Creating browser enabled InfoPath forms for SharePoint library

In this article I will explain how can we create and publish browser enabled InfoPath form in SharePoint site. 

Steps Involve

1. Step 1: Design info path form

2. Step 2: Publish InfoPath form

3. Step 3: Open form in SharePoint 

Step 1 (Design Info Path Form)

• Open InfoPath 2007 Start>>Programs>>Microsoft Office>>InfoPath 2007.
   
• Click On File menu and choose Design a Form Template
  
  
   
• In the design template window click on Form Template radio button and select blank. Click on "Enable browser-compatible futures only " to create browser based form 
  
  
   
• Now Design the form using design task window which will be appear in the right side.
  
  
   
• Click Layout link to design layout of the form.
  
  
   
• After design click on Controls on Design Task pane to add control in your form.
  
  
   
• Go to Tools menu and select Data Connections
  
  
   
• In data connection window click on Add button to create new data connection.
  
  
   
• Now Data Connection Wizard will be open to create data connection. Click on Create New Connection radio button and choose Submit Data, click on Next
  
  
   
• Select destination where you want to submit data(In this article I will submit data in share point document library). Select destination "To a document library on a SharePoint site" and click on next button.
  
  
   
• Specify the URL of SharePoint document library and file name. Click on next button 
  
  
  

Steps for Creating dynamic file name:

1. Write "CustInfo" in File name text box and Click on "fx" button.
2. A popup will be open to insert formula.
   
   
    
3. Click on "Insert Function" button and select Categories Text and function concat and click on Ok button .
   
   
    
4. Delete first text from concat function and Double Click on next "double click to insert field" text and select CustName Field. Delete next text also. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Click on "OK" button.
   
   
   

Dynamic form name created now click on next button.

• Specify the name of submit data connection. And click on Finish button.
  
  
   
• Now new submit data connection will be created. Click on Close button to close wizard.
  
  
   
• Now go to Form Options Tools>>Form Options. Uncheck show toolbar check boxes.
  
  
   
• Click on Ok button to save your changes.
   
• Right click on button control (which you have added in your form) and select button properties.
  
  
   
• Select Submit from the "Action" dropdown and Change the label of button and click on "Submit Option" button. Click on "Submit Option" button.
  
  
   
• From submit options popup, Click on "Allow users to submit this form " check box, select "Perform custom action using Rules" and click on "Rules" button.
  
  
   
• From rules popup click on "Add" button for adding rules.
  
  
   
• From rule window click on "Set Condition" button to add validation. 
  
  
   
• From condition window select custName and "is Not blank" from the dropdown list and click on "Ok" button. 
  
  
   
• Now click on "Add Action" button to define rule.
  
  
   
• From Add Action window select "Submit using a data connection" from Action dropdown and select name of submit data connection. Now click on "Ok" button.

Step 2 (Publishing Info Path Form)

• From the design task pane click on "Publish Form Template". From publishing wizard select ffirst option to publish form in share point and click on next button. 
  
  
   
• Enter the URL of SharePoint site and click on next button.
  
  
   
• From the next window select "Document Library" and click on next button. 
  
  
   
• From next window select "Create a new document library" option and click on next button.
  
  
   
• Enter the name and description for new Form Library and click on next button.
  
  
   
• Click on "Add" button to add column in library. 
  
  
   
• Select field and enter the column name in "Column name" text box and click on "Ok" to create column. (Do the same step to create columns for Age and Address)
  
  
  
  
  

Click on Next button.

• Click on Publish button to publish form.
  
  
   
• Now form is published on SharePoint library.
  
  
  

Step 3 (Open InfoPath form in SharePoint)

• Go to SharePoint site, open "CustDetail" library, click on Settings and select "Form Library Settings".
  
  
   
• Select "Advanced settings" from general settings group.
  
  
  
   
• From Advance Settings window select "Display as a web page" option from the "Browser Enabled Documents" section and click on Ok butom.
  
  
   
• Now go back to your document library click on "New" menu and select "New Document" to open InfoPath form.
  
