(Note: This Course Outline is subject to minor changes and refinements based on student feedback and instructor experience.)
Module 1: Getting Started with Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007
Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 is a member of the Microsoft Office suite of desktop programs and is a powerful tool for developing XML-based forms. Before getting started with Forms Server, students will begin by learning the basics of using the InfoPath desktop client as a stand-alone tool for creating forms. Students will learn:
- What is InfoPath?
- What is Data Binding and what are InfoPath forms doing “under the hood”?
- What controls are available for InfoPath forms and how do they work?
- What are template parts? How are they created? How are they used?
Module 2: Getting Started with Forms Server
Before Forms Server was available, companies had two expenses associated with using InfoPath forms: the cost of the InfoPath desktop client for each user and the cost of training all employees to use the desktop client. With InfoPath Forms Server, only form designers need to have the InfoPath client—users that merely fill out forms can now do this in a web browser without costly training. In this module, students will learn:
- The caveats associated with using Forms Server instead of the InfoPath client.
- How the Design Checker works.
- How to publish forms to a form library and to a Content Type.
- How to Upload, Verify, and Manage form templates in Central Administration. And why they might want to use this option.
- How to make InfoPath form fields available to SharePoint.
- How to configure Submit options, and display forms in a Page Viewer web part.
Module 3: Getting Started with Workflow Designer
With SharePoint Designer, Microsoft has given Information Workers a powerful, yet easy-to-use tool that allows them to programmatically interact with the SharePoint environment. These programs, or workflows, can: route information between users; collect information from users; make decisions; send email notifications; add, update, edit information in SharePoint lists; and much, much, more. Although only one module is dedicated to workflow, the concepts from this module will be utilized throughout the other modules in the class. In this module, students will learn:
- How to configure workflow in Central Administration.
- What workflows are available out-of-the-box, and how they work.
- How to manage workflows:
- Add and remove workflows.
- Understand workflow status.
- How tasks integrate with Outlook.
- Using the Document Information Panel (DIP) in Word for editing tasks (also Office Button, Server Tasks, and Viewing Workflow Tasks).
- How workflow integration differs with different versions of Microsoft Office.
- How to start and manage workflows from within the InfoPath client.
- The Components of SharePoint Designer workflows:
- Steps.
- Conditions and Else-If branches.
- Actions.
- Initiation Variables and user defined variables.
- Workflow lookups.
Module 4: Interacting with External Data and Converting Existing Word and Excel Forms
Most organizations already have forms they are using in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. InfoPath is capable of converting those forms to InfoPath forms. Quite often, companies already have existing data they would like to reference in their InfoPath forms. InfoPath Forms are capable of dynamically including data from external data sources, such as SharePoint Lists or SQL Server databases, into the forms. In this module, students will learn:
- How to convert existing Word or Excel forms to InfoPath forms.
- What Data Source Library is.
- How to create Uniform Data Connection (UDC) files.
- How to utilize UDC files to dynamically include content in an InfoPath form.
Module 5: Working with Digital Signatures
InfoPath Forms can be digitally signed to confirm that the information contained has not been altered. Digital signatures are fully supported in Forms Server. In this module, students will learn what Digital Signatures are and how they work in an InfoPath form.
Module 6: E-mail Enabled Forms and E-mail Enabled Lists
InfoPath forms can be integrated with Outlook so that Outlook is used as the tool for completing and compiling forms. Similarly, document libraries in SharePoint can be e-mail enabled to receive content via e-mail in addition to traditional upload methods. Both of these functionalities will be covered in this module and students will learn:
- How e-mail forms work.
- How form merging works.
- How workflow tasks are handled when sent outside the company .
- How to set up and configure e-mail enabled libraries in SharePoint.
Module 7: Storing InfoPath Data in External Databases and Reporting
In many scenarios, companies will be fine storing form data within the forms. But sometimes users will want to store the information in an external database for reporting purposes. In this module, students will learn:
- How to submit to a database via a web service.
- How to create simple reports on SQL data originating from an InfoPath form.
Module 8: Working with InfoPath Forms on a Mobile Device
Forms Server is not only limited to completing forms within a desktop web browser—they can also be rendered on a mobile device as well. In this module, students will learn how forms work on a mobile device.
Module 9: How to Architect Solutions
The integrated tools in Microsoft Office and MOSS 2007 have provided Information Workers more power to create complex business solutions than they have ever had in the past. In many cases, the solutions you create in hours and days will be equal in power, complexity, and technological integration to solutions created by developers in weeks and months. Because of this, it is important for Information Workers to understand the thought and planning process for architecting a solid business solution. In this module, students will learn:
- How to use flow charting tools to visualize a process before beginning to write a solution.
- How to plan for scalability in their solutions.
- How to consider, select, and leverage the right technologies for the solution.
- The importance of designing the data source first when creating InfoPath solutions.
Module 10: SharePoint Designer Workflow Tips, Tricks, and Techniques
SharePoint Designer has provided Information Workers a lot of functionality. Microsoft has tried to make Workflow Designer as easy as possible for Information Workers to use by making it very much unlike traditional coded programming languages. Because of this, some of the techniques you will need to create complex solutions won’t be very obvious. In this module, students will learn:
- How to integrate workflows with other workflows and other lists to provide functionality such as multiple approval or round-robin type assigning of tasks.
- How to store changing variables outside the workflow so the workflow doesn’t have to be edited and recompiled for some changes.
- How to create and utilize nicely formatted HTML emails.
- Tips for making your SharePoint Designer workflows more portable.
- Other tips, tricks, and techniques that will greatly improve your SharePoint Designer Workflow solutions.
Module 11: InfoPath Tips, Tricks, and Techniques
In earlier modules, students jumped right into using InfoPath to create solutions. This module will build on that InfoPath knowledge and help students create forms that are more usable. In this module, students will learn:
- How to improve the aesthetic design of your forms.
- How to incorporate images in your forms.
- What views are, how to create views, and how to utilize them to enhance your solutions.
- Other tips, tricks, and techniques that will greatly improve your InfoPath-based solutions.
Module 12: InfoPath and Code
InfoPath forms can contain code for advanced functionality. Although this module won’t go deep into writing code in InfoPath forms, it will get students started with adding some simple coded elements to their forms to extend what InfoPath is capable of doing using just the out-of-the-box functionality. Students will learn:
- What trust levels are and how they work.
- How to add code to an InfoPath form.
- How to deploy a form that contains code.
