(truncated)...

Using Relative URLs with the ServerInfo Class in InfoPath 2010

(Indexed 2010-07-01):

Hi, my name is Jill Anderson and I am a tester on the InfoPath team. In this post, I would like to introduce you to the one of the newest members of the InfoPath Object Model, the "ServerInfo" class. For InfoPath forms published to a SharePoint server, the members of this class give you context about that particular site. Documentation about this new class can be found at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/microsoft.office.inf...(truncated)... In this short video demo, I show you how you ...(truncated)...

Using TFS for Source Control in InfoPath 2010

(Indexed 2010-06-10):

In this video demo, Philip Newman and Christopher Brotsos from the InfoPath program management team show how you can use Team Foundation Server (TFS) to manage source control for your InfoPath forms with code. [Image] Follow up Team Foundation Server (TFS) is an effective repository and source control program for your InfoPath solutions. Teams add InfoPath forms and their related Visual Studio Tools for Applications (VSTA) projects to TFS, and then proceed to collaborate on the overall ...(truncated)...

How to Pass Querystring data into an InfoPath Form

(Indexed 2010-06-04):

Hi there, Daniel Broekman here. After showing you how to customize a SharePoint list with InfoPath 2010, and describing the differences between SharePoint list forms and form library forms together with Kate Everitt, Im back with a quick tip for easily sending a value from the browsers query string into an InfoPath form. Imagine one of the following scenarios: You want to dynamically pull all the invoices for a specific customer into a single form. For example, you could have a ...(truncated)...

Take a list offline using SharePoint Workspace 2010

(Indexed 2010-05-27):

In this short video demo, Shirish Pulikkal from the InfoPath test team shows how you can customize a SharePoint list in InfoPath designer and work with the list offline in SharePoint Workspace. The Scenario: A fictitious company Fabrikam wants to track assets in their lab using SharePoint list. They want to be able to track assets both in the online and offline case. Fabrikam has decided to use InfoPath to customize the list and SharePoint workspace to enable working offline with the list. T...(truncated)...

Extended data validation for the Multiple-Selection List Box in InfoPath 2010

(Indexed 2010-05-20):

Hi, Frank Mueller from the InfoPath development team here. The Multiple-Selection List Box (MSLB) control was introduced in InfoPath 2007 to enable users to select multiple items from a list when filling out forms. In this post, I will explain the different ways you can restrict and validate the data entered using this control in InfoPath 2010. I will also cover some advanced tips and tricks. In this post: Data Validation Special behavior in SharePoint List Forms Removing Blank Default Val...(truncated)...

Cool Forms! Task Form

(Indexed 2010-05-18):

This weeks cool form was submitted by Sean Cantellay of Cantellay Consulting. The form allows the user to select a SharePoint task from the right and view it in the form on the page. The task has been broken up into four views and the tab buttons moves the user through the different views. The user can also Escalate the task to another SharePoint group by clicking the Escalate button and selecting the group. Click on images for larger pictures. [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] If you ...(truncated)...

Create a Rating Control using Picture Buttons

(Indexed 2010-05-13):

In this short video demo, Matt Bielich from the InfoPath test team shows how you can add a rating control to your InfoPath 2010 forms using picture buttons. [Image] [Image]

SharePoint List Data Connections in InfoPath 2010

(Indexed 2010-05-06):

Hi, my name is Joey Wiggs and Im a developer on the InfoPath team. In InfoPath 2010, one of the ways in which we've improved our integration with SharePoint Server 2010 is by providing richer capabilities for connecting to and getting data from SharePoint lists. In this post, I will compare SharePoint list data connections in InfoPath 2007 and InfoPath 2010, and discuss the benefits of using the new 2010 data connection type. I will also outline the steps required to upgrade your InfoPath 2010 S...(truncated)...

Free InfoPath 2010 Web Cast: Best Practices in Form Design

(Indexed 2010-05-04):

The fourth and final session in the InfoPath 2010 Academy Live series, Best Practices in Form Design, by InfoPath PM lead Daniel Witriol takes place this Wednesday, May 5th at 8:30 AM (PST).You can sign up for this free Web cast on https://www.eventbuilder.com/event_desc.asp?p_event=a2d1f10w. If youve missed any of our earlier sessions, you can watch them on demand at the links below:An Introduction to SharePoint Applications using InfoPath 2010Building SharePoint Applications with InfoPath 2010...(truncated)...

Cool Forms! Feature Status

(Indexed 2010-05-04):

This weeks cool form is a form used to track the status of testing of feature areas. One interesting decision made in this form is to use questions as labels rather than field names. This makes the form much easier to understand, particularly given that field names for compactness in the list view tend to be only one or two words. Another key aspect of this form design is the use of ? picture buttons beside certain questions. Clicking one of these buttons provides detailed help text underneath t...(truncated)...

Debugging Sandboxed Code in InfoPath 2010 Forms

(Indexed 2010-04-29):

In this video demo, Phil Newman from the InfoPath program management team shares some tips and tricks for debugging InfoPath forms with sandboxed code on SharePoint server 2010. [Image] Here is this link to the ULS viewer tool that is used in the demo: Download location: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/ULSViewer Location of ULS logs on SharePoint server: C:Program FilesCommon FilesMicrosoft SharedWeb Server Extensions14LOGS Filters: Process=SPUCWorkerProcess (for administra...(truncated)...

Comparing SharePoint List and Form Library Forms

(Indexed 2010-04-22):

So youve heard about SharePoint list form customization in InfoPath 2010 and youve seen the cool demos. But you may be asking yourself Whats the difference between list and library forms and when should I use one or the other? In this post, we will answer these questions and provide guidance on when to create list vs. library forms. When designing InfoPath forms for SharePoint 2010, the first choice you need to make is between a SharePoint list form and a SharePoint form library form. [Image]...(truncated)...

Capacity Planning for SharePoint 2010

(Indexed 2010-04-20):

Check out the new Capacity Management Resource Center for SharePoint 2010 that went live when Office 2010 released to manufacturing last Friday, April 16th. The InfoPath capacity planning document along with a refresh of the Capacity Planning Tool Kit are now available. The Capacity Management Resource Center contains resources to help you with capacity management in your Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 environmentmap your solution design to a farm size and set of hardware that su...(truncated)...

Cool Forms! Feature Request Form

(Indexed 2010-04-20):

This weeks cool form is a feature request issue tracking list used by the Visio team. Its divided into two main sections, the separate status section allows readers to jump directly to the information they care most about. It uses picture buttons to allow selection between Office 14 and Office 15 and to show which one is currently selected. This form also dynamically generates the proper direct link to the bug database based on the bug ID that is entered. [Image] If you have a cool for...(truncated)...

Using Multiple Views in Customized List Forms

(Indexed 2010-04-15):

Hi, my name is Laura Harrington, and Im a program manager on the InfoPath team. In this short video demo, I will show how you can optimize the form filling experience for different tasks and users by creating multiple custom views in your customized SharePoint list forms. [Image] [Image]

InfoPath 2010: Menu to ribbon reference workbook

(Indexed 2010-04-13):

Find the new locations of InfoPath 2007 commands in InfoPath 2010. The InfoPath 2010 menu to ribbon reference workbook contains tables that list the old menu commands and show where in InfoPath 2010 those commands are located. This Excel workbook is now available to download from http://office2010.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CL101817133....(truncated)...

Person / Group Picker Improvements in InfoPath 2010

(Indexed 2010-04-08):

Hi, this is Frank Mueller, a developer on the InfoPath team. In this post which is the first of two blog posts about the Person / Group picker, I want to tell you about the improvements weve made to this control in InfoPath 2010. The Person / Group Picker (aka contact selector) control allows you to type or select users and groups from a SharePoint site, and validate those users against a directory provider. In InfoPath 2010, the Person / Group Picker control is now a 1st class citizen and is av...(truncated)...

Upgrading InfoPath 2007 forms with Person/Group Pickers to InfoPath 2010

(Indexed 2010-04-08):

Hi, this is Frank Mueller again and this is the second of two posts that Ive written about the InfoPath 2010 Person / Group picker control. InfoPath 2007 form templates containing the Person/Group Picker control (formerly named Contact Selector) will continue to work in InfoPath 2010 the same way they used to as long as the form template remains in the InfoPath 2007 Form Template format. However, if you wish to upgrade your form template to InfoPath 2010 to take advantage of newly added function...(truncated)...

Cool Forms! Weather Forecast Form

(Indexed 2010-04-06):

This weeks cool form displays your local weather forecast by using a REST Web Service data connection to pull in weather information from an online weather service. There are two views to the form, one minimal and one extended. The form contains linked picture controls that use rules to concatenate the Web service data and generate a URL pointing to images on the weather site. By hosting this form inside the InfoPath form Web part, you can display the latest weather forecast information on your ...(truncated)...

REMINDER: Learn about InfoPath 2010 in Free Web Casts

(Indexed 2010-04-02):

If you want to learn more about InfoPath and SharePoint 2010 directly from the Microsoft product team, then sign up for the InfoPath 2010 Academy Live Series.There are 2 remaining sessions in the series. The next session Form-Driven Mashups using InfoPath and SharePoint 2010", presented by Nick Dallett, an InfoPath program manager lead, will take place on Wednesday, April 7th from 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM (PST).If you missed our first 2 sessions, An introduction to SharePoint applications using InfoP...(truncated)...

Add items to a SharePoint list using managed code

(Indexed 2010-04-01):

In this video demo, Phil Newman shows how you can write managed code in an InfoPath form to add items to a SharePoint list, and then publish this form as a sandboxed solution to SharePoint. In InfoPath 2010, forms with code can now be published directly to SharePoint without requiring the farm administrator to approve and upload them! These forms run in a sandboxed environment which protects other resources on the SharePoint server from malicious code. [Image] For more details on pub...(truncated)...