  
  
   
• Now InfoPath form will be open in the browser. Fill data and click on Save Data button to submit data in library. 
  
  
   
• Go back to "CustDetail" to view your data. 
  
  

Source:http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/vivekbritish/4630/Default.aspx 

Microsoft InfoPath 2010 With Custom SharePoint Integration

f you have a business which has an online presence or which you foresee to have an online presence in the recent future, learning about InfoPath might be of help while you design your collaborative web-platform. Building just portals is now passé which now seems like someone standing at a place and blowing the trumpet. It is more about information sharing and collaboration now. SharePoint 2010 is the answer to creation of such an enterprise 2.0. InfoPath empowers SharePoint usage experience.
Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 is the defacto standard for choosing a forms designer. But the average SharePoint developer mostly reaches out to ASP.NET when he needs to create a form for SharePoint. It is surprising to note that at all those places you can employ InfoPath to even quicker form creation for enterprise management functions. Now, to take advantage of the same, clients normally want to embed InfoPath forms into a SharePoint 2007 site. There are 2 options for doing this – One, you could just create a forms library and link to the appropriate InfoPath forms. Two, you could try embedding the InfoPath 2007 form right inside SharePoint 2007. This can be done using web parts or can also be done programmatically. 
With InfoPath 2010, SharePoint’s list forms can be now fully customized. You can change the look of the form, switch from single column to multi-column layouts, break the unified form into sections, validate the user-information entered, pre-populate fields, and cause certain sections of the form to show and hide automatically. After customizing the form, publishing the form back to the SharePoint site would replace the default form.
Microsoft InfoPath was released as a part of Microsoft Office 2007 to develop XML-based data entry forms. The ability to write, edit and view XML documents with one to many links among different schema was developed by InfoPath 2007. Towards the later part of 2009, Microsoft released a beta version of InfoPath which was split into two separate functionalities – InfoPath Designer and InfoPath Filler. We would focus on InfoPath 2010, on the whole, in this document.

Benefits of InfoPath 2010

• Enables Quick and Efficient Form creation.
• Helps create sophisticated and rich forms without writing code in InfoPath with just one click.
• Gives participants the ability to fill out forms online or offline.
• Helps in building modular, scalable, and portable SharePoint apps. The InfoPath Form webpart is now available too which can be used to create mashups without any coding.
• Enables embedding of the forms in SharePoint Webparts.
• Helps in connecting forms with line-of-business information and other Web Services.
• Helps in more easily managing forms on the server.
We at Mindfire Solutions have been working with SharePoint 2007 and InfoPath 2007 integration since couple of years now. After the launch of SP2010 and InfoPath 2010, we also have executed projects for global customers which needed InfoPath integration services. Using web part connections and other tricks, we can eliminate the need for massive coding which might be needed for custom form creation as well as the integration.

InfoPath is a versatile data-collection tool designed to make the creation of forms within SharePoint extremely easy, efficient, and connected to out-of-the-box or custom workflows. And yet, for IT pros and even SharePoint developers, InfoPath remains a mysterious application. Because SharePoint adoption is steadily increasing, we would like to take the opportunity to assist you more in your custom SharePoint Development needs.

Source:http://office-2010-infopath.blogspot.com/2010/12/microsoft-infopath-2010-with-custom.html 

Learn how you can concatenate a date and a time, and use date/time conversions to and from UTC to be able to set the time portion of a date/time field in a SharePoint list column through a SharePoint Designer 2010 workflow.

In Construct a date from strings in a SharePoint Designer 2010 workflow you saw how to create a date by concatenating two strings in a SharePoint Designer 2010 workflow.

In the SharePoint Designer 2010 workflow in this article, you will set the time portion of a date and time field in a SharePoint list by concatenating a date and a time taken from two fields in the SharePoint list.

For this solution, you must create a SharePoint list that has 3 columns:

1. A column with the name myDate, type Date and Time, and which has its settings to only display the date, so that no time can be entered.
2. A column with the name myTime and type Single line of text. In this field you will enter a time that has the format hh:mm.
3. A column with the name myDateAndTime, type Date and Time, and which has its settings to display both the date and time. In this field you will store the result of the workflow.

