Sample Forms

InfoPath includes a number of sample forms of every shape, size, and description. The following section gives a brief summary of each of the sample forms, as well as key information you will need when considering customizing any of these forms.

Tip

To customize a sample form for your own use, choose File > Design a Form and select the option in the Task Pane to “Customize a Sample.” A list of available Sample Forms will appear; select a form and click OK to create a blank form based on that sample. You can then modify the form as you normally would.

Absence Request

The Absence Request form is a single-view form that can be used to request an absence from work. The form provides fields for the date and time of the request, along with contact details for both the employee and manager. There is a repeating table to collect the details of the requested absence, including a start and end date, and the type of absence request (paid vacation, sick leave, and so on).

There are also two optional sections on the form for calculating absence available and this section could be used to track entitlements (vacation days left, and so forth) as the form was used over a period of time. There are also optional sections for business and personal contacts while away, as well as a notes section. All of the optional sections on this form are shown by default but can be deleted if not required.

Behind the scenes, scripting is used to automatically fill in the time and date that the form was completed and the functions to update the balances in the optional sections provide a good example of updating multiple values on a form.

Applicant Rating

The Applicant Rating form is a single-view form that has been designed to collect information about a potential new hire. The form can be used to collect information about the applicant and position they are applying for, as well as contact details for the interviewer and the date/time of the interview.

There is a large section of the form that has radio buttons for rating an applicant on different criteria with a Job Experience and Interview Preparation section shown by default and optional sections for Clerical, Management, and Technical Skills. At the bottom of the form there is also a section for comments and a recommendation for hiring.

The scripting in use within the form demonstrates how to calculate both simple and weighted averages and is an excellent example of calculating summaries across a range of different fields.

Asset Tracking

The Asset Tracking form can be used to collect information about assets within a company or department and is a great example of creating summary and detail views. There are three views within the form for a Summary List, Detailed List, and Individual Asset Details.

You can use the form to track assets by their make, model, serial number, and so forth, and you can enter detailed owner information, including names, addresses, and contact details.

The data source for this form is necessarily complex, so if you are using this form with an existing application or data source of your own, you may need to massage the form data to fit your own data structures.

Change Order

The Change Order form is a single-view form that can be used to request changes to a manufactured product but can easily be modified (by deleting the Parts section) to fit change requests for software development or generic requests.

The form includes an optional section where you can break down the cost of the change to be made and collect a comprehensive set of details about the change, who requested it, the vendor who will fulfill the request and the nature and cost of the change. The underlying data source is straightforward and it should be easy to integrate this form (or a variant thereof) into your existing project management processes.

Expense Report (Domestic and International)

One of the most popular InfoPath forms, the Expense Report form includes both a domestic and International version in two separate forms. The International version of the form allows for multiple currencies and can be a real time-saver when working with more than just US dollars.

The form includes fields you can use to enter employee and manager details, as well as itemized expenses, including a number of pre-set categories in a drop-down list. You can easily edit these categories for your own use by selecting the drop-down list’s properties and manually editing the categories.

Invoice (Multiple Tax Rates and Single Tax Rate)

Another popular form is the Invoice form, which is a single-view form that comes in both a Single and Multiple Tax Rate version. The Invoice forms include sections for entering “To” and “From” details, although you may want to customize this form to always display your own details. This could easily be accomplished by deleting the “From” fields and entering your own company information using plain text.

This form also includes a section for an itemized list of items that are being billed for and includes the ability to specify a discount and tax rate for each item. You can also use fields at the bottom of the form to enter your terms; but again, if you are using this form often, you may want to delete this section and type your own fixed terms at the bottom.

The underlying data source is simple and easy to understand and should mean that you can integrate this form into most any system.

Issue Tracking (Simple and Detailed)

The Issue Tracking forms include a Simple and Detailed version, both featuring a single view. Both of these forms can be used to track a wide range of issues as well as track the priority and status of issues, including action items related to this issue.

At the bottom of the form there is a button marked “Send as E-mail” that you can use to create a simple work-flow application, sending the form data to another user for review. The scripting behind this button is an excellent example of programmatically sending a form via e-mail. You can peek behind the scenes and copy this script to use this technique in your own forms.

The data sources behind these forms is complex and could require some massaging before you could use it in existing project management systems or other applications. Still, for a simple issue tracking and workflow application, these forms are very handy.

Meeting Agenda

If only every meeting had an agenda! The Meeting Agenda form actually serves double duty, as the form features two different views. One view is for the Meeting Agenda, to be sent around before the meeting and the second view is for the Meeting Minutes to be distributed after the meeting is finished.

This form includes areas for entering agenda items, guest speakers, action items, materials provided, what to bring to the meeting, attendee details and more. Considering that the same form data is used to build the Meeting Minutes view, taking minutes for even the longest meeting is a snap.

It is recommended that if you do choose to use this form as part of a SharePoint form library that you limit the fields that the user can see within SharePoint, as there are a large number of fields within the form’s data source. Another way to use the form data would be to export the form to HTML to distribute to users, which could be effective if you are sending minutes to users who do not have InfoPath installed or for users outside of your organization.

Performance Review

The Performance Review form is a single-view form that can be used to evaluate an employee’s current or past performance. Using an objective and skill-based platform, the form collects information about the employee’s current objectives and allows both the employee and manager to rate and comment on the success of these objectives.

The form provides an excellent primer in the use of radio buttons, with a large “skills table” that makes extensive use of radio buttons to allow the employee and manager to rate a number of different competencies.

