1. SharePoint Saturday
Louisville, Kentucky
July 28, 2012
Funnel your Info down
a new Path
Ryan Dennis

2. About The Speaker
Ryan Dennis, MCTS, MCITP
Senior SharePoint Engineer @ ICC
Microsoft Virtual Technology Specialist (vTSP)
www.SharePointRyan.com
@SharePointRyan
linkedin.com/in/ryandennis
ryan@sharepointryan.com

3. What is a VTS?
The Microsoft Virtual Technology Specialist Program
(VTSP) is…
• a select group chosen from the elite in Microsoft’s partner community
• their primary role is to communicate the value of Microsoft Solutions to
customers and to provide architectural guidance for Enterprise Integration
solutions
VTSPs also:
• have guest access to information on the Microsoft corporate network such
as knowledge bases, technical articles, training materials, and other
resources
• guest access to Microsoft facilities
• priority for participating in Microsoft marketing events

4. General Information
• Tweet it Out!!
– Hashtag for this event: #SPSLouisville
– Follow us: @SPSLouisville
– Include your presenters
• Check out SPTV
– Man on the street interviews…
– Footage will be shown at http://mysp.tv

5. Clean-Up Items
• Fill out your evaluation forms!
• Visit the Dugout for a sneak
peak of SharePoint 2013 and
Networking.
• See you back at Home Plate for
the Closing and Raffles!!

6. Tonight’s SharePint is generously sponsored by
SharePint is being held right here at the Marriott
immediately following the event. Visit the
Rackspace booth for your ticket.
For each unused drink ticket turned back in, a $5
donation will be made to charity.

7. SharePoint Saturday Louisville has been
made possible because of a generous
sponsorship from the following friends…

9. What is InfoPath?
• …a forms-creation and data-gathering tool to
streamline business processes…
• …a tool for advanced business users to design
sophisticated electronic forms with no code…
• …a point-and-click way to connect to LOB
systems using data connections…

10. Ok Ryan, so what is it really?
• An awesome way for you to make data entry
fun, engaging and powerful…
• A brilliant front-end to SharePoint list and
library data…
• …an Office program…

11. And it works with SharePoint?
• InfoPath forms can be used in SharePoint in multiple
ways, including…
– List Forms
• Customize existing SP Lists
– Browser-based Library Forms
• Publish form templates for viewing in the browser
– Client-based Library Forms
• Publish advanced form templates for viewing in the InfoPath
client
– Workflow Forms
• Modify SharePoint workflow forms using InfoPath for a richer
experience
– Web Service Forms
• Automatically create forms based on Web Services

12. What licensing do I need?
• Client (InfoPath Designer)
– Microsoft Office
Professional Plus 2010
• Server (Forms Services)
– SharePoint Server 2010
Enterprise
*Without SP Enterprise, you can publish your
forms to SharePoint and launch them in the
client – but the InfoPath client is then required
on every machine

13. 4 Main Types of Forms in
SharePoint…
• List form
– Modify an existing list form using InfoPath
• Browser-based form template
– Publish a form template for browser use
• Client-based form template
– Publish a form template for client use
• Workflow form
– Modify Workflow forms

14. WORKING WITH SHAREPOINT
LIST FORMS

16. CREATING A SHAREPOINT LIST
FORM

17. • Created a standard Contacts List in SharePoint
2010
• Customized the List Form using InfoPath 2010
• Modified a few fields for better user experience
• Added some AdventureWorks branding
elements
• Had fun doing it…

18. WORKING WITH SHAREPOINT
LIBRARY-BASED FORMS

19. • Utilize a form template (XSN file)…
• Are stored in a SharePoint Form Library…
• Can leverage data connections and external
content types…
• Provide more functionality than list-based forms…
• Can be launched within the browser, in an InfoPath
Form Web Part or in the InfoPath Form Client*
*Some features which are supported in client-based forms are not
supported in browser based forms. More info later…

20. Business User IT
Administrator
I don’t want
I want to to give you
create sites!!! permission to
create sites…

21. USING A WEB SERVICE FORM TO
CREATE SITES

22. • Created a browser-based form template based
on a web service schema…
• Connected it to the Sites.asmx Web Service…
• Used the form to create a site request for a new
subsite under our Site Collection…
• Used an Approval workflow to manage the site
request…
• Had a lot of fun doing it…

23. Funneling your Info down a new Path…
WORKING WITH SHAREPOINT
RECORDS CENTER SITES

24. • InfoPath Forms can be sent to a Records Center, but
there are some issues…
– The Form Template exists in the source site collection, thus the form
won’t open…
– By definition, a Records Center is a locked down site – shouldn’t have
dynamic files such as forms with workflow
• There are some cool opportunities here…

25. Convert forms to PDF
• There is no out-of-the-box way to do this, but…
– There are 3rd party tools
– You can write your own…
• Why don’t I just show you!

26. • AdventureWorks has made a business decision
to start leveraging InfoPath for different types
of data gathering and process management…
• They would like to archive completed forms in
a SharePoint 2010 Records Center Site as a
searchable, read-only PDF…

27. SENDING INFOPATH FORMS TO A
SHAREPOINT RECORDS CENTER

28. • Sent a generic InfoPath XML form to a Records Center,
not so pretty…
• Added some workflow and used Muhimbi PDF converter
to convert submitted InfoPath Forms to PDF
• Leveraged SharePoint Designer Workflow and Muhimbi
Workflow Actions to send converted PDFs to a Records
Center
(For more information on Muhimbi, go to
www.muhimbi.com)

29. • Some controls not supported on List forms…
– External item picker
– Template Parts
• Managed metadata not supported at all…
• Writing to a People Picker column not
supported…
• Sending completed forms to Records Center…

30. Tips & Tricks
• Use Template Parts to create reusable templates to
include branding, help, standard fields, rules, etc.
• Use External Content Types to populate InfoPath
Forms with LOB data…
• Gather requirements and understand them, InfoPath
is great, but it’s not the right tool for everything…
• Don’t recreate the wheel!

31. Questions?
Ryan Dennis, MCTS, MCITP
Senior SharePoint Engineer @ ICC
Microsoft Virtual Technology Specialist (vTSP)
www.SharePointRyan.com
@SharePointRyan
linkedin.com/in/ryandennis
ryan@sharepointryan.com