InfoPath Resources

(Indexed 2010-03-31):

InfoPathDev is a free resource, dedicated to bringing Microsoft InfoPath users the information and tools they need to be successful in their projects. More than 10K members, 30K threads, and 50K postsit is the community to ask questions, get answers, and collaborate Microsoft MVPs frequently post, including three MVPs from Qdabraexpertise Forums - content ranges from general and newbie questions to SharePoint and SQL integration, coding, publishing, and Microsoft InfoPath 2010 Down...(truncated)...

Package and Re-use a SharePoint List Solution

(Indexed 2010-03-25):

This weeks post continues the theme of SharePoint list customization. In this short video demo, Roberto Taboada from the InfoPath program management team shows how you can quickly and easily re-use your customized SharePoint lists by packaging them as SharePoint list templates. This is a really powerful feature as it allows you to build and customize your SharePoint solutions once and re-use them as many times as you want. [Image] To learn more about customizing your SharePoint list for...(truncated)...

Cool Forms! NCAA March Madness Bracket

(Indexed 2010-03-23):

This weeks cool InfoPath form is a browser form used to run a bracket tournament at Microsoft. The form uses filtered dropdowns to let users make their picks for NCAA March Madness 2010, and uses conditional formatting to show correct and incorrect picks as the tournament progresses. Theres also a printable view that shows the full bracket on one page, making it easy to print your bracket and show it off to your co-workers.The form contains several data connections to SharePoint lists containing...(truncated)...

Introduction to Programming in InfoPath 2010

(Indexed 2010-03-18):

Hello, my name is Christopher Brotsos, and Im a Program Manager on the InfoPath team. In this post, Im going to show you how to add business logic to your forms using managed code. Imagine a scenario where the accounting department at Contoso, Inc. tracks corporate assets through an Asset Management System built on SharePoint. One module in the system allows employees to order office equipment such as laptops, conference phones, and ergonomic chairs through an InfoPath form. At first, the order...(truncated)...

Customize an External List Form in InfoPath 2010

(Indexed 2010-03-11):

In this week's 5 for forms video demo, Trey Brumley, a software design engineer in test shows how you can use InfoPath to customize the form for an external list on SharePoint that connects to a SQL Employee database through Business Connectivity Services. [Image] [Image]

Cool Forms! Team Signoff Form

(Indexed 2010-03-09):

This weeks cool InfoPath form is a simple form that were using for each team in Office to sign off that Office 2010 is ready to ship. One of the neat things about this form is that it makes the signoff process a visual experience by using conditional formatting to show and hide pictures based on the status. [Image] The form also contains rules to enforce that final signoff can only happen once both bug and testing signoffs have been completed.[Image] If you have a cool form that you would l...(truncated)...

And the winner is

(Indexed 2010-03-08):

The InfoPath Solution Video Contest is over! We assembled the team last Friday, and screened the final submissions, debated, re-watched, debated, re-screened again, and finally voted to determine the winners.The ContestantsBefore we announce the winners, lets review the contestants. At final count at the close of the contest (midnight on March 1st ), we had received three submissions:(1) Leave Request form Author: Clayton Cobb Company: Planet Technologies Clays solution allows members of his com...(truncated)...

Use Rules and Filters to Create Cascading Dropdowns in Forms

(Indexed 2010-03-04):

Hi, my name is Anson Hidajat and Im a program manager on the InfoPath team. In this week's 5 for forms video demo, I will show how you can use rules and filters to create cascading dropdown lists in a tennis tournament bracket application. [Image] Enjoy and please send us your feedback![Image]

Create Code-Free Mashups with InfoPath and SharePoint Web Parts

(Indexed 2010-02-25):

Hi, My name is Nicholas Lovell and Im a developer on the InfoPath team. In this video demo, I will walk through how to create a simple portal page for processing claims at an insurance company. This claims portal includes a SharePoint Web Part with a list of all the claims, an InfoPath Web Part that displays the claim details, and a custom Bing Maps Web part which displays the location of the currently selected claim. [Image] Enjoy and please share your comments with us! Nick[Image]

Cool Forms! Team Status Tracking Form

(Indexed 2010-02-23):

This weeks cool InfoPath form is a form used by one of the teams at Microsoft to track their status. It uses conditional formatting for color coding the status to make it easy to see progress at a glance. By recording team status on their SharePoint site, everyone knows how the team is doing and where they need to focus their energy. As new milestones are added to the project, they are added to the form.[Image] If you have a cool form that you would like to share with us, please send an e-mail w...(truncated)...

Only 10 days left to be in with a chance to win an XBox 360 Elite!

(Indexed 2010-02-18):

Have you submitted your entry for the InfoPath and SharePoint 2010 solution contest yet? If not, hurry up! There are only 10 days left to submit your entries. For a taste of what were looking for, heres one entry from Clayton Cobb of the Colorado SharePoint users group. [Image] Think you can do better? Click here to see how to enter. Please note that only legal residents of the US and Canada are eligible for prizes. However, we're eager to see videos from everyone, and we will showc...(truncated)...

Learn about InfoPath 2010 in free Web casts with the Microsoft Product team!

(Indexed 2010-02-18):

Do you want to learn about InfoPath and SharePoint 2010 in FREE Web casts with the InfoPath product team? Then sign up for the InfoPath 2010 Academy Live Series. There are 3 remaining sessions in the series. The next session Building SharePoint Applications with InfoPath 2010 will take place on Wednesday, March 10th from 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM (PST). If you missed our 1st session, An introduction to SharePoint applications using InfoPath 2010, you can view it on demand here. Just click the Regist...(truncated)...

Digital Signature Support in InfoPath 2010

(Indexed 2010-02-18):

Hi, this is Gergely Kota, a developer on the InfoPath team. Digitally signing data when filling out a form makes the data tamper-proof, authenticates its signer, and is a key component of trusting form data. In this post, Id like to share the improvements that have been made to digital signature support in InfoPath 2010. InfoPath 2010 allows you to make more secure signatures with improved cryptographic algorithms and makes long-term storage of signed forms more robust by supporting 3rd-party ti...(truncated)...

Add a Dynamic Map to a Contact Form using REST Web Services

(Indexed 2010-02-11):

Hi, Phil Newman here from the InfoPath team. In this post, Ill explain how to use the new REST Web service data connection in InfoPath 2010 to add a dynamic map to a contacts form. The form connects to two Web services. The first is a REST Web service that returns the coordinates of a given address from Bing Maps, the second returns an image of a map for a given coordinate set. When users enter address information in the form, the map will update to display the specified address. [Image] ...(truncated)...

We want to see your Cool Forms!

(Indexed 2010-02-09):

Today sees the launch of InfoPath Cool Forms. In this series, we will feature cool forms that showcase a form design practice or interesting scenario.This weeks cool form is the Ask Kanesha request form. This is a neat little form that we use on the InfoPath team to submit requests to our Group Business Administrator, Kanesha. [Image] Kanesha was being flooded with requests from team members and tracking all these requests was becoming a challenge. To help manage the requests, we created an Ask...(truncated)...

Create a Loan Calculator using the InfoPath and Excel Web Parts

(Indexed 2010-02-04):

In this weeks 5 for Forms video demo, Nick Dallett will show you how to create a loan calculator application without writing a line of code. This simple application leverages the power of the InfoPath and Excel Web Parts by using an InfoPath form to input the values that are sent to an Excel Workbook which contains the complex formulas that calculate the repayments.If you want to learn more about the new InfoPath Form Web Part, check out Nicks earlier video demo Managing data in your SharePoint...(truncated)...

Sign up now for the InfoPath 2010 Academy Live Series!

(Indexed 2010-01-29):

Registration is now open for the 1st session in the InfoPath 2010 Academy Live Series, An Introduction to SharePoint Applications using InfoPath 2010, presented by Bojana Duke. In this series, you will hear directly from InfoPath product team members who will talk in-depth about InfoPath and Forms Services 2010 and how you can quickly and easily build applications in SharePoint without writing a line of code. Click the link below to sign up for this free event. Event Title: An ...(truncated)...

Create a SharePoint list using InfoPath 2010

(Indexed 2010-01-28):

This weeks 5 for forms video demo continues the theme of SharePoint list customization. In the 1st video in this series, Daniel Broekman showed how you can take an existing list on SharePoint and customize the form for that list in InfoPath. In this weeks video demo, Ines Khelifi, a developer on the InfoPath team shows how you can create a new SharePoint list and custom form directly from InfoPath Designer. [Image] Enjoy and please send us your feedback! The InfoPath Team[Image]

Announcing the InfoPath 2010 Academy Live Series!

(Indexed 2010-01-26):

Do you want to hear about the exciting, new features and scenarios that have been added in InfoPath and InfoPath Forms Services 2010? Then, sign up for our upcoming Academy Live series. In this series, you will hear directly from InfoPath product team members who will talk in-depth about InfoPath and Forms Services 2010 and how you can quickly and easily build applications in SharePoint without writing a line of code. The series will consist of 4 sessions presented by members of the InfoPath p...(truncated)...

Introduction to Sandboxed Solutions - Sort data in repeating tables using managed code

(Indexed 2010-01-21):

Hi. My name is Phil Newman and I'm a program manager on the InfoPath team. In this post, I'd like to introduce you to one of my favourite new features in InfoPath 2010 - Sandboxed Solutions. In InfoPath 2010, forms with code can now be published directly to SharePoint without requiring the farm administrator to approve and upload them! These forms run in a sandboxed environment which protects other resources on the SharePoint server from malicious code. In this short video demo, I show how y...(truncated)...

