Microsoft SharePoint 2007 Technologies

586 18.6 Deploying and Managing InfoPath Forms

18.6 Deploying and Managing InfoPath Forms

As discussed at the beginning of this chapter, when it comes to deploying

form templates to Forms Services, there are two paths you can follow: user-

deployed forms or administrator-deployed forms. With respect to form tem-

plate deployment, developers fall into the “user” category. As long as the

Allow users to browser-enable form templates setting (Figure 18.17) is

enabled in the Forms Services configuration settings, users can deploy form

templates to Forms Services. Form templates that have one of the following

characteristics qualify for deployment by an administrator:

n The security level of the form template is set to full trust.

n The form template contains managed code. This goes hand-in-hand

with the previous setting, in that browser-enabled form templates

require full trust security if they contain code.

n Cross-domain data connections are defined directly in the form tem-

plate; the form template does not leverage UDC files.

n The data connections used by the form template are located in the

centrally managed connection library.

User-deployed form templates are stored in the SharePoint content data-

base, whereas administrator-deployed form templates are stored on the local

disk of the Web front-end servers. Consequently, administrator-deployed

form templates provide better performance than user-deployed form tem-

plates, as they do not have to be retrieved from the SQL database.

18.6.1 User Form Template Deployment

Assuming that your form template does not adopt any of the aforementioned

characteristics, your form template can be deployed to any number of loca-

tions. The form template deployment to Forms Services is initiated by clicking

the Publish option from the InfoPath File menu, followed by selecting the

SharePoint option and entering the URL of the site in which you want to

deploy the form template (Figure 18.18). Once you enter the URL and click

next, you are presented with a number of deployment options. Table 18.2 lists

Figure 18.17

User frowser-

enabled form

templates settings.

18.6 Deploying and Managing InfoPath Forms 587

Chapter 18

these options, along with a description of each. Next, we’ll walk through each

option by deploying the form we created previously.

Deploying to a document library

When deploying a form template to a form library, you can create your form

library up front and map the form template to it during deployment; how-

ever, in this particular example, InfoPath will conveniently create the form

library for us as part of the deployment process.

1. Launch InfoPath 2007 and open the form template that you cre-

ated in the previous section.

2. From the File menu, click Publish. The Publishing Wizard

appears (Figure 18.18).

3. Select the option to publish the form template To a SharePoint

Server with or without InfoPath Forms Services.

4. Click Next.

5. Enter the URL of the site in which you want the form library to

be created. This site should have access to the site columns cre-

ated in the preparatory phase.

Table 18.2 Deployment Options

Deployment Option Description

Document Library Deploy the form template as a template in

a form library (a type of document

library) that will store forms based on the

form template. Users can open and fill out

forms in the library. You can specify

which fields in the template will appear as

columns in the library.

Site Content Type Deploying a form template to a site con-

tent type means that the template can be

used in multiple libraries and sites. As

with the Document Library option, you

can specify the fields in the template that

appear as columns in the library to which

the content type is applied.

Administrator-approved Form Template Allows you to prepare your form template

so that it can be subsequently deployed by

an administrator.

588 18.6 Deploying and Managing InfoPath Forms

6. Click Next.

7. Ensure the Enable this form to be filled out using a browser set-

ting is checked.

8. Select the Document Library option.

9. Click Next.

10. From the What do you want to do? section, select the Create a

new document library option and click Next.

11. In the name field, enter the name of your form library. For exam-

ple, Personal Interests.

12. In the description field, enter a description for you form library.

13. Click Next.

14. Click the Add button to add columns to the form library and

map them to the form template.

Figure 18.18

Deploying a form

template to Forms

Services.