The one downside to customizing this form is that the competencies are hard-coded within the data source, so if you change the label on the form, you will NOT be changing the underlying data. For example, changing “Problem solving” to “Solves large problems” on the form will not change the underlying data source, which will still read as a group named “problemSolving.”

Still, this form is an excellent example of what can be done with InfoPath and can be used as-is if you are willing to use the competencies listed in the form (as opposed to your own).

Project Plan

Planning is key to any project and the Project Planning form should go a long way to keeping your work on track. This two-view form includes views for entering information about project contacts, as well as the project plan itself.

The Plan View allows you to enter information about the different phases of the project, including work items that need to be completed and budget figures for the project, such as expenses and income. The form includes a drop-down list for selecting the currency for the expenses and income, but can only be selected globally (that is, it can’t be done for each expense), which may be a problem with projects that span two or more international sites.

Still, when integrated with a SharePoint form library, you can select the columns that are related to tasks and filter the tasks for only those that are incomplete, providing a powerful project management feature. With a large number of work items, the form can be hard to read, but exporting the data to Excel also provides an easy way to analyze project data.

Purchase Order and Purchase Request

The Purchase Order is a single-view form that can be used to internally request the purchase of a number of items. The form includes areas to enter the submitter, vendor, and shipping information and the itemized list includes the ability to enter individual discounts on items and tax rates. (The Purchase Request form is similar, but includes a section for a “Suggested Supplier” instead of a specific vendor’s details.)

The data source behind both forms is well structured and while it does not comply with EDI standards, you should be able to use the resulting form data with external vendors and other applications and systems.

Resume

The Resume form is a single-view form that includes sections for entering your personal information, objectives, work experience, education, affiliations, skills, experience, and so on, in a simple layout.

The form includes a number of different views that you can use to create a formatted version of your resume, including a “contemporary” and “text only” versions. This form demonstrates the use of print views and can be used to collect information from prospective applicants to build up a database of resumes.

Sales Report

The Sales Report form is a simple single-view form that is used to track sales on a monthly basis using an itemized list (similar to the Invoice forms we looked at earlier). Using this form you can specify a number of different categories and then indicate what items from that category were sold, how much was charged, and so on.

The report then displays a summary at the bottom of the form by category. While this form is not very complex, it does do a good job of demonstrating how to display summary values on the same form as detailed values. To see the scripting behind the scenes that does all the work, select Tools>Script > Microsoft Script Editor and look for the “Update” functions (in other words, UpdateItemTotal).

Service Request

The Service Quest form is a single-view form that you can use to request services to be rendered (including everything from computer-related requests to building maintenance requests). The form’s design is simple and effective and demonstrates the use of multiple drop-down boxes working in tandem—when you select an item from the first drop-down list for a particular service, the second drop-down list is filtered to show only those problems that are related to the service. For example, if you select “Carpeting and Flooring,” you only see problems related to that service.

This functionality is accomplished through the use of a secondary data source, which you can see by selecting Tools > Secondary Data Source. You can use this technique in your own forms or use File > Extract Form Files to extract and edit the secondary data source if you like the form as it is and just want to add a few entries of your own.

Status Report

The Status Report form is a single-view form that can be used to generate and distribute status reports on projects, including bulleted lists for tasks accomplished last period, this period, and any outstanding issues.

There is a section at the bottom of the form for entering employee time-card information, but this form is not as complex as the Time Card forms that are coming up next. Use this form where you want a combined Status Report and simple timesheet; otherwise, delete the timesheet section of the form and use a separate form created especially for this purpose.

There is also a budget section at the bottom of the form for detailing the amount budgeted and spent, but in practice this can be cumbersome as there is no way to automatically carry over values from one status report to another. Again, if you are looking for a simple way to track expenses and don’t mind repetitive data entry each time you use the form, this may suit you.

Time Card (Simple and Detailed)

The Time Card forms are another popular set of forms that most developers will have a look at, even if they end up creating their own. The timesheets are set up on a weekly basis and provide two sets of fields for time in/out for each day. The detailed version of the form also includes a section to track absences, but you may find it easier to use the simple version of the form. There is also a section at the bottom of the page for entering and calculating payroll information; the form itself is well designed.

If you are looking for a timecard solution to track multiple projects, this is not it. The sections for attendance reporting only track hours overall and can’t be broken down by a particular project or division. Still, with that said, both of these forms could easily slot into existing payroll processes and applications and save some data-entry time.

Travel Itinerary

The Travel Itinerary form has been designed to capture travel information, including appointments, hotels, air, and group transportation arrangements and display it in a clear, concise format. This form has been well-designed and was created to be printed. For a harried traveler, this form should alleviate confusion although the data entry may be a bit cumbersome.

In terms of integrating this form with existing systems, the potential is low—this form has been designed to capture and present information, as opposed to enter data into a back-end database or system, so the data source is very complex.

Travel Request

The Travel Request form is a single-view form that is used to request travel from a travel or booking agent and includes fields to enter detailed information about the travel that is intended. The form itself is well-organized and captures the majority of information someone would need to book or arrange flights, hotels, and so on, for a traveler.

Again, this form was designed to capture and display information, so integrating the underlying data to a back-end application or system may not be that useful. With some work from a database administrator or developer you could import this information into separate tables for use with a corporate expense application or other system. But given that this is just a travel request, this form will usually be printed and the form data discarded.

Vendor Information

And finally, our last sample form is the Vendor Information form, which can be used to collect information about potential or current vendors. The form includes sections for capturing contact details, as well as products or services the vendor offers, and ratings. (Of special interest is the use of a custom task pane to build the list of vendor products and services.)

The underlying data source for this form is well-structured and could be used to build a database of vendor information that could easily be used in other applications or systems.