Manage data in your SharePoint Lists using the InfoPath Form Web Part

(Indexed 2010-01-14):

One of the powerful new features in InfoPath 2010 is the InfoPath Form Web Part. This is the 1st in a series of videos where we will show how to use the InfoPath Form Web Part to create rich mashups on portal pages in SharePoint, without writing a single line of code. In this video, Nick Dallett, a program manager lead on the InfoPath team, will demo two simple scenarios for managing data in your SharePoint lists using the InfoPath Form Web Part. [Image]Enjoy![Image]

Create tabbed navigation using picture button controls

(Indexed 2010-01-07):

In the 2nd installment of our "5 for Forms" video demo series, Charlie Han, a program manager intern on the InfoPath team shows how you can use our new picture button control to create tabs to more easily navigate your forms.[Image](There are additional steps required to create tabs in display views. Click here to find out more.)Enjoy! [Image]

Customize a SharePoint List Form using InfoPath 2010

(Indexed 2009-12-17):

Today sees the launch of our new "5 for forms" video demo series. In this series, we will demo a cool new InfoPath 2010 feature or scenario in less than 5 minutes.In the 1st video of the series, Daniel Broekman, a program manager on the InfoPath team will show you how you can customize a SharePoint list form with just a few clicks. [Image]We will post the next video in the series "Create tabs using Picture buttons" after the holidays on January 7th. Enjoy! [Image]

Use InfoPath 2010 with SharePoint 2010 Beta and Win an XBox360 Elite!

(Indexed 2009-12-04):

Now that you have had time to download the SharePoint 2010 and Office 2010 Beta releases, we want to see some of the great solutions that you are working on. To encourage you and foster some good-natured competition, we're opening up the contest that we started with the Technical Preview to all users of SharePoint 2010 and InfoPath 2010.What is the InfoPath team looking for?We want to see great examples of real-world solutions created using InfoPath and SharePoint 2010. If you have a solution ...(truncated)...

InfoPath 2010 Public Beta is Here!

(Indexed 2009-11-18):

[Image]The InfoPath team is excited to announce the release of the Office 2010 and SharePoint Server 2010 public betas! For the 1st time members of the public can download InfoPath 2010. Download it now from www.microsoft.com/2010!Here are just some of the highlights in this new release. (For more details, see our earlier What's New in InfoPath 2010 post).Quick and Easy Form DesignDesigning good looking forms has been made easier with our new page layout templates, layout tables, and themes.With...(truncated)...

New Office and SharePoint 2010 Developer Workshop available on Channel 9

(Indexed 2009-11-10):

[Image] This week, Channel 9 launched two new training courses for SharePoint 2010 and Office 2010 created by developers for developers. Youll find extensive instructor recordings from top MVPs on how to develop against both SharePoint and office 2010. InfoPath is featured in:Office 2010 Developer Roadmap - Office 2010 Development Tools - This video provides an introduction to building solutions for Office and SharePoint 2010 using Visual Studio 2010, SharePoint Designer 2010, InfoPath 2010, an...(truncated)...

SPC Recap: Create Form Driven Mashups with the InfoPath Form Web Part

(Indexed 2009-10-31):

The recent SharePoint Conference ended with a bang as Nick Dallett showed participants how they could create rich enterprise mashups by using InfoPath to create dynamic web parts without writing code. Nick showed off the new InfoPath form web part and demonstrated how easy it is for business users to use the web part to create composite applications together with other web parts that ship out of the box in SharePoint 2010, as well as custom web parts created by developers.Nick started by definin...(truncated)...

InfoPath 2010 Performance Highlights

(Indexed 2009-10-27):

At last week's SharePoint conference in Las Vegas, Rick Severson, a test lead on the InfoPath product team presented a session called Performance Best Practices for SharePoint Forms Services 2010. This session covered best practices and performance improvements in InfoPath 2010. In this post, we will cover the highlights from this session. InfoPath Team Members who attended SPC:(From Back Row Left to Right: Daniel Witriol (Program Manager Lead), Darvish Shadravan (Technology Specialist), Rick Se...(truncated)...

InfoPath 2010 is unveiled at the SharePoint Conference

(Indexed 2009-10-20):

As many of you may know, the SharePoint Conference 2009 is taking place this week in Las Vegas, Nevada and it's been a particularly exciting week for the InfoPath product team. Over the past 3 years of product development, we have made huge investments in integrating with the SharePoint platform. Finally, this week, we got the opportunity to unveil the fruits of these investments to the world, and so far, the reception has been tremendously positive! (Check out what people are saying about InfoP...(truncated)...

InfoPath 2010 Overview Video

(Indexed 2009-08-25):

Check out the InfoPath 2010 overview video created by the InfoPath Product Marketing team on http://www.microsoft.com/officebusiness/office2010/. Click on the Videos tab and then click the InfoPath link. [Image]

New Demo Video Posted: Creating Forms in InfoPath 2010

(Indexed 2009-08-19):

The first in a series of feature demo videos created by the InfoPath Product team is available for your viewing pleasure on Youtube.In this video, Bojana Duke, a Program Manager on the InfoPath team, covers the basics of creating forms in InfoPath 2010 using some of our great new features including Page and Section Layouts, Quick Rules, Rules Manager and the Picture Button control.To learn more, check out the video on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKJ3A12RfE8.[Image]

Office 2010 Technical Beta recruiting update and contest rules

(Indexed 2009-08-05):

Hey folks, Since we posted the information about the Office 2010 technical beta a couple of weeks ago, and our "Win an XBox" contest, we've had quite a few folks sign up for the program. Welcome to all the new folks in the technical beta! There are still slots available for folks interested in InfoPath, and we'll continue to take nominations until we're full.Please note that the Technical Beta is different from the Technical Preview program. Individuals and companies who are accepted into the...(truncated)...

InfoPath 2010 feature videos

(Indexed 2009-07-17):

Check out some of the new InfoPath 2010 features in action in the following videos on youtube:InfoPath 2010 Richer Browser FormsInfoPath 2010 Picture ButtonInfoPath 2010 Oneclick Publishing[Image]

What's New in InfoPath 2010?

(Indexed 2009-07-16):

Here's a quick overview of some of the great new features in InfoPath 2010. Stay tuned for upcoming posts with more details!Microsoft InfoPath 2010 makes it easier than ever to design electronic forms. InfoPath now includes the Office Fluent UI and allows the creation of powerful, interactive forms, without having to write any code. With a few clicks, Office users can customize SharePoint list forms, add custom layouts and rules to validate the data, and take them offline in SharePoint Workspace...(truncated)...

Install the Office 2010 Technical Preview and win an Xbox 360 Elite!

(Indexed 2009-07-13):

We on the InfoPath team are delighted to announce the release of Microsoft InfoPath 2010 (Technical Preview). Were really excited to share all of our great new features with you!(Click the thumbnails for higher-resolution images.)[Image][Image]HighlightsUse InfoPath to customize SharePoint list formsDesign forms more quickly and easily with page and section layouts, themes, and Fluent user interface.Add smarts to your forms with pre-built rulesPublish your forms with one-clickWhere do I sign up?...(truncated)...

New book on SharePoint content types

(Indexed 2009-02-02):

Have you ever wanted to do more with content types in SharePoint, but weren't quite sure how? There's a new book by David Gerhardt which goes deep on the subject, including a chapter on creating Document Information Panels using InfoPath.Check it out!http://www.amazon.com/Building-Content-Type-Solutions-Sh...(truncated)...

Estimate performance and capacity requirements for InfoPath Forms Services environments

(Indexed 2008-10-04):

A new document went live today on Technet around capacity planning for IPFS. Have a look and let us know what you think: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc879113.aspx [Image]

Do you have what it takes to define the future of InfoPath?

(Indexed 2008-09-03):

Program Manager WantedThe InfoPath clan is looking for a new member whos skilled in the dark arts of user experience design. We are looking for someone who can help vanquish the evil of complex interfaces that tax a helpless populace. We are searching far and wide for a PM who can wield UI heavy feature areas and who can fiercely impart their passion for user experience excellence upon our kin. For those who dare to cross us, know that we are a young and boisterous clan, we move quickly to keep ...(truncated)...

Are you ready to join the InfoPath dev or test team?

(Indexed 2008-09-03):

Are you ready to take the next step, and make the move from writing tools that use InfoPath, to writing InfoPath itself? We currently have open positions in Development, and Test. To search for positions on the InfoPath team, have a look at these positions on the Microsoft careers site: http://members.microsoft.com/careers/search/results.aspx?Fro...(truncated)... Software Development EngineerInfoPath is an integral part of Microsoft Office and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (one of the fa...(truncated)...

Consuming Excel Data using InfoPath Database Data Connections

(Indexed 2008-08-22):

InfoPath data connections can be one of the most powerful features of the product. However, sometimes the out-of-box support for various data sources just doesn't seem to cut it when you get out into the field. How in the world can I get data from an Excel spreadsheet into my InfoPath form? A typical response might include externally automating Excel via COM or the managed PIA to create InfoPath forms. Or you might try using the Excel 2003 XML spreadsheet file format with the InfoPath XML d...(truncated)...

New InfoPath articles on Office Online

(Indexed 2008-07-31):

The following new article and video demos are now available on the InfoPath Home Page on Microsoft Office Online: Get started: Create a meeting note system with InfoPath and SharePoint-shows you how to use a sample form template included with InfoPath and a SharePoint document library to create a meeting note system. Demo: Store InfoPath forms in a document library on a SharePoint site-watch how you can publish a sample form template to a new document library. Demo: Populate a drop-down list box...(truncated)...

Designing browser-enabled forms for performance in InfoPath Forms Services (Part 6)

(Indexed 2008-06-30):

Part 6 Addendum: Links to related performance resources Welcome to the sixth article in our series about designing InfoPath browser-enabled forms for better performance and scalability. In our previous articles we defined performance in terms of responsiveness, listed a number of conditions that cause postbacks, and looked at some of conditions that make postbacks more expensive, reducing the responsiveness and scalability of a form system. We also described some of the issues that affect form-...(truncated)...

