Executable Files

InfoPath developers can include executable files in a form template ”external COM components, for example. By using COM components in a form template, you can add custom functionality not available using core InfoPath features.

ADDING CUSTOM SCRIPT OR COM COMPONENTS

To add custom script files or COM components, you use the InfoPath Resource Manager. On the Tools menu, select Resource Manager. When the Resource Manager window opens, click the Add button and navigate to the file you want to add to the form template. Click OK to close the windows . The chosen script file or COM component will be added to the form template, and appropriate code will be added to the manifest.xsf file, indicating the location of the added file(s).

The creation of COM components such as you might produce using Microsoft Visual Studio is beyond the scope of this book. One of the sample form templates in the InfoPath Software Development Kit, the CLR Developer Sample Form, includes managed code created in Visual Studio .NET. The InfoPath SDK can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=351f0616-93aa-4fe8-9238-d702f1bfbab4&displaylang=en; it includes several help files specific to the use of CLR-created code.