To create a SharePoint Designer 2010 workflow that sets the time portion of a date/time field in a SharePoint list:

1. In SharePoint Designer 2010, create a new List Workflow.
2. Add the following Local Variables to the SharePoint Designer 2010 workflow:
   • myDateAndTime (Date/Time)
   • dateString (String)
   • timeString (String)
   • isoDateTimeString (String)
3. Add a Set Workflow Variable action to the workflow to set the myDateAndTime workflow variable to the myDate field of the Current Item in the SharePoint list.
4. Add a second Set Workflow Variable action to the workflow to set the dateString workflow variable to the myDateAndTime workflow variable and return the field as ISO Formatted. Here you are converting the date and time variable to an ISO date and time string.
5. Add an Extract Substring from Start of String action to the workflow that copies 10 characters from the dateString workflow variable, and outputs it to the same dateString workflow variable.
6. Add a third Set Workflow Variable action to the workflow to set the timeString workflow variable to the myTime field of the Current Item in the SharePoint list.
7. Add a fourth Set Workflow Variable action to the workflow to set the isoDateTimeStringworkflow variable to the following string: [%Variable: dateString%]T[%Variable: timeString%]:00Z using the String Builder dialog box.
8. Add a fifth Set Workflow Variable action to the workflow to set the myDateAndTime workflow variable to the isoDateTimeString workflow variable and return the field as Date/Time. Here you are converting the ISO date and time string back to a date and time variable.
9. Add an Add Time to Date action to the workflow to add an appropriate amount of hours for the time zone you live in to the myDateAndTime workflow variable, and output it to the samemyDateAndTime workflow variable. This time zone correction is necessary, because when you retrieved the date from the SharePoint list column you converted it to an ISO date and time string, which represents dates and times in UTC. So before you write the date and time back to the SharePoint list, you must convert the date and time from UTC back to your own time zone. You must also subtract an hour for daylight savings time if daylight savings is currently in effect for your time zone.
10. Add a Set Field in Current Item action to the workflow that sets the myDateAndTime column of the SharePoint list to the value of the myDateAndTime workflow variable.

    The SharePoint Designer workflow should now resemble the following figure:

    
    Figure 1. SharePoint Designer 2010 workflow to set the time portion of a date/time column in a SharePoint list.

11. Publish the workflow to SharePoint.

If you go to the SharePoint list to which you associated the workflow, add an item to the SharePoint list, enter a date in the myDate column, enter a time in the myTime column, save the SharePoint list item, and then start the workflow on the item, the myDateAndTime column of the SharePoint list should be updated and display the correct date and time, which is a concatenation of the date and time you entered in the two other columns.

Source:http://www.documentmanagementworkflowinfo.com/sample-sharepoint-workflows/sharepoint-designer-
2010-workflow-set-time-portion-datetime-field.htm 

Opalis Integration Pack (IP) for Microsoft SharePoint – Download Plus 8 Minute Features Demo Video

Microsoft released a new SharePoint Integration Pack (IP) for Opalis that enables you to manipulate SharePoint Lists and Libraries (e.g. Document Libraries, Image Libraries etc.) to add, modify and remove entries, files and attachments.

This's an IP that was created using the Quick Integration Kit (QIK) which allows anybody to create their own IP's.

This Integration Pack adds the following objects to Opalis Integration Server:

• Create List Item
• Delete Attachment
• Delete Document
• Delete List Item
• Download Attachment
• Download Document
• Get Attachment List
• Get List Item
• Monitor List Item
• Update List Item
• Upload Attachment

Here's the demonstration of SharePoint Integration Pack (IP):

Source:http://www.ditii.com/2010/11/27/opalis-integration-pack-ip-for-microsoft-
sharepoint-download-plus-8-minute-features-demo-video/ 

SharePoint & List Templates...

List Templates

List templates are part of a site template, used to create new web sites and content quickly based on a predefined layout.  List templates define a list layout and content, allowing new lists to be added to a site quickly by copying an existing list template. 

