Funnel your Info down a new Path

Ryan Dennis | MCTS, MCPD, MCITP | Blue Chip Consulting Group

SharePoint Saturday Columbus 2013 2

Thank You for being a part of SharePoint Saturday Columbus!• Please turn off all electronic devices or set them to

vibrate• If you must take a phone call, please do so in the hall• Wi-Fi is available, you will need your Guest ID/password

(at registration desk)• Feel free to tweet and blog during sessions. Remember

to follow @SPSColumbus and tag #SPSCBUS in your tweets!• GO BUCKS!SharePoint Saturday Columbus is hosted by the Buckeye SharePoint User Group

@BuckeyeSPUG

SharePoint Saturday Columbus 2013 3

Please fill out session evaluations and

thank you for attending!

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Thanks to our sponsors!B

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NZ

ESIL

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Where should we SharePint?

• Tweet with hashtag #SPSCBUS• Option 1: Buckeye Hall of Fame Grill• Option 2: Eddie George’s Grill 27• Option 3: Big Bar• Option 4: Chumley’s• Option 5: Buffalo Wild Wings

About The Speaker

Ryan Dennis, MCTS, MCPD, MCITPSenior SharePoint ConsultantBlue Chip Consulting Group

Father Husband

Drummer Geek

www.bluechip-llc.com

www.sharepointryan.com

@SharePointRyan

linkedin.com/in/sharepointryan

ryan@sharepointryan.com

Agenda

• Quick intro to Microsoft InfoPath 2013• How does it fit into the SharePoint 2013 Story?• What licensing do I need?• Is InfoPath going away?• Types of forms in SharePoint• Some demonstrations• Gotchas, Tips & Tricks• Q&A

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…

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…

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

What licensing do I need?

• Client (InfoPath Designer)• Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013

• Server (Forms Services)• SharePoint Server 2013 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

Is InfoPath going away?

“InfoPath is currently in the product.” – Microsoft, July 2013

“The future is unclear at best, realistically pessimistic and a dead-end at worst.” – Andrew Connell (MVP), April 2013

“Who knows, but for now it’s still the best solution for building form solutions in SharePoint” – Me, right now

3 Main Types of Forms in SharePoint that we’re talking about…• 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

List Based Forms:

• A modified “front end” to a SharePoint list…• Limited functionality compared to form templates, but

much nicer than OOTB list forms…• Can leverage data connections…• Can be launched within the browser or in an InfoPath

Form Web Part

Library Based Forms:

• 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…

Client Based Forms:

• Utilize a form template (XSN file)…• Can be stored in a SharePoint Form Library…• Can leverage data connections and external content

types…• Provide more functionality than library-based forms…• Must be launched in the InfoPath Form Client**A good option if you have the Office license to support InfoPath but do not have the Enterprise CAL for SharePoint Server

Working with SharePointList Forms

ScenarioEmail?! We can do better than that…

Creating a SharePoint List Form

Demo Recap:

• Created a standard List in SharePoint 2013• Customized the List Form using InfoPath 2013• Modified a few fields for better user experience• Added some Contoso branding elements• Had fun doing it…

Working with SharePointWeb Services

Web Services in SharePoint 2013

WebSvcAdmin

WebSvcAlerts

WebSvcAuthentication

WebSvcBdcAdminService

WebSvcCellStorage

WebSvcCopy

WebSvcdiagnostics

WebSvcDspSts

WebSvcDWS

WebSvcForms

WebSvcImaging

WebSvcLists

WebSvcMeetings

WebSvcPeople

WebSvcPermissions

WebSvcSharedAccess

WebSvcsharepointemailws

WebSvcSiteData

WebSvcsites

WebSvcspsearch

WebSvcUserGroup

WebSvcVersions

WebSvcviews

WebSvcwebpartpages

WebSvcWebs

WebSvcPublishedLinksService

WebSvcSocialDataService

WebSvcUserProfileChangeService

WebSvcUserProfileService

Scenario

Business User

I don’t want to give you permissio

n to create sites…

I want to

create sites!!!

IT Administrator

Using a SharePoint Designer Workflow and an InfoPath form to create Sites using the REST

API and the Call HTTP Web Service Action in SharePoint

Online/Office 365

Demo Recap:

• Created a browser-based form with a few fields…• Created a SPD 2013 Workflow and used it to talk to the

REST API…• Used the form to create a site request for a new subsite

under our Demo Site Collection…• Used an Approval workflow to manage the site request…• Used the App Step and App Trust functionality to

automatically provision the SPWeb upon approval…• Had a lot of fun doing it…

Utilizing SharePointRecords Center Sites with

InfoPath Forms

InfoPath Form Records:

• 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…

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…• Limitations with using 3rd party tools in Office 365

Business Case Scenario

• Contoso 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 2013 Records Center Site as a searchable, read-only PDF…

Example Solutions

On-Premise• Send an InfoPath XML form to a Records Center…• Add a workflow and use Muhimbi PDF converter to convert submitted InfoPath Forms

to PDF…• Leverage SharePoint Designer Workflow and Muhimbi Workflow Actions to send

converted PDFs to a Records Center• Alternatively, write custom code to convert the document to PDF (e.g. using Word

Automation Services)…(For more information on Muhimbi, go to www.muhimbi.com)

Office 365• Purchase an App from the App Marketplace to convert to PDF…• Use custom app code to programmatically convert to PDF…• Use REST Web Service call to send the converted PDF to a Records Center…

Gotchas

• Some controls not supported on List forms…• External item picker• Template Parts

• Managed metadata not supported at all… There are some workarounds, but it requires code-behind…• Writing to a People Picker column not supported… • Sending completed forms to Records Center…

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!• If it’s not the tool for you, don’t use it – but hopefully

you’ve seen what it could do!

Questions?

Ryan Dennis, MCTS, MCPD, MCITPSenior SharePoint ConsultantBlue Chip Consulting Group

www.bluechip-llc.com

www.sharepointryan.com

@SharePointRyan

linkedin.com/in/sharepointryan

ryan@sharepointryan.com