530 CHAPTER 18 iNtegratiNg the office 2010 clieNts With sharePoiNt 2010 INTEGRATING SHAREPOINT 2010 WITH INFOPATH Since its inception in Microsoft Offi ce 2003, InfoPath has been highly integrated with SharePoint. SharePoint 2010 offers a plethora of new integration points with InfoPath 2010. A part of the Microsoft Offi ce suite of applications, InfoPath is used for the creation and fi lling out of forms. This powerful program enables business users to easily create and customize their own forms. A lot of time and money can be saved by using InfoPath forms, as no programming knowl- edge is required, and the interface and form publishing process are simple and familiar. InfoPath Forms Services was fi rst introduced in Microsoft Offi ce SharePoint Server 2007. It is a SharePoint technology that allows for centralized adminis- tration of forms in an organization, and also provides the ability for forms to be fi lled in using the browser instead of relying on client software. If you have used InfoPath, then you know that in the past it was a single application in Offi ce. In Offi ce 2010, the product has been divided into Microsoft InfoPath Designer 2010 and Microsoft InfoPath Filler 2010. Because designing a form and fi lling out a form are two distinct tasks, typi- cally performed by different types of users, it is logical to provide two different entry points to the program. When forms are created, one of the fi rst choices to make is whether the form will be browser-based, that is, it can be opened and fi lled out in the browser. If a form has not been set up as browser- based, it must rely on client software. The latter option requires that all client computers have InfoPath software installed as part of the Microsoft Offi ce suite. Different types of controls and capabilities within InfoPath forms are compatible with different versions of the InfoPath client, so compatibility with clients is a consideration that is best tackled at the beginning of the form creation process. When a new form is created for use in a SharePoint form library, you have three different options for publishing the form to SharePoint: Form Library — This method entails publishing the form to a single library on a SharePoint site. When you know that the form will not be needed in other sites or libraries, use this option. Browser-based forms are optional here. Note that at the SharePoint library level, there is a setting that the administrator can use to force the way the client machine opens forms. Site Content Type — The form is published to a SharePoint site as a content type. This type of form can then be used in multiple libraries and subsites, and the content type is managed from one location. Administrator-approved form template — These types of forms are to be uploaded to InfoPath Forms Services in Central Administration, and can be globally available in the orga- nization. This option requires that the browser-based option is selected. This does not mean that the form can be only browser-based, but that it at least must be available in that format. The next section describes how to manage these administrator-approved forms. Integrating SharePoint 2010 with InfoPath 531 To open documents in the browser, in the Form Library settings, click Advanced Settings. Figure 18-19 shows the options for Opening Documents in the Browser. FIGURE 1819 In the case of form libraries, InfoPath is the applicable client application. The following sections describe the administrator-approved templates in relation to InfoPath Forms Services, which entails some Central Administration settings, and step-by-step instructions on how the form deployment process is carried out. A few other concepts covered are the new InfoPath Form Web Part, customizing the document information panel using InfoPath, and customizing SharePoint list forms. InfoPath Forms Services in Central Administration In Central Administration, click General Application Settings on the left side of the screen. Figure 18-20 shows the InfoPath Forms Services section. The following list describes the options available for managing InfoPath Forms Services: Manage form templates — This is the master list of all templates that exist in InfoPath Forms Services. By default, there are already several in the list, which are associated with some out- of-the-box workfl ows in SharePoint 2010. Confi gure InfoPath Forms Services — This page contains general settings such as timeouts, authentication, and postback thresholds. Upload form template — Once an administrator-approved template has been created as described in the previous section, it can be uploaded to InfoPath Forms Services on this screen. Manage data connection fi les — Upload existing data connection fi les here so that they can be globally accessed from multiple InfoPath forms. Confi gure InfoPath Forms Services Web Service Proxy — Use this page to enable the web ser- vice proxy for forms. Deploying Forms in InfoPath Forms Services Deploying a form template to InfoPath Forms Services is typically done by a SharePoint admin- istrator. This section covers the steps required to take a form from inception to “going live” on a SharePoint site. FIGURE 1820 532 CHAPTER 18 iNtegratiNg the office 2010 clieNts With sharePoiNt 2010 What you will need: The template file — The person who has created the InfoPath form will send the form tem- plate to the administrator as an XSN file. Site Collection URL — To which site collection(s) will this form need to be deployed? The form creator should also supply this information. Once the form template and site collection URL have been obtained, take the following steps: 1. On the General Application Settings page in Central Administration, click Upload Form Template. 2. Browse to the form template, which is the XSN file that the form creator supplied. 3. Optionally, click the Verify button, to verify that the form does not contain any errors. 4. Click the Upload button; and after the process has completed, a Form Template Status screen will indicate success. 5. On the Manage Form Templates screen, hover over the name of the template that was just uploaded. Click Activate to a Site Collection. 6. Pick a site collection from the drop-down box and click OK. After the template has been deployed to the site collection, it is available as a content type that can be added to libraries in the site collection. InfoPath Form Web Part One of the new SharePoint 2010 out-of-the-box Web Parts is called the InfoPath Form Web Part. This Web Part allows for the insertion of any browser-based InfoPath form right onto a Web Part page. The following steps are taken as a form is inserted on the home page of a company’s departmental site. The availability of the Web Part makes it a few clicks easier for the site visitors, as filling out this form is the most commonly performed task done on the site in this example: 1. At the top left, click Site Actions and choose Edit Page. 2. On the Ribbon at the top, click the Insert tab, and then click