List templates are maintained in the site collection template gallery. There are a large number of list templates included with SharePoint when it is installed, and these can be used to create new modified list templates.  It is not advisable to edit the default list templates; instead, a copy should be made and that copy edited. New list templates can be created from existing list templates, or downloaded and added to the template gallery manually.

A list template contains basic information about a list, such as the columns and fields used in the list, views of the list, and the appearance of the list.  Optionally, a list template can contain content (useful when standard data is required in a list).  List templates are stored in the SharePoint directory structure with the “.stp” file extension.

Using an existing List Template

To use a list template already in the site gallery, select the template to use from the site gallery. The list of available templates is filtered to reflect those that are applicable to your site type. For example, Team Site list templates are not available to sites that are of Meeting Workspace type.

When a list template is selected, the template is copied to the current site. Modifications to the copied list can then be made and saved, without affecting the list template.

Creating a list template

To create a list template from an existing list on a site, you must have the Manage Lists right. Follow these steps to create a list template:

1. Move to the list page that will be the basis for the new list template
2. Under Actions, click Modify settings and columns

1. Under General Settings click Save list as template

1. Enter the filename to use for the list template file and enter a useful description in the Template description field

1. If existing content is to be included as part of the new list template, click the Include content box
2. Click OK

The new list template file will be created with an “.stp” extension and automatically added to the site gallery:

Adding a list template

To add a list template to the site gallery, the Add Item right is required.  By default this is provided for Web Designer and Administrator group members, but other groups can be given this right if required.

To add a list template to the site collection template gallery using an “.stp” file, follow these steps:

1. From the top-level Web site, click on Site Settings
2. Under the Administration link, click on Go to Site Administration
3. Under Site Collection Galleries, click Manage list template gallery

1. Click Upload Template
2. Browse to the list template file, or enter the path and name of the file directly.  You can upload several list templates at once by clicking on Upload Multiple Files.

1. Click Save

The new list templates will now be included in the site gallery.

Deleting a list template

To remove a list template from the site template gallery, follow these steps:

1. From the top-level Web site, click on Site Settings
2. Under the Administration link, click on Go to Site Administration
3. Under Site Collection Galleries, click Manage list template gallery
4. Click the Edit icon next to the list template you want to delete

1. Click the Delete button

The list template will be removed from the gallery, although the “.stp” file will not be deleted.

Editing a list template

To edit a list template in the site template gallery, follow these steps:

1. From the top-level Web site, click on Site Settings
2. Under the Administration link, click on Go to Site Administration
3. Under Site Collection Galleries, click Manage list template gallery
4. Click the Edit icon next to the list template you want to change

1. Make any changes and click the Save button

Changes to the list template are made immediately.

Source:http://www.datasprings.com/resources/articles-information/sharepoint-list-templates.aspx 

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 to Offer New Features

Dashboards, Sharepoint integration, and shared customizations are just three new additions to Dynamics CRM.

Dashboards, Sharepoint integration and shared customizations are just three new additions to Dynamics CRM.

If you have not looked at the new beta for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, you may want to consider some of the new features. Microsoft made a number of improvements to make upgrading from 4.0 an attractive idea.

"This is a new era for sales and marketing professionals," says Eli Ritz, marketing specialist and host of the blog Totally CRM. "Alot of people will be wondering if it's worth it to upgrade, and I can tell you my first-hand experience with it has been extremely positive."

For one thing, Dynamics CRM 2011 uses out-of-the-box integration with Sharepoint. More and more offices use Sharepoint, a tool for web-based collaboration, to help make the workplace more efficient. One challenge for sales and marketing professionals is that information put in CRM does not integrate to Sharepoint (where other departments could view select information for financial forecasting). Now, this information can be shared, without any custom development, right inside the Sharepoint environment.

Second, Dynamics CRM will feature a new marketplace--a solutions catalog, integrated with Dynamics CRM, that allows for faster application downloads. In addition, much like with Microsoft Pinpoint, CRM 2011 will help organizations discover new Microsoft partners and find solutions that cater to their specific business needs. For example, an insurance company can now identify which Microsoft partners offer insurance specific functionality through the catalog.