Designing browser-enabled forms for performance in InfoPath Forms Services (Part 4)

(Indexed 2008-06-26):

Part 4 Browser Rendering IssuesWelcome to the fourth article in our series on optimizing the performance of InfoPath browser-enabled forms. In our previous articles we defined performance in terms of responsiveness, listed a number of conditions that cause postbacks, and looked at some of conditions that make postbacks more expensive, reducing the responsiveness and scalability of a form system. In this article well examine some of the issues that affect form rendering performance in the browse...(truncated)...

Designing browser-enabled forms for performance in InfoPath Forms Services (Part 5)

(Indexed 2008-06-26):

Part 5 Addendum: Counters for monitoring form server performanceWelcome to the fifth article in our series on optimizing the performance of InfoPath browser-enabled forms. In our previous articles we defined performance in terms of responsiveness, listed a number of conditions that cause postbacks, and looked at some of conditions that make postbacks more expensive, reducing the responsiveness and scalability of a form system. We also described some of the issues that affect form-rendering perf...(truncated)...

Designing browser-enabled forms for performance in InfoPath Forms Services (Part 3)

(Indexed 2008-06-25):

Part 3 Postbacks and the conditions that make them expensiveWelcome to the third article in our series on optimizing the performance of InfoPath browser-enabled forms. In our first article, we defined performance in terms of responsiveness (and identified postbacks as a major cause of poor performance). In our second article we listed a number of conditions that cause postbacks. This article continues our examination of postbacks, looking at conditions that make postbacks more expensive, reduci...(truncated)...

Designing browser-enabled forms for performance in InfoPath Forms Services (Part 2)

(Indexed 2008-06-20):

Part 2 Postbacks and conditions that cause themWelcome to the second article in our series on optimizing the performance of browser-enabled forms designed with Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007. In our first article, we defined performance in terms of responsiveness. In this article, well focus on postbacks, one of the most common causes of reduced performancePostbacks are probably the most important factor affecting form performance because the effect of other conditions is amplified with each po...(truncated)...

Designing browser-enabled forms for performance in InfoPath Forms Services (Part 1)

(Indexed 2008-05-09):

Part 1 - IntroductionInfoPath Forms Services (IPFS) is a Web service system integrated with SharePoint that enables you to deliver InfoPath forms on the Web through a browser. These browser-enabled forms extend the reach of your forms system, since your users do not require the InfoPath rich client to display and fill out the forms. When you are designing browser-enabled forms, optimizing performance should be an important objective for delivering the best possible form filling experience to you...(truncated)...

Invalid Data error when calculating the result of 2 or more fields

(Indexed 2008-04-17):

When you create a calculated field in an InfoPath XML node (field) you may find that some of the resulting calculations produce an Invalid Data error: [Image] This behavior is a known issue when doing floating point calculations and is *not* specific to InfoPath or Microsoft for that matter. The floating point calculation behavior is explained in detail in several articles on the Internet; however, here are a few for reference: Sun Microsystems: What Every Computer Scientist Should Know About...(truncated)...

New InfoPath content on the web

(Indexed 2007-07-19):

I wanted to take a moment to recognize the great work of the Microsoft writers and editors who have been cranking out InfoPath content over the last few months. While we in the product team have clicked over into Office 14 mode, they have continued to serve customers by creating Office 2007 content everything from video demos to highly technical developer content. Heres some of the content that has been released since RTM. Thanks to Anneliese Wirth, Arsenio Locsin, Amy Miller, Anthony Labri...(truncated)...

How to Integrate the .NET Framework SDK Documentation with VSTA

(Indexed 2007-05-17):

The .NET Framework 2.0 SDK documentation includes the Visual Basic and Visual C# language references, as well as the documentation for the .NET Framework classes. You can download and integrate this documentation into the Help viewer for the Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Applications (VSTA) integrated development environment (IDE) that ships with InfoPath 2007. After doing so, the NET Framework 2.0 SDK documentation will be available along with the "InfoPath Developer Reference for Managed Code F...(truncated)...

Help Us Improve InfoPath: Send Us Your Forms!

(Indexed 2007-05-08):

The Microsoft Office InfoPath Team is interested in seeing how you are using InfoPath. We would like you to send us your InfoPath forms so we can review them and collect data on how you are using the forms. We will be using these forms to implement improvements in future versions of Microsoft Office InfoPath. We are interested in looking at a variety of forms ranging from simple to complex (in terms of length, rules, data connections, code, etc.).Please send us your forms at ipforms@microsoft....(truncated)...

Displaying Contextual Help in a Custom Task Pane

(Indexed 2007-04-02):

With all the wonderful features in the new Office apps, it's easy to get lost! InfoPath is no exception, and when you make clever use of the new features, you'll want to make sure that users understand how your form is supposed to work. Wouldn't it be great if you could display contextual help information as the user navigates to fields in your form. With the "Context Changed" event, you can execute custom code when the user filling the form causes the context node to change. This will fire ...(truncated)...

Associating a Custom Document Information Panel with an Office Document

(Indexed 2007-03-28):

When a custom Document Information Panel is associated with an Office document and/or template, the information needed to locate the Panel is contained in a custom XML data part stored with the document.I wont go into the details of the way an Office Open XML document is structured here (needless to say there are many great resources for this on the web), but the format is basically a ZIP file with a collection of XML files that describe the contents of the word processing, spreadsheet, or prese...(truncated)...

Submitting to a SharePoint List

(Indexed 2007-03-26):

As you know, submitting to a Microsoft Windows SharePoint form library from an InfoPath form is quite simple: just add a submit type of data connection to InfoPath and away you go. However, submitting to a SharePoint List is another matter. In this post, we will take a look at the steps necessary to enable this functionality. Step 1: Create the list 1. Create a new custom list named: MyContacts2. From the Settings button choose List Settings3. Click Create Column4. Add the following columns/data...(truncated)...

Sniffing Code in Form Templates

(Indexed 2007-01-22):

With the introduction of InfoPath Forms Services for MOSS 2007, clever management of form template deployment will probably become a must for most IT departments. You'll want to be sure that form templates are not draining server resources. You'll especially want to keep an eye on administrator-deployed form templates, as those can achieve fully trusted status and execute arbitrary code on the server. With that in mind, it's probably a good idea to set up a code review process for InfoPath for...(truncated)...

Do you blog about InfoPath?

(Indexed 2007-01-19):

I'd love to compile a list of blogs about InfoPath to help the developer community connect and share insights. If you wrote at least one InfoPath article in the past, and plan on writing more, please leave a link to your blog in the comments. Expect an OPML compilation in a week or two!Alex[Image]

E-Mailing a Custom View

(Indexed 2007-01-17):

Lately, we've had a lot of interest in e-mailing a custom view with InfoPath forms that are submitted via e-mail. There are a few simple tricks that will allow you to do this. Before we start, note that, in the InfoPath rich client, you have the option to "Send to Mail Recipient" from the file menu in the Editor. In this case, you're stuck sending the currently active view of the form. The user filling the form would have to manually click or change data in order to fire an event to switch to...(truncated)...

Populating form data from SharePoint List Views

(Indexed 2007-01-15):

The SharePoint list data connection in InfoPath is a great declarative way to bring in data from a SharePoint list, but it does have some limitations. For those willing to put in a little extra effort, theres much more that can be done with SharePoint lists: you can bind to views based on these lists. Here are the steps for creating the connection to a list view.First, lets get the URL:1. Navigate to the SharePoint site that contains the list, for example: http://contoso/sites/sales/Sales%20Con...(truncated)...

Implementing Roles in Browser Forms

(Indexed 2007-01-10):

What are Roles? Without going much in detail, InfoPath roles is a functionality where you can define user tags like "Sales", "Management" and utilize them in your form logic. This enables some very interesting scenarios in the forms space. For a detailed discussion on this topic, take a look at this MSDN lab. If you have worked with InfoPath 2003, you would notice that Roles have not changed much in 2007, and that they are not supported by InfoPath Forms Services. My focus will be in how we can ...(truncated)...

Data Connections in Template Parts

(Indexed 2007-01-08):

Template parts allow a form designer to combine view information, rules, schema, default data and other compatible components of a form template into a package that can be distributed to other form designers and inserted into form templates without manual recreation. Data connections, with some restrictions, are a compatible component that can be included in a template part. Adding a data connection to a template part is the same process as adding a data connection to a form template, with one e...(truncated)...

New Office 2007 courses from MS Learning

(Indexed 2007-01-05):

MS Learning has some free Office 2007 courses. In particular, heres a Whats New course for InfoPath. Heres the outline: What's New in Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 Converting Office Word and Office Excel Forms to Office InfoPath The Forms Converter How to Convert Existing Forms to Office InfoPath The Design Checker Designing Forms in Office InfoPath 2007 Codeless Form Design How to Create Template Parts Multiple Views in an Office InfoPath Form How to Create a Print Layout View Guidelines for D...(truncated)...

Digital Signatures: Layout Tricks

(Indexed 2007-01-03):

Folks frequently ask whether it is possible to customize the InfoPath user interface around digital signatures. Some want to show the signature at the very bottom of the form; others want to show signatures side-by-side; others want to disable form submissions when the document wasn't digitally signed. In this article, we'll look at different ways you can tweak the form design to make it happen. Trick 1: Display signature at the bottom of the view InfoPath lets you show digital signature UI ("cl...(truncated)...

InfoPath Forms Services and AJAX

(Indexed 2006-12-22):

There's been lots of well-deserved hype lately around Web 2.0 and the technology that's fueling it, AJAX. We're receiving lots of questions such as "do InfoPath browser forms support AJAX?". The answer is more complex than just yes :-); this article aims to clarify any ambiguities here. But first, some definitions. What is AJAX? Definition from Wikipedia: Ajax, shorthand for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is a web development technique for creating interactive web applications. The intent is t...(truncated)...

