A.1 How Does It Work?

The InfoPath application, like an XForms implementation, converts user input into a new or modified XML, which can then be fed into a back-end system. A single application is used for both designing and completing a form. InfoPath is available only on the Windows platform, as part of Microsoft Office System 2003.

An InfoPath document is stored and processed as several files, which can be either compressed into a single CAB-compressed file with a file extension of .xsn or stored in the same directory.

manifest.xsf

This file contains a manifest, or listing of all other files, as well as many other details of the form, including information on toolbars and menus associated with each view, information on external data sources, and error messages.

This file is roughly analogous to an XForms Model, in that it contains the non-rendered basis for a form.

*.xsl

One or more XSLT files are always included, each one defining an InfoPath view, which presents an editable view of a portion of the XML data in an InfoPath form. Each XSLT accepts the XML instance as input, and produces an output format similar to HTML forms, but augmented with several InfoPath-specific features.

The XSLT portion doesn't have an equivalent in XForms, but the HTML-like format produced by the transformation is conceptually similar to the XForms User Interface.

template.xml

This file contains the actual XML data that is edited by InfoPath. When the overall InfoPath form is published to a well-known location, the XML instance can be separately transported, via email or any other supported transport. A special pair of processing instructions included in this file help maintain the connection between the form data and the rest of the form:

<?mso-infoPathSolution solutionVersion="1.0.0.2" href="path/manifest.xsf" productVersion="11.0.5329" PIVersion="1.0.0.0" ?> <?mso-application-prog?>

When Internet Explorer encounters any XML document with these processing instructions, it attempts to launch the locally installed InfoPath application, pointing it towards the indicated manifest file.

myschema.xsd

InfoPath is strongly based on XML Schema, and the application maintains a Schema for the main XML data. A graphical "Data Source" view, while not a full-fledged Schema editor, allows the designer to make changes to the Schema.

script.js

InfoPath also includes extensive scripting capabilites, in either JScript or VBScript. If an InfoPath document contains any script, it is stored by default in this file.

It's possible for the InfoPath document to contain other user-inserted documents as well, including images, XML that can be used as a data source, and even HTML files that can be displayed in a special area called the Task Pane.



XForms Essentials
Xforms Essentials
ISBN: 0596003692
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 117
Authors: Micah Dubinko

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