Another great new feature is the dashboards. Dashboards can monitor the overall health and performance of one's business, and report the information in a graphical format. MS built the dashboards to be intuitive and easy to navigate. The new add-on allows users to use BI (business intelligence) to follow customer, prospect and market trends. These features allow one to see a financial forecast, in a graphical format, based on the time frame when potential deals might close.

Source:http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/11/prweb4810464.htm 

How to Set Up Your SharePoint Development Computer on Windows 7

SharePoint is the fastest Billion dollar business for Microsoft! And, it’s gotten there because it is one of the best things since sliced bread! Enterprises love SharePoint and the simplicity it offers to its employees. SharePoint helps employees, Collaborate, find (Search) and work smart!

I am starting a series on SharePoint 2010. This series will help you understand SharePoint from a Developer perspective. I’ll start from the basics, How to Install SharePoint and set up your Dev environment to writing SharePoint app’s for Windows Phone and everything in between. As always, if you have any questions or if you need more information about anything in particular – let me know! You can tweet me at – @mithund or email me at mithund at Microsoft com.

This blog post will begin by helping you understand how to ‘Setup your SharePoint Dev Environment’ on a Windows 7 box.

One of the biggest advantages of SharePoint 2010 is the ability to run on Windows 7 machine. Albeit, this runs only on a Windows 7 64 bit machine. I successfully installed SharePoint server on this box within an hour or so. My original machine started off with a base Windows 7 (For Enterprise SKU) 64 bit and I had installed Visual Studio 2010 with all the pre-req’s.  The VS 2010 SKU I’ve got installed is the ‘Ultimate’ one. My Hardware is a Lenvo Laptop with 8 GB RAM and Intel Core 2 processor. As mentioned earlier it’s a 64 bit machine, As a side note, I’ve tried this on a 6 GB machine and I can tell you that the additional 2 GB makes a huge difference.

Before you start you must install the WCF Hotfix for Microsoft Windows. The hotfix is available for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. In addition, you must also install the ADO.NET Data Services Update for .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 to enable REST-based data services. This update is available for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7.

Now that your basic setup is complete, let’s install the prerequisites for SharePoint 2010 – Note that for Windows 7 (Or Windows Vista) you cannot use the PreRequisiteInstall.exe tool that’s included in the setup library. This works only on a Windows Server 2008 R2 OS. Because the default installation works only for WS 2008, you must edit one of the configuration files and install the Pre-Requisites manually. Note that you need to be logged on as the administrator to perform these installations.

Also, these steps assume that you received the SharePoint 2010 distribution as a single compressed executable file named SharePointFoundation.exe for SharePoint Foundation 2010 and setup.exe for SharePoint Server 2010.

1. Begin by copying the SharePointFoundation.exe (or Setup.exe) installation file to a folder on the computer. I copied in the following path:

C:\SharePointFiles

2. Extract the Installation files from the CMD prompt window,

For SharePoint Foundation 2010:

C:\SharePointFiles\SharePoint /extract:C:\SharePointFiles

For SharePoint Server 2010:

C:\SharePointFiles\OfficeServer /extract:C:\SharePointFiles

3. Open the Configuration file in Notepad – Config.xml is located in C:\SharePointFiles\Files\Setup\config.xml

Add this line inside the <configuration> tag:

<Setting Id="AllowWindowsClientInstall" Value="True"/>

4. Save & Close the Config file. 

5. The completed Config File should now look like this:

<Configuration>
  <Package Id="sts">
    <Setting Id="SETUPTYPE" Value="CLEAN_INSTALL" />
  </Package>
  <DATADIR Value="%CommonProgramFiles%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server
   Extensions\14\Data" />
  <Logging Type="verbose" Path="%temp%" Template="Microsoft Windows
   SharePoint Services 4.0 Setup *.log" />
  <PIDKEY Value="PIDKey Value" />
  <Setting Id="UsingUIInstallMode" Value="1" />
  <Setting Id="SETUP_REBOOT" Value="Never" />
  <Setting Id="AllowWindowsClientInstall" Value="True"/>
</Configuration>

Please note that this Config file will be longer for SharePoint Server 2010 

(The above file is for SharePoint Foundation 2010). 