Using SQL Server 2005 Web Services with InfoPath

(Indexed 2006-12-20):

Heres your problem: You want to use a stored procedure in a database to access your data through InfoPath, but you dont really want to have to write script for every query to change the stored procedures query parameters. Weve all been there.Well, stop your coding, right now, because SQL Server 2005 allows you to create SOAP Web Service endpoints that act as a type of exposed stored procedure over HTTP. Among other cool things, this will allow you to have the parameters you need exposed as que...(truncated)...

Creating Complex InfoPath Controls in C#

(Indexed 2006-12-18):

One of the problems with InfoPath controls is their limited availability. For example, there is no such control like the NumericUpDown control in WinForms. Or you may have a predefined complex UI, which you want use multiple times.In these circumstances, what we need is a mechanism for control extensibility. Today, InfoPath provides two different control extensibility mechanism: Template parts and ActiveX controls.Basically, template parts are predesigned InfoPath form templates, that can be imp...(truncated)...

Another Way of Sorting Repeating Data

(Indexed 2006-12-15):

If you have ever attempted to sort repeating node data (i.e. a Repeating Table or Repeating Section) on an InfoPath form, you will find this functionality is not available through the UI. However, using .NET classes you can easily implement a sorting routine that will work in both client and browser scenarios. We discussed one way to make this happen through custom code in a recent article; this post will show a different way to make it happen. We will take a look at how to implement this functi...(truncated)...

Information Rights Management: Protecting Forms

(Indexed 2006-12-13):

In a recent post, we discussed ways to protect sensitive data in your InfoPath forms. This article will drill down on one of these mechanisms - Information Rights Management, a.k.a. IRM. InfoPath 2007 features the ability to set permissions on both the form template that youre designing and the forms that are based on it. You can choose to restrict who can read or write your form/form template, as well as whether read permissions include the ability to copy, print, etc. This feature is available...(truncated)...

Firing rules when removing InfoPath controls

(Indexed 2006-12-11):

The built-in support InfoPath offers for rules can be used to generate a relatively large and powerful set of conditions that trigger a rule action. There are some scenarios though were the default options available through the condition builder may not be sufficient. One of them is firing a rule when certain control has been deleted. The above limitation can be worked around by writing form code. However in some cases it may be possible to achieve this scenario only by using the declarative log...(truncated)...

Two articles from the community

(Indexed 2006-12-08):

Making my Technorati rounds searching for InfoPath community content, I came across two very cool articles: 1) InfoPath 2007, Forms Server, MOSS 2007 by Sahil Malik: start from a Word form, publish it to be filled out in the browser, play with the content type and configure the document library. Fun read, and lots of screenshots. 2) InfoPath Forms for Mobile Web Browsers by David Gerhardt: good starting point if you're exploring your way around the mobile forms arena. Alex WeinsteinProgram Manag...(truncated)...

Sorting Repeating and Tabular Data

(Indexed 2006-12-06):

InfoPath is a great way to easily gather and present XML data to the masses. But what about efficiently presenting a massive amount data? Tons of data (e.g., a list of hundreds product names) usually find their ways into lists that well find on SharePoint, in a database, or just sitting in an XML file. Controls like Repeating Sections and Tables are useful mechanisms for displaying lists of data. But their usefulness is limited to how efficiently the user of your form can find and work with such...(truncated)...

XPath Powers: Calculating Totals

(Indexed 2006-12-04):

InfoPath makes it trivial to track totals for repeating structures, such as customer orders. Just create a repeating table of line items, and sum up the totals for individual line items. However, sometimes, totals for line items may not be available; it is still possible to perform dynamic calculations across the repeating structure, even when interim results (line item totals) are not stored in the data source. This article will explain a way to make this work without code.Let's explore the sim...(truncated)...

New Office Online and MSDN Resources

(Indexed 2006-12-01):

Take a look new InfoPath-related resources that were recently published to MSDN and Office Online: 1) The official "What's new in InfoPath 2007" review - excellent way to get to know new stuff that's coming with Office 2007. 2) A series of video walkthroughs on InfoPath 2007:Convert a Word document into an InfoPath 2007 form templateUse InfoPath e-mail forms to view data in Outlook 2007View the business logic in an InfoPath 2007 form template3) InfoPath Glossary - InfoPath comes with quite a few...(truncated)...

Debugging Browser Forms: Determine the right w3wp.exe

(Indexed 2006-11-29):

Last week, we posted an article on techniques around debugging browser forms. We received a few questions around the recommended way to find the right w3wp.exe process to attach to - this article aims to help. Non-production Server (where you can do anything without users complaining about service availability)It is good idea to use Visual Studio to debug W3WP.exe. It is easier than using WinDbg but way more heavy weight to install. In any case make sure you have proper symbols servers configure...(truncated)...

Conditional Default Values

(Indexed 2006-11-27):

Sometimes you want the default value of a field to be dependent upon a condition. However, there isnt any direct functionality to support IF statements in the default values of fields. Substituting a rule for a default value only gets you so far, as the rule is only applied when that field that changes, not the fields that the rule depends on. Updating the field whenever any dependent field is changed would require you to copy the rule to each field. This is not very maintainable, so below I wi...(truncated)...

Debugging Browser Forms

(Indexed 2006-11-24):

Debugging InfoPath forms in the client environment is relatively simple: set a breakpoint, press F5 and execute the process that will cause the breakpoint to be hit. However, debugging InfoPath forms that are opened in the browser requires some additional steps:1) Ensure the InfoPath Form Template is compiled in the Debug Configuration so the XSN includes the symbol (PDB) file2) Open the local copy of the code file in Visual Studio and set a breakpoint3) Attach to the appropriate w3wp process4) ...(truncated)...

Workflow user experience in InfoPath

(Indexed 2006-11-22):

Microsoft Office SharePoint workflow can be described as a series of tasks implemented with specific business needs to help people manage their project tasks. In Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007, we provide the workflows user experience for InfoPath forms. Additionally, we enable InfoPath business logic to key off workflow properties. This article will demonstrate how to enable an InfoPath form to respond to workflow status. Let's explore the following scenario: Nicholas has created an expense rep...(truncated)...

Web services are a peach, and then? UDDI!

(Indexed 2006-11-20):

Ive been blogging quite a bit about the brave new world of data connection libraries and UDC files. A data connection library is the recommended way to expose data connections for use in enterprise InfoPath forms. Users can easily select an appropriate connection by name and description without needing to know the connection details or even the type of connection. Web services, database queries, SharePoint list queries, ASPX pages that return an XML stream they all look equally friendly.Data c...(truncated)...

InfoPathDev.com: Excellent InfoPath Resource

(Indexed 2006-11-17):

Shoutout to InfoPathDev.com - several of our product team alums are hosting an excellent resource for the InfoPath developer community. Lots of great content there: sample form templates, very lively forums, and walkthroughs. My personal favorites: 1) Localizing form templates. Very clever method, using secondary data connections to store localizations in XML files. I still refer to it as "the Shiraz Cupala method". Note that this method works even better with InfoPath 2007, as button labels can...(truncated)...

Integrated Innovation: Access Data Collection

(Indexed 2006-11-15):

One of the major bets we continue to work on delivering is the notion of integrated innovation. Across Office, we have applications that are great at certain tasks and one of our jobs is to try and bring those great technologies together to make a fantastic customer experience. A great demonstrations of this integrated innovation is the Access Data Collection feature. 1 + 1 = 3 Access Data Collection leverages the best parts of Access and InfoPath to help make it super easy to complete the ta...(truncated)...

Powerful Declarative Logic: Phone Number Parsing

(Indexed 2006-11-13):

When entering phone numbers in InfoPath, you can validate that it is a phone number easily enough (Data Validation->field1 matches pattern Phone number), but what do you do if the input does not match that pattern? Asking users to exactly enter the format (000) 000-0000 may be a little constraining. Therefore, you may want a rule so that any combination of spaces, dashes, parenthesis and 10 digits will be reformatted nicely. Below I will describe how to do this in a rule, although you could do ...(truncated)...

Interesting InfoPath/SharePoint Blog

(Indexed 2006-11-10):

Shoutout to Kristof De Causemaeker - his blog has interesting articles on both InfoPath and SharePoint; couple particularly cool posts:1) Great walkthrough on template parts, new InfoPath 2007 feature that allows you to modularize components of your form templates. 2) Cool trick on how to make picture buttons in InfoPath 2003 and 2007. It won't work in browser forms, but it can make your smart client forms prettier. Alex WeinsteinProgram Manager[Image]

Submitting to 'this' document library

(Indexed 2006-11-08):

Have you ever needed to develop an InfoPath form template that submits back to a SharePoint document library but you did not initially know the server or library name when developing the form? Or have a scenario where your InfoPath form template could be published (or added as a content type) to multiple SharePoint document libraries and you need the submit location to be dynamic? Well read on to find out how you can do this!When you create an InfoPath form template that needs to be able to subm...(truncated)...

Data binding between Document Information Panel and Word document

(Indexed 2006-11-06):

The Document Information Panel is a Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 form that is hosted and displayed in a Microsoft Office Word 2007, Microsoft Office Excel 2007 or Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 document. It enables users to view and edit properties of a document or a content type that is associated to a document management server.In Microsoft Office Word 2007, users can add properties from Document Information Panel as content controls to document surface. This is also known as data binding ...(truncated)...

Two more cool InfoPath/SharePoint blogs

(Indexed 2006-11-03):

I found two more cool InfoPath resources.Shoutout to Christopher White, who has a couple code-intensive InfoPath-SharePoint articles in his blog. Particularly interesting:1) Walkthrough on setting up a pretty complex workflow using InfoPath and Office Server 2007. 2) Post on manipulating file attachments in #.Kudos to S.Y.M. Wong-A-Ton, who wrote a number of walkthroughs, mainly for the InfoPath client. Highlight: article on using custom XSLT with secondary data sources. Alex WeinsteinProgram Ma...(truncated)...

