"Microsoft Office InfoPath represents a revolutionary leap in XML technologies and a new paradigm for gathering business-critical information. I am delighted that Scott Roberts and Hagen Green, two distinguished members of the InfoPath product team, decided to share their experience in this book."

--From the Foreword by Jean Paoli, cocreator of XML 1.0 and Microsoft Office InfoPath

Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 offers breakthrough tools for gathering, managing, and integrating business-critical information, and creating efficient forms-driven processes. Two longtime members of Microsoft's InfoPath product team have written the first comprehensive, hands-on guide to building successful XML-based solutions with InfoPath 2007.

The book opens with a practical primer on the fundamentals of InfoPath form template design for information workers and application developers at all levels of experience. It then moves into advanced techniques for customizing, integrating, and extending form templates--with all the code examples and detail needed by professional developers.

Learn how to:

• Design form templates: create blank form templates, insert and customize controls, use advanced formatting, and construct and lay out views
• Work with data: start with XML data or schema, manually edit data sources, and understand design-time visuals
• Add custom business logic to forms, and integrate them with other applications
• Retrieve and query data from external data sources, including XML files, databases, SharePoint lists, Web services, and ADO.NET DataSets
• Submit and receive form data using ADO.NET
• Save, preview, and publish to e-mail, SharePoint, and more
• Build reusable components with template parts
• Create workflows with SharePoint and InfoPath E-Mail Forms
• Administer Forms Services and Web-enabled form templates
• Build advanced form templates using C# form code, custom controls, add-ins, and the new InfoPath 2007 managed object model
• Design form templates using Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO)
• Update, secure, and optimize your form templates

Hagen Green is a Software Design Engineer in Test II at Microsoft Corporation, and has been a member of the InfoPath team since its inception. He leads a team focused on the next version of Windows SharePoint Services. He contributed chapters on InfoPath to Visual Studio Tools for Office: Using Visual Basic 2005, and Visual Studio Tools for Office: Using C# (Addison-Wesley).

List of Figures xxi

List of Tables xlvii

Foreword li

Preface lv

About the Authors lxv

PART I: Designing Forms 1

Chapter 1: Introduction to InfoPath 2007 3

What Is InfoPath? 3

InfoPath 2003 7

InfoPath 2003 Service Pack 1 12

InfoPath 2007 17

What's Next? 24

Chapter 2: Basics of InfoPath Form Design 25

Getting Started 25

What Is a Form Template Anyway? 26

Design a Form Template Dialog 27

Creating a New Blank Form Template 30

Designing the Layout of Your Form 34

Using Controls 41

Creating Multiple Views 73

Advanced Formatting 76

What's Next? 83

Chapter 3: Working with Data 85

Getting Started 85

Data Binding 86

Data Source Field and Group Properties 95

Manually Editing the Data Source 110

Advanced Data Binding 137

Editing Default Template Data 151

What's Next? 154

Chapter 4: Advanced Controls and Customization 155

Getting Started 155

Advanced Controls 156

Control Properties 174

Advanced Customizations 204

What's Next? 213

Chapter 5: Adding Logic without Code 215

Getting Started 215

Conditional Formatting 215

Data Validation 222

Rules 229

Logic Inspector 235

What's Next? 240

Chapter 6: Retrieving Data from External Sources 241

Getting Started 241

Data Connections 242

XML Files 247

Databases 256

Web Services 273

SharePoint Libraries and Lists 292

What's Next? 296

Chapter 7: Extended Features of Data Connections 297

Getting Started 297

Extended Features of Web Services 298

Secondary Data Source Binding 307

Offline Mode Query Support 312

List Box Controls Connected to Secondary Data Sources 316

What's Next? 325

Chapter 8: Submitting Form Data 327

Getting Started 327

Why Submit? 328

Submitting Forms 334

ADO.NET DataSetSubmit 369

Submit Options 392

What's Next? 395

Chapter 9: Saving and Publishing 397

Getting Started 397

Saving and Publishing a Form Template with InfoPath 398

Saving Templates as Extracted Source Files 421

Previewing Form Templates 424

What's Next? 430

Chapter 10: Building Reusable Components 431

Getting Started 431

Designing a New Template Part 432

Using a Template Part 438

Updating Template Parts 447

Customizing Existing Template Parts 452

What's Next? 454

Chapter 11: Security and Deployment 455

Getting Started 455

Introduction to InfoPath Security 456

InfoPath Security Levels 458

Trust and Designer Lockdown 499

Digital Signatures 507

Information Rights Management 538

What's Next? 552

Chapter 12: Creating Reports 553

Getting Started 553

Merging Forms 554

Printing 586

Exporting Forms 605

What's Next? 612

Chapter 13: Workflow 613

Getting Started 613

User Roles 614

Workflow with Microsoft Office SharePoint

Server 2007 634

Workflow with InfoPath E-Mail Forms 643

What's Next? 663

Chapter 14: Introduction to Forms Services 665

Getting Started 665

What Is InfoPath in the Browser? 666

Installing and Configuring Forms Services 671

Publishing a Form Template to Forms Services 678 Getting Familiar with Browser Forms 682

Designing a Browser-Enabled Form Template 690

Getting Familiar with the Browser Form Experience 701 SharePoint Integration 705

Data Connections 710

Filling Out Browser Forms 714

Mobile Support: Smart Phone and PDA 720

What's Next? 726

Part II: Advanced Form Design 727

Chapter 15: Writing Code in InfoPath 729

Getting Started 729

Writing Code Behind a Form 730

The InfoPath Object Model 741

Programming InfoPath...in Action! 790

What's Next? 832

Chapter 16: Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 833

Getting Started 833

What Is VSTO? 834

Bringing InfoPath into Visual Studio 835

Installing VSTO 836

Designing a Form Template with VSTO 836

Previewing a Form in VSTO 863

What's Next? 864

Chapter 17: Advanced Forms Services 865

Getting Started 865

Controls and Browser Optimizations 867

Form Code 875

SharePoint Integration 885

Data Connections 929

Performance Tips and Best Design Practices 950

What's Next? 963

Chapter 18: Hosting InfoPath 965

Getting Started 965

Hosting Scenarios 966

Document Information Panel 966

Creating an InfoPath Host Application 977

Hosting the InfoPath Form Control in a Web Browser 1011

What's Next? 1036

Chapter 19: Building Custom Controls Using ActiveX Technologies 1037

Getting Started 1037

Installing and Using ActiveX Controls 1038

Building Custom Controls for InfoPath Using ActiveX 1049

What's Next? 1072

Chapter 20: Add-ins 1073

Getting Started 1073

Introduction to COM Add-ins 1074

Building a COM Add-in for InfoPath 1076

Custom Task Panes 1093

Writing Add-ins and Custom Task Panes Using VSTO 2005 SE 1105

Managing InfoPath Add-ins 1111

What's Next? 1114

Chapter 21: Importers and Exporters 1115

Getting Started 1115

Built-in Form Importers 1116

Creating Your Own Form Importers and Exporters 1128

Importing Form Data 1142

What's Next? 1148

Appendix: Further Reading 1149