But that said, you should use the same setting for the AllowClientInstall attribute.

Note that all of this is case-sensitive. If there’s an error you will get a Setup Error message when you try to run the 

Setup Script. 

6. Now install the following Pre-Requisites:

• Microsoft FilterPack 2.0. At a command prompt, type the following:

• c:\SharePointFiles\PrerequisiteInstallerFiles\FilterPack\FilterPack.msi

• Microsoft Sync Framework

• SQL Server Native Client

• Windows Identity Foundation (Windows6.1-KB974405-x64.msu)

• Chart Controls (this is not required if you are going to install SharePoint Foundation 2010).

• SQL Server Analysis Services - ADOMD.Net (this is not required if you are going to install SharePoint Foundation 2010).

6. Make sure the following features are enabled and your Windows Features should look like this:

This is the Second part…

And if you are like me, you can enable all of these features from the Command Prompt – (Please note that there are line breaks in the script below)

start /w pkgmgr /iu:IIS-WebServerRole;IIS-WebServer;IIS-CommonHttpFeatures; 
IIS-StaticContent;IIS-DefaultDocument;IIS-DirectoryBrowsing;IIS-HttpErrors; 
IIS-ApplicationDevelopment;IIS-ASPNET;IIS-NetFxExtensibility; 
IIS-ISAPIExtensions;IIS-ISAPIFilter;IIS-HealthAndDiagnostics; 
IIS-HttpLogging;IIS-LoggingLibraries;IIS-RequestMonitor;IIS-HttpTracing;IIS-CustomLogging;IIS-ManagementScriptingTools; 
IIS-Security;IIS-BasicAuthentication;IIS-WindowsAuthentication;IIS-DigestAuthentication; 
IIS-RequestFiltering;IIS-Performance;IIS-HttpCompressionStatic;IIS-HttpCompressionDynamic; 
IIS-WebServerManagementTools;IIS-ManagementConsole;IIS-IIS6ManagementCompatibility; 
IIS-Metabase;IIS-WMICompatibility;WAS-WindowsActivationService;WAS-ProcessModel; 
WAS-NetFxEnvironment;WAS-ConfigurationAPI;WCF-HTTP-Activation; 
WCF-NonHTTP-Activation

Verify that the required Windows Features are enabled. The command in the previous step enables all of the required features in the Internet Information Services section of the Windows Features dialog box (which you can access through the Programs section in Control Panel). Use the above figures to check that you have enabled all of the required Windows Features. If any features are missing in your operating system, return to the Internet Information Services section of the Windows Features dialog box and enable them.

Finally, install SharePoint – Open the Command prompt and type the following - C:\SharePointFiles\Setup.exe

Accept the terms and conditions and you will be bought to this splash screen

Please note that since this is a Developer environment that we are setting up, I chose to install using the Standalone option. If any errors occur, you can debug using the information in the log file. To find the log file type the following in the command prompt window,

cd %temp%
dir /od *.log

Now your SharePoint site is being configured -

After this, you are presented with the new sharePoint site.

And Voila, you now have a SharePoint developer environment installed on your local Windows 7 –64 bit machine.

Source:http://blogs.msdn.com/b/mithund/archive/2010/11/01/sharepoint-2010-everything-you-need-to-know.aspx 

Connect Microsoft Project Schedules to SharePoint – SharePoint Project Management

Publish Microsoft Projects project and task information to SharePoint for easy access by Team Members. Furthermore, EPM Live allows you to specify which fields are published to SharePoint and which fields in SharePoint are updatable by Team Members. Visit www.epmlive.com for more information

Source:http://youandme.ws/?p=14032 

Publishing SharePoint Blog from Word

 

 

 

It will start publishing 

 

Once done you can see the blog is published in your SharePoint site.

Source:http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/Roji.Joy/4155/ 

Source:http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/Roji.Joy/4118/Default.aspx