What is InfoPath?

InfoPath is now part of Microsoft Office. It allows you to either create independent forms (which might send an email or write to a database upon submission) or make the forms of SharePoint associated with lists more functional and fancy. It has a drag and drop simple interface that reminds me of ASP.NET web forms and writes everything in XML beneath the hood. One has to have the InfoPath Reader to be able to view the standalone forms, but as of 2007 there is something called Form Services which allow one to view the forms in a browser as a web page and SharePoint utilizes Form Services. In SharePoint, under the List Settings for a List there is a Form settings option where one may check a radio button for: Customize the current form using Microsoft InfoPath. This option should allow you to click upon the Customize Form icon at the List tab under the List tools tab (the same place on the ribbon the List Settings icon is found) to bring up a CRUD form for a list in InfoPath. You will need to use the Number type instead of the Integer type for all applicable fields or you will get an error. To save the form and push XML for your work back to SharePoint, first click the Save diskette icon at the upper left and then click the Quick Publish icon immediately after it. Beyond this, the SharePoint stuff does not behave a whole lot differently than one off InfoPath forms. One may just make a blank template to experiment. One may make fields for forms in the Fields pane. One may drag and drop, onto the work canvas, fields from the Fields pane to create controls or may drag generic controls from a tool pallet. Fields drug in a group end up in a Section together. One may hide and show Sections with Rules later. F5 will bring up the form in a browser for testing. Sound like web forms? The Insert tab has prebuild layouts, the ability to insert hyperlinks and pictures, and so on. A form may be broken up into Views. There is a default ribbon for navigating Views. There is a Data tab where one may click on the Data Connections icon to get a connection to a database, or a SharePoint list (supply a URL for this). You will be walked through a wizard to craft the data context and you will end up with a separate drop down option of fields at the Fields pane showing the data fields. Femi recommends using your own handmade fields at the form itself and then having these forms populate data to and draw data from the data context fields. One may right click on any Control (a field drug to the work area) and see configuration options in a dialog box that appears. At the Data tab in the dialog box one may, for example, populate options from a data context field. Data sources may be used for repeating content and repeating content may thus be used for some mild reporting within a form. The ability to offer search filtering based upon conditions is nested deep within the Control configuration options dialog box. At the Data tab are three options for Rules: Form Load, Form Submit, and Form Inspector. Beyond these one may add rules at Controls. There is a Rules pane to work in for this. This allows things to change upon events. When a certain value in a drop down list is picked, then perhaps a hidden Control could be revealed, for instance. If you are not editing the list at hand in SharePoint but are reaching out to monkey with other SharePoint lists, then you will need to use SharePoint web services.