Relinking forms and form templates

(Indexed 2006-11-01):

We often see issues when people move forms and templates from one location to another. In fact, the linked nature of InfoPath forms and templates is probably one of the hardest aspects of InfoPath to understand. While the complexities can sometimes seem burdensome, the truth is that the overall model is actually quite simple. Once understood, all it takes is a few small tricks and you will find that moving forms and templates isnt really that difficult. Moveover, you will have a much better unde...(truncated)...

The anatomy of a UDC file

(Indexed 2006-10-30):

OK, weve talked about super-fantastic high end authentication scenarios. Weve talked about cross-domain security and administrative control. Weve talked about generating UDC files using InfoPath and consuming them again in the designer. Now lets drill into the structure of the file itself.UDC V2 is an XML format, and like any good XML format, there is a schema and a namespace associated with it. Ill give you the full schema at the end of this post. A handy tip: copy the schema into notepad and s...(truncated)...

Awesome blog on InfoPath

(Indexed 2006-10-27):

I've been on a hunt for cool InfoPath-related blogs; well, I just found a gem. Shoutout to Liam Cleary whose blog talks about SharePoint, VSTO, Groove, and, of course, lots and lots of InfoPath. I loved all the screenshots and detailed walkthroughs. Some highlights:1) Article on Word import - a walkthrough of a new feature in InfoPath 2007 that allows converting Word documents into InfoPath form templates. 2) Very interesting article on picking the right technology for your project: Word + VSTO ...(truncated)...

Complex Data Validation

(Indexed 2006-10-25):

How do you test more than 5 parameters? How do you group parameters? One answer to both questions, is to have multiple validations in one statement. We'll look into these problems in detail in the case studies below. Case Study #1Problem: a form designer wants to use this logic:IF (State="Ohio" or State="Alabama" or State="Arizona" or State="Georgia" or State="Utah" or State="Idaho" or State="Iowa") THEN (fail...)Since the Validation UI only supports 5 statements, you run out of room before ente...(truncated)...

Behind the Scenes of Administrator-Approved Form Templates

(Indexed 2006-10-23):

If youre a server administrator for Microsoft Office InfoPath Forms Services 2007, there may be a time when youre tried to perform some action on a form template and received an error message that looks like the following:Form template was deployed as part of the 9b518781-2fcd-40fe-a1f4-964b2cd4c0b8 featureThis feature name probably doesnt mean a whole lot to you, and the error message could be a bit more actionable, right? What the heck is this feature thing that the message refers to? You mi...(truncated)...

Hosting InfoPath forms in a custom ASPX page

(Indexed 2006-10-22):

Many of you saw a detailed MSDN article on embedding an InfoPath XMLFormView control into a custom ASP.NET page. But - there's more to it. I came across an interesting blog post that talks about embedding a browser-based InfoPath form into a webpart. Here's another post of someone who got it to work, with nice screenshots. Alex WeinsteinProgram Manager[Image]

IE7 is here

(Indexed 2006-10-19):

Our friends from the Internet Explorer team are celebrating a major milestone - the release of Internet Explorer 7. You all know about the great features it brings to browser users (security, performance, ease of use); you may have seen them first-hand by trying out their Release Candidates. [Image]You may be wondering - how does this affect InfoPath? From the first look, there shouldn't be much connection, but there is. InfoPath s editing surface is built on top of Internet Explorer. This means...(truncated)...

Aggregation: and many became one...

(Indexed 2006-10-19):

In InfoPath 2003, forms were equipped to merge in a simple manner: repeating sections and tables would merge to form one, as would the contents of lists or rich text controls. The remainder of the form was not merged. This functionality proved useful for many scenarios, but there was much more that could be done. Unfortunately, the only way to do it was to write your own merge XSL. So, in InfoPath 2007, weve enabled options that allow you to customize a forms merging behavior.Merge settings are ...(truncated)...

Browser Forms with Spell Check

(Indexed 2006-10-16):

With InfoPath Forms Services, you can take powerful InfoPath forms, and allow users to fill them out by using a browser. This enables your forms to reach more customers than ever before. Many Office users have been enjoying the convenience of spell check in Word and InfoPath. To enable this valuable feature for browser forms, we recommend pointing your customers to an Internet Explorer extension called ieSpell. It will check the spelling in your document, just like you would expect it to; you ev...(truncated)...

Two excellent InfoPath resources

(Indexed 2006-10-14):

I just came across two great InfoPath resources:A series of articles by Christopher Domino (12 detailed articles so far!). Christopher's articles look deeply into many InfoPath aspects, from "declarative logic vs code", deployment approaches, and backend integration discussions to detailed code dive-ins. Highly recommended.CodeProject.com has a few interesting InfoPath articles; I particularly liked their review of the Logic Inspector (new InfoPath 2007 feature that offers an easy way to debug f...(truncated)...

Cascading Dropdowns in Browser Forms

(Indexed 2006-10-12):

If you are building an InfoPath client-only solution and you need to filter drop-down list boxes, you can simply use the Filter Data feature when you set the Entries property for the control. However, since filters are not supported in browser-compatible form templates, how can you accomplish the same functionality? This is where .NET web services can save the day! By creating web methods that accept parameters, you can add those web methods as data connections and then pass the selected value f...(truncated)...

Do it anyway: Submitting with Data Validation errors

(Indexed 2006-10-09):

When building a workflow solution using InfoPath, it is often necessary to enforce data validation for some, but not all users. For example, in a simple expense report workflow, Employee->Manager->Accounting, the manager may be required to specify the cost category. The employee, however, can't provide this data. This means that setting the "cannot be blank" property for the costCategory field in the InfoPath form will not be enough to make this work. In this article, we will explore a technique...(truncated)...

Where do UDC files come from?

(Indexed 2006-10-05):

Where do UDC files come from? - I knew youd ask. (For those of you who are wondering what a UDC file is, you should go read my post entitled "Making data connections work in browser forms.") There are a couple of ways to go about it. UDC files are just xml files with a specific namespace and schema, so once you have a few examples you can probably get around handily with notepad and cut and paste. However, weve made it easier than that with the new Convert functionality on the Manage Data Connec...(truncated)...

Data Connections in Browser Forms

(Indexed 2006-10-02):

A while back, I wrote a series of 3 blog posts about authentication that was targeted at advanced enterprise-level scenarios involving multi-tier delegation of credentials for data connections on the server. However, I never took the time to cover the basic scenarios around getting basic data connections to work on the server. This post will answer the question "how do I get my data connection to work on the server". Cart, meet horse. When we started defining the server experience for InfoPath f...(truncated)...

Protecting Sensitive Data

(Indexed 2006-09-28):

Frequently, we find developers using InfoPath as a platform for developing solutions that manipulate sensitive data, may it be financial data, patient records, or performance review forms. This article shares tips on protecting such data. First and foremost, you must know that an InfoPath form is a plain-text XML file. A malicious user can read it through Notepad or other text editor, circumventing any InfoPath authentication logic. So if a user has read access to an InfoPath XML form, anything ...(truncated)...

Dynamic Pictures

(Indexed 2006-09-25):

When designing a feature-rich InfoPath form template, it is sometimes necessary to provide a dynamic image in response to user action. InfoPath picture control hides treasures that will help you satisfy such a requirement. In this article, we will explore a technique that allows you to make this happen without writing any code. Here is our scenario: build a hardware order form for the telecommunications department. In the form, we would like to let the user choose the phone that they want to ord...(truncated)...

Save the Date! Using Horizontal Repeating Sections

(Indexed 2006-09-09):

InfoPath 2007 introduces a new flavor of the repeating section control - horizontal repeating section. It is useful when you want to present or edit repeating data in a structured format. When new items are added, they show up side-by-side with the existing items instead of one on top of the other. Horizontal repeating section is a new building block for layouts. In my previous post about horizontal repeating tables, we discussed how a horizontal repeating table is a combination of a horizontal ...(truncated)...

One-to-Many Relationships on Database Connections

(Indexed 2006-08-29):

There have been a few questions about how the main database submit data connection works with related tables. This is an FYI to clear up some of those issues, as I don't think this information ever made it public!At least one of the relationships for every pair of related tables must include the left-hand table's primary key (PK) (where A is the left-hand table in "A relates to B on A.ID, B.ID"). Without this stipulation, there may be many records in table A that map to one record in table B alo...(truncated)...

Enforcing unique values in a repeating list

(Indexed 2006-08-10):

Have you ever created a form which allows the user to choose items from a list andyou wanted to make sure the user doesn't choose the same item twice? If so, then this is the blog entry for you!Note: You should be familiar with XPath expressions before preceding.Let'sstart with a repeating table with a dropdown control bound to a secondary data source.[Image]There are a few choiceswhen it comes toenforcing unique values selected by theuser:Only showvalues that have not already been selected by t...(truncated)...

Andrew May knows XML Forms on SharePoint

(Indexed 2006-07-21):

This is a shout out to Andrew May, who's posted some great content on SharePoint as it relates to InfoPath and XML more generally.His most recent post covers the new Form content type that InfoPath uses for its Content Types integration. He's also got a great 5-part seriesonhow the SharePoint XML parser works that InfoPath uses for our property promotion feature. He's even created a poster about how SharePoint parsers work, which you can download, print out, and hang in your bedroom, er, office....(truncated)...

New Article about the New Developer Features

(Indexed 2006-07-17):

Hi all,I wanted to let you know about a new MSDN article that has just recently been published which outlines the new developer features of InfoPath 2007. Feel free to post any questions or comments you have about the article.Thanks,Scott[Image]

Multi-Select List Box: Requiring at least one entry

(Indexed 2006-07-14):

Yesterday I introduced the Multi-Select List Boxand talked about how its data source is somewhat special: it binds to a repeating list of fields instead of a single field like the normal List Box does. When youneed to ensure that at least one item is selected in the multi-select list box, you may be tempted to go to Muti-Select Listbox Properties to check the "cannot be blank" property; however, this property will not be available for multi-select list boxes because of their binding. Since a mul...(truncated)...

