| | |  | Manager's Guides to Computing | Home » » » Designing Forms for Microsoft Office InfoPath and Forms Services 2007 | | | | | | | Description: | | "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
List of Figures
List of Tables
Foreword
Preface
About the Authors
PART I: Designing Forms
Chapter 1: Introduction to InfoPath 2007
Chapter 2: Basics of InfoPath Form Design
Chapter 3: Working with Data
Chapter 4: Advanced Controls and Customization
Chapter 5: Adding Logic without Code
Chapter 6: Retrieving Data from External Sources
Chapter 7: Extended Features of Data Connections
Chapter 8: Submitting Form Data
Chapter 9: Saving and Publishing
Chapter 10: Building Reusable Components
Chapter 11: Security and Deployment
Chapter 12: Creating Reports
Chapter 13: Workflow
Chapter 14: Introduction to Forms Services
Part II: Advanced Form Design
Chapter 15: Writing Code in InfoPath
Chapter 16: Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007
Chapter 17: Advanced Forms Services
Chapter 18: Hosting InfoPath
Chapter 19: Building Custom Controls Using ActiveX Technologies
Chapter 20: Add-ins
Chapter 21: Importers and Exporters
Appendix: Further Reading
Index | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Scott Roberts | | Paperback:
| 1296 pages | | Publisher:
| Addison-Wesley Professional | | Publication Date:
| February 15, 2007 | | ISBN:
| 0321410599 | | Package Length:
| 9.1 inches | | Package Width:
| 7.0 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.9 inches | | Package Weight:
| 3.85 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 16 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
 The In-Depth Guide to InfoPathMay 17, 2010
This book is the as detailed and in-depth as a book can be on a technology, that can be put into a book and still be even marginally useful. Designing Forms for Microsoft Office InfoPath and Forms Services 2007 covers about every aspect of the technology that you may want to know about. The book starts with a brief introduction to the tool and what its intended purpose. From there it quickly delves off into the details of form creation, starting with the layouts. There is lots of information on most of the important controls, how to use them, format them, and control the advanced aspects, such as default and calculated values, formatting, data binding from external sources. When it comes to controls there is finally some good guidance on rules, validation and internal/declarative logic.
There are informative sections on data binding to various sources, mainly xml, Sql Server and SharePoint. There is also detailed treatment of programming the forms.
Of particular interest to me was the ability to create forms to be used in a Forms Services context. Using the material in this book I have been able to complete several successful Forms Services implementations.
The two criticisms of the book are that 1) in some cases the information is more theoretical than practical and that 2) it may be too much information for a book. An example of number 1 is the explanation of Template Parts. This functionality seems more like a good idea that is not quite adequate for practical applications. There are definitely issues in getting it to work and there is no indication of this in the book. In other words they present it as if you this, this and that and it will all work fine.
As to my second criticism, the book pushes the limits of what can be put into a book without it being cluttered and better off referring the reader to the detailed technical documentation.
In all I highly recommend this book as a desk reference for the serious InfoPath developer.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 ExcellentFeb 01, 2010
Exactly what I was looking for, now I just have to find time to read it.
Thorough education in InfoPath formsJan 23, 2010
At over 1200 pages, this book is obviously not for the faint of heart (at four pounds, it's a cardio workout just to carry it around!). If you're looking for a quick overview of InfoPath, this ain't it!
I have found it to be equivalent to a college level course on InfoPath. The authors strive to keep a narrative style through highly technical information - and sometimes they fail, but for the most part, things are explained well.
Illustrations are complete, you don't need to follow along at the keyboard. In fact, my approach was to read this book away from my computer, finish a topic, then attempt to apply the lesson at the computer, using the book as a reference. It takes time, but it has proved a most effective learning method.
I would have liked to see some sort of 30,000 foot overview, or a "mall map" ("you are here") to help guide me along the knowledge trail - it's easy to get lost in so much prose. It would be great to have a companion book of about 200 pages, summarizing the chapters, with references to this "mothership" of knowledge.
However, I've found few technical books that are as complete in their coverage of a subject. If you can muster the time, the patience, the focus, and to some degree the courage to take on this book and read it cover to cover, you will truly have near expert level understanding and skills in InfoPath.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Great book!Oct 06, 2009
These books especially this title are the only alternative to studying for the exam or subject you need to get familiar with. This book is as close as you can get to the "step by step" books by Microsoft. It explains things in lamens terms but also does not oversimplify either. FYI do not get the "Training Kit" books by microsoft unless your buying them for the CD's. The "Training Kit" books do a very bad job in explaining stuff.The "Training Kits" by Microsoft are for people who are considered genius by IQ standards or people who are already familiar with the subject and want to refine their skills.
You have to constantly stop every two sentences to look up vocabulary and can get easily lost. These Microsoft .Net Development Series books are a great alternative to the Step by Step books by Microsoft.I guess I could give this book five stars since there is no "Step by Step" series on this subject. I hope this article helps people out.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Lots of information in one bookMay 11, 2009
This book is good for people with prior programming or that are highly efficient at the Microsoft Office Suite. I haven't been able to locate a manual on Infopath for dumbies, or for someone who doesn't know programming. The product is good, but it's not for beginners for sure.
| | |
|
