What Is InfoPath?

InfoPath is an application that integrates with SharePoint to collect and present data. InfoPath forms are XML-based documents that you can design to help collect data in ways that SharePoint interface cannot. While InfoPath can be used on its own, it truly excels as a data collection tool when combined with SharePoint. Some ways of using InfoPath within an organization include:

• Team reports:   Team members can create weekly status reports from which the team’s manager can create a single report, which tracks the team’s progress. This involves creating a form template that features fields related to weekly activities and publishing it to a shared location, such as a team site. Every week, the manager can access a special view that displays all the forms and then she can merge them into a single document. This consolidation reduces the amount of work that a manager must perform each week. She can even customize that single document to present to her own management team.

• Data connections:   Sales people can use forms to report on customer information from a centralized database containing details on the customer and previous purchases. They can also attach a document with a record of meetings and communication with the customer so that colleagues can access this later. Again, you must create a form template and store it on a centralized team site, but this template features special data connections that display customer data directly from the database. This reduces duplicate data by eliminating the need to recreate this content in SharePoint because it already exists in the database, improves data access, and allows the sales team to make accurate decisions. With InfoPath, you can also submit information to other data systems via a web service, which means that you don’t have to enter data into two separate systems.

• Customer web forms:   Customers can visit a web page and complete an electronic form to request information on a company’s products and services. The form is submitted securely to a location, and the customer is supplied with the requested information. A new feature of InfoPath is the ability to create forms that customers can view and edit via the browser. These forms can be hosted on a website via InfoPath Forms Services.

  Tip 

  This chapter discusses how you can create, edit, or view forms, including browser-based forms in the “Creating and Customizing an InfoPath Form” section of this site.

• Employee feedback:   A human resources department can get feedback from employees on new policies and procedures. To help control the collection of feedback, the department sends a form embedded in an Outlook email message. Employees can complete the form and send it directly back to the human resources SharePoint site where the information is collected and analyzed. Employees can keep a copy of their submitted information in a folder in Outlook for later reference.

What’s New in InfoPath?

The 2007 version of InfoPath is much improved over the last one; with InfoPath 2007, you can use a browser to work with forms even if you haven’t installed the InfoPath application - 2003 wouldn’t let you work with forms unless you had InfoPath installed. Browser-based forms are possible via InfoPath Forms Services, which is available with the Enterprise release of SharePoint 2007.

Other great features released in this new version include:

• Improved support for the management of multiple data connections

• The ability to create reusable form components known as template parts

• A design checker that determines if your form is compatible with previous versions of the application as well as the browser

• New data controls such as the combo box and multiple selection list box

• The ability to embed InfoPath forms within custom applications and websites

• Improved ability to centralize templates in a single location