Introducing the Multi-Select List Box

(Indexed 2006-07-13):

InfoPath 2007 introduces a new control, the multi-select list box, for cases when you want to allow users to select one or more items from the list of options. This list of options may be static, or may come from a data source. For example, you may use a multi-select list box to let the user pick the cities affected by the marketing campaign:[Image]You may also allow users to specify items not on the list by going toMulti-Select List BoxProperties, and setting the option to allow users to enter ...(truncated)...

Don't settle for just one: Adding multiple default rows

(Indexed 2006-07-12):

Since I realize not everyone has installed the Beta yet (you can do it!), I figure it's time for a trick everyone can play with, even those still using InfoPath 2003.Starting with more than one row in a repeating tableYou may want to do this if you have a form where you know everyone's going to fill out at least five rows, or maybe some people will even print our your form before typing in their answers (I never!). You might even want to have five rows exactly, and then disable adding or deletin...(truncated)...

Got suggestions?

(Indexed 2006-07-07):

[Image]One of the reasons we started this team blog was to get your comments (spurred by our tips and tricks), so it's exciting to see more folks chime in.Let me just take a moment to fan the flamesWe're listeningWe're always open to feature requeststo help us plan for future versions. And we're also interesting in blog post suggestions, which we'll try to post on quickly. If you have kudos, well of course they're always welcome. So leave a comment to let us know what you're thinking!Need suppor...(truncated)...

More than one way to write code: Visual Studio and InfoPath

(Indexed 2006-07-06):

If you need to write some Visual Basic or C# code behind your form, or maybe just some script, there are a few different tools you can use depending on which versions of InfoPath and Visual Studio you have. Here's a quick table summarizing it all: InfoPath 2003InfoPath 2007 BetaNo Visual StudioMicrosoft Script Editor (MSE)Microsoft Script Editor (MSE)ORVisual Studio Tools for Applications (VSTA)VS .NET 2003InfoPath 2003 Toolkit for Visual Studio .NETNot supported (use MSE or VSTA, above)VS 200...(truncated)...

Advanced server-side authentication for data connections, part 3

(Indexed 2006-07-03):

This is the final segment of my three part series. In the first part of this series I introduced the concepts involved in three tier authentication. Then I covered single sign-onwith some code. Now we'll go one step furtherAuthorization using the Web service proxyInfoPath Forms Services includes a Web service proxy which can forward SOAP requests to a Web service to enable authorization for a data query. The premise is simple the proxy runs under an account that is trusted by the Web service. T...(truncated)...

Publish faster to even more places with InfoPath 2007

(Indexed 2006-06-30):

When designing a form template, publish is an important step to make the form available for end users of the form. In InfoPath 2007, we have made some modifications and improvements to the publish process. This article is intended to highlight some of the key changes you will encounter in the publishing wizard.Let us start off with a snapshot of the page in the wizard which helps you decide where to publish. Here is the second page in the wizard when you invoke File/Publish in InfoPath 2003.[Ima...(truncated)...

Introducing Horizontal Repeating Tables

(Indexed 2006-06-28):

InfoPath 2007 adds horizontal repeating table to the control toolbox for when you want data to be entered or displayed in a structured, tabular format, and when you want users to be able to add additional columns instead of rows. For example, you might use a horizontal repeating table to collect sales data for each quarter:[Image]Making it wrapWhen designing your form template, horizontal repeating table looks like a composite control-- its made from a horizontal repeating section and layout tab...(truncated)...

Advanced server-side authentication for data connections, part 2

(Indexed 2006-06-27):

In the first part of this series I introduced the concepts involved in three tier authentication. Now let's drill into the details and work with some code. Using Office Single Sign-on with individual mapping An Office Single Sign-on (SSO) application definition, can be set up in one of three ways: individual, group, or group using restricted credentials. An InfoPath form published to the server can use either of the first two. However, in order to use individual credentials, the SSO database...(truncated)...

Add C# or Visual Basic to your existing form using VSTO

(Indexed 2006-06-21):

Have you ever created an InfoPathform to later discover that you have to write code in order to accomplish something you need?If so, you have one oftwo options:You can use VSTA to add managed code to your form. It is included in the Office package, but it is turn off by default. You must go the Add/Remove Programs and customize Office to install it.-- OR --You can use VSTO to add managed code to your form which is what this blog entry is about.When you create an InfoPath Form Template using Visu...(truncated)...

Open your rolodex from InfoPath using the Contact Selector

(Indexed 2006-06-19):

Speaking of Outlook integration, Microsoft Office 2007 includes a new control that enables you to choose one or more e-mail address from the address book. You can add this control to InfoPaths list of custom controls by using the Add or Remove Custom Controls wizard like you would for any other ActiveX control. When registering the control, you can choose most of the default options. However, you must choose "Field or Group (any data type)" in the "Specify Data Type Options" page of the wizard. ...(truncated)...

Accessing InfoPath forms from Outlook

(Indexed 2006-06-16):

We have made significant investment inOffice 2007 to better integrate InfoPath with Outlook. To that effect we have made it really ease to use InfoPath forms from within Outlook. When you email InfoPath forms from InfoPath 2007(using File/Send To Mail Recipient or Email submit adapter), you will now have an enriched experience when viewing these InfoPathe-mail forms. In this post, I highlight just one of the several features that we have added to Outlook 2007. Let us say,while you are working on...(truncated)...

Advanced server-side authentication for data connections, part 1

(Indexed 2006-06-14):

To tier three and beyond!Real-world enterprise applications are seldom restricted to a single server. Anyone who has created a nontrivial multi-tier application in a Windows environment has had to work around a fundamental limitation in NTLM authentication: namely, that NTLM authentication tokens cannot be delegated past the second tier.Could you bounce off the wall and say that again?OK, in simpler terms:When you log onto your workstation, you present windows with primary evidence of your ident...(truncated)...

Improvements to Share Point integration - Property demotion

(Indexed 2006-06-13):

One of the new features in InfoPath 2007 when publishing to a SharePoint 2007 server is the ability to turn on property demotion.Property demotion is the ability to be able to modify fields that show up in SharePoint document libraries and cause those fields to be automatically updated in the underlying document (in this case InfoPath form). Where would you use demotion? Imagine you have a document library where you save your company assets as InfoPath forms. Let us say one of the fields in the ...(truncated)...

Improvements to Share Point integration Property demotion

(Indexed 2006-06-13):

Compatibility between InfoPath 2003, 2007, and Forms Server

(Indexed 2006-06-08):

Ask and ye shall receive. Here's a short summary of how to think about compatibility when designing form templates in InfoPath 2007.1. InfoPath 2003 forms will work as-is in 2007Your existing forms should work. Period. If you find something that doesn't work, please leave a comment so we can get that bug fixed.2. InfoPath 2007 can save as InfoPath 2003 formsMost features actually work in 2003, we just made 2007 the default to be forward-looking. If you plan to design all your forms to be compati...(truncated)...

Getting the XPath without straining your brain

(Indexed 2006-06-07):

Yesterday I talked about using System.Xml in the new object model.Mycode examples included akey part of the InfoPath programming model: looking up fields in the data source using XPath so that you can set and get values. Unfortunately, figuring out the absolute XPath to a field can be a pain.Fortunately, we've made that easy in InfoPath 2007.Here's howRight click the field in the Data Source task pane and click Copy XPath[Image]Now you can paste the XPath into your code and be on your merry way....(truncated)...

"Design Once" and the new InfoPath 2007 Object Model

(Indexed 2006-06-06):

One of the main design principles for InfoPath 2007 and Forms Services 2007 is that you can create your form once, write code for it once, build and publish it once, and then have it work in both the browser and the client. We call this Design Once. To make this possible for form templates with code, we created a new object model that works on both the client and the server, so that the exact same assembly can work in both places. This is similar to what the Compact .NET Framework provides for m...(truncated)...

Goodbye WhoAmI! Hello userName()

(Indexed 2006-05-26):

Anyone who's tried to get the username of the person filling out their form in InfoPath 2003 knows the WhoAmI web service. That was the only way to get the username without writing Visual Basic or C# managed code and using System.Environment.UserName. In InfoPath 2007 we built an easier way.Announcing a new formula function: userName()Now you can simply set the default value to the current form-filler's username. No code, no data connections, no custom web service. Just use the formula dialog an...(truncated)...

Use Visual Studio to create InfoPath forms without code

(Indexed 2006-05-24):

Although the primary purpose of Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office (InfoPath 2007 Support) is to add C# and Visual Basic code to your InfoPath form template, you can still take advantage of hosting InfoPath inside Visual Studio to design forms that don't have any code.When you create a new InfoPath form template project in Visual Studio, by default, it will be created with code enabled. To obtain a form without code, you need to explicitly remove the code from the form by using the remove code ...(truncated)...

Download the Beta!

(Indexed 2006-05-23):

[Image]I'm super excited to announce Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 Beta and Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007 Beta for browser-enabled forms, so you can install both of them today.After registering you'll get to select which products you want, which should include:Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 (includes InfoPath)Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 - Enterprise (includes Forms Services, which is also available standalone as Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007. Both servers have 64-...(truncated)...

Cool video on InfoPath in Outlook

(Indexed 2006-05-19):

As part of getting everyone up to speed on Office 2007, and in preparation for the imminent release of the Beta, we've just posted some "Partner technical readiness training" videos.It includes a great one on using InfoPath in Outlook, so I thought I'd call it out:http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/9/0/39024c52-eb...(truncated)... can check out all the videos here:http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyI...(truncated)...

Best Practices for Rules

(Indexed 2006-05-17):

My forms have a bad habit of accumulating more and more rules as I add more and more functionality over time, so I came up with a set of guidelines to keep those rules clean and orderly. [Image]Remember that there are four places to add rulesOn Button Click (in Properties dialog)When values change (in Controlsand Data Source Properties)On Submit (in Submitting Forms dialog)On Load (in Form Options | Open and Save section)Give your rules names for the scenario they captureGood names will summariz...(truncated)...

Auto height for sections

(Indexed 2006-05-10):

InfoPath forms are all about being dynamic, so it's important that the sections in your form grow and shrink appropriately. For example, if someone deletes an optional section from inside another section, the outer section should shrink accordingly.[Image]Of course, sections will grow/shrink by default after you insert them, but InfoPath will change it to a fixed size if you resize the section, since we don't want to disobey your command to bea specific size. So in the example above, the outer s...(truncated)...

Moving fields in the data source

(Indexed 2006-05-04):

As most folks figure out quickly, InfoPath doesn't support drag-and-drop of fields in the data source. There are a lot of technical reasons for this, and even a usability concern that people won't realize they can drag fields onto the form as controls if we also allowed them to drag fields around in the data source. But we've heard enough feedback that changing that has made it onto the long list of possible features for future releases. Keep the feedback coming!So how do you move fieldsgroups i...(truncated)...

Tabs

(Indexed 2006-05-01):

[Image]In my last post I covered how to make Wizard-like forms. This time I want to talk about another common practice for organizing all the fields in a form: grouping each set of fields onto a "tab" so the user can switch between the sets in whichever order they wish. While wizards are useful in forms with a clear flow, tabs are useful when the same form will be updated multiple times in different places. In Windows XP, tabs look like this (this screenshot's taken from InfoPath's View Properti...(truncated)...

WebCast Reminder: Developing Office InfoPath 2007 Forms

(Indexed 2006-04-21):

Hello all,I want to thank those of you who attended last week's WebCast. We had a few technical issues that prevented us from completing the demos so we will likely present the WebCast again sometime in the future. Monday, we'll be holding our third and final (for now) WebCast about InfoPath 2007. I hope you will be able to attend.Developing InfoPath Forms for Office InfoPath 2007Time: Monday, April 24, 2006 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM (PST)Presenter: Nima Mirzad, Program Manager - InfoPathThis WebCast ...(truncated)...

Wizards (and we're not talking Harry Potter)

(Indexed 2006-04-20):

I just got back from some customer visits in Washington DC (governments tend to have a lot of forms) and a common design pattern came up a few times: creating wizard-like forms. Since InfoPath provides all the built in tools to do this, without any fancy XPaths or code, I thought it would be fun to blog about here. [Image]Basic wizardLet's say you have a form that would be easier to fill out if folks could focus on one section at a time in a specific order. You can provide that experience by put...(truncated)...

WebCast Reminder: Developing Rich Client and Browser Forms

(Indexed 2006-04-17):

I want to thank those of you who attended last weeks WebCast. It was a big success. Tomorrow, well be holding our second WebCast about InfoPath 2007. I hope you will be able to attend. Developing, Deploying, and Hosting Rich Client and Browser Forms for Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007Time: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 12:00 PM 1:00 PM (PST)Presenter: Pradeep Rasam, Program Manager - InfoPath Were you aware that you can design Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 forms for both the rich client and the brow...(truncated)...

Webcast Reminder: New Features in Office InfoPath 2007

(Indexed 2006-04-10):

Hi all,This is just a reminder that on Tuesday, Gray Knowlton will present the first in our three-part WebCast series introducing InfoPath 2007. I hope you will join us.New Features in Office InfoPath 2007Time: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (PST)Presenter: Gray Knowlton, SR. Product Manager - OfficeThis webcast presents an overview of the new features in Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 and InfoPath Forms Services. Join us to learn how you can use InfoPath 2007 to automate and extend...(truncated)...

Email Submit "To" line (loops in formulas)

(Indexed 2006-04-05):

Everyonelikes InfoPath's email data connection because it lets you collect forms using email only, no other infrastructure required (no need for Windows SharePoint Services, SQL Server, or even a file share). We've built even more Outlook integration in InfoPath 2007 Beta, but since most of you don't have that yet, let me share a tip that will work in both InfoPath 2003 and 2007.The basics: Single dynamic email addressAs your probably know, the To and CC line of the email data connection can com...(truncated)...

Fun for the Whole Office Family

(Indexed 2006-04-04):

Most of this blog focuses on advanced tips and tricks for InfoPath, but I'd hate it if that left you thinking InfoPath was a developer-only tool. We're part of the Office family, and we'd like to think we act like it, so let me call out a brand new siteour product managers just put together that covers InfoPath 2007's out-of-the-box easy-to-use features you'd expect from an Office product.[Image]The screenshot above is from a quick demoonthe site that shows importing a paper based Word form into...(truncated)...

MSDN WebCasts: InfoPath 2007

(Indexed 2006-03-31):

In April, the InfoPath team will present three MSDN WebCasts introducing the new features available in InfoPath 2007. These three presentations will provide a high-level overview of InfoPath 2007. In the future, we will offer more detailed presentations that dive down into individual features of InfoPath 2007. We hope you will join us for the first three InfoPath 2007 presentations. Here is more information about the first three talks including the schedule. New Features in Office InfoPath 2007T...(truncated)...

Let the blogging begin

(Indexed 2006-03-30):

We've been heads down working on the upcoming Beta and had to take a break from blogging. But now we're back and excited to share the ins and outs, tips and tricks, and best practices for getting the most out of Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 and 2007 (Beta). We'll also post announcements for events like the Beta release, web casts, and conferences. [Image] Be the go-to person for InfoPath solutionsSign up for the RSS feed if you want to speed up your InfoPath development time with nifty insigh...(truncated)...

Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 Toolkit for Visual Studio 2005

(Indexed 2005-11-11):

Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005, and BizTalk 2006 all launched on Monday.That means the Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 Toolkit for Visual Studio 2005 is now available as part of the Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the Microsoft Office System.To install the Toolkit, run setup from the CD labeled "Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 Toolkit for Visual Studio 2005" that is included with the Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office package, or from the separate related download for MSDN Subscribers.Find out ...(truncated)...

InfoPath 2003 Toolkit for Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2

(Indexed 2005-08-12):

The InfoPath 2003 Toolkit for Visual Studio .NET 2003 has been updated for Visual Studio 2005 and is included as a separate install in Visual Studio Tools for Office 2005 Beta 2. It will automatically upgrade Visual Studio .NET 2003 projects so you can leverage your existing work.Support for InfoPath means you can add business logic to your form using managed code instead of script. Managed code allows you to use the Microsoft .NET Framework common language runtime (CLR) to write code in Microso...(truncated)...

TechEd Source Code

(Indexed 2005-07-09):

Some people were using digital cameras to capture the source code from our "InfoPath: Developing Forms with Managed Code" sessions, but we want to make it easier than that! So here's the code Ned Friend used in the TechEd Europe version of the presentation (David Gerhardt used similar code in his USA version of the talk in Orlando):DISCLAIMER: This code is designed to be short and sweet for demo purposes only. IT IS NOT BEST PRACTICES NOR READY FOR PRODUCTION.using System;using Microsoft.Office....(truncated)...

Hiding hint text when conditionally hiding a repeating or optional control

(Indexed 2005-06-21):

Certain controls, such as repeating and optional sections and repeating tables, will display a link that, when clicked, will insert a new item into the form. By default, the text of this link, which is called hint text, is Insert item for repeating controls and Click here to insert for optional sections. This text can be customized or turned off completely through each of these controls property dialogs.In addition, the InfoPath Designer enables you to specify conditional formatting for these c...(truncated)...

Calling code/script from a Rule

(Indexed 2005-06-17):

Rules are a quick way to add dynamic functionality to a form, so a lot of programmers choose to use rules even when they know how to write the code to do the same thing. However, sometimes after writing a complex set of rules they may realize that they need to do something rules doesnt support, and we know they dont want to rewrite all their rules in code just to add that one little bit.Alas, theres no rules action type for Call code, but there is a roundabout way to call your code anyway.Lets s...(truncated)...

InfoPath @ TechEd 2005 Orlando

(Indexed 2005-06-04):

We should have blogged something earlier, but weve been too busy getting ready for a great TechEd experience! InfoPath falls into the Smart Client Development track. By now, if youre attending TechEd in Orlando next week you should already have your Breakout sessions picked out. In case youre still waffling, the three sessions you must attend are:CLI235 InfoPath: Introduction to Forms DevelopmentDay/Time: Monday, June 6 3:15 PM - 4:30 PM Room: N 310 HSpeaker: Edward EsseyThis session quickly ru...(truncated)...

Creating an InfoPath Custom Control using C# and .NET

(Indexed 2005-04-15):

In Office 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1), new features and the InfoPathControl and InfoPathControlSite objects were added to InfoPath to support the development of custom controls implemented using Microsoft ActiveX technology. ActiveX controls are developed using unmanaged COM code, typically written in C++ or Visual Basic 6.0. With the increasing popularity of the Microsoft .NET Framework, many developers are switching to working with managed code, such as C# and Visual Basic .NET. As an alternativ...(truncated)...

Encrypting and Decrypting InfoPath Form Data

(Indexed 2005-04-13):

This question comes up frequently:Can I encrypt the XML data coming out of InfoPath?The answer is "yes!", and there is a wonderful article on MSDN that explains just how to do it, titled Extending the Save Functionality in InfoPath 2003. The article covers a lot of ground, and includes managed code samples showing how to perform data encryption during OnSaveRequest and decryption during OnLoad. Similar code can be used during OnSubmitRequest to encrypt the data before sending it out over the wir...(truncated)...

Maintain the current selection when moving a node

(Indexed 2005-04-08):

In a previous blog entry we showed how to add buttons to move rows in a Repeating Table up and down. We were playing with that solution again and realized it was hard to visually track the items as they moved each row looks similar so after a click to move the row your eyes have to scan the view to find it again. This is especially problematic if you're trying to move the row several slots up or down.Fortunately, there's an easy tweak you can make that takes advantage of the View OM.Most operat...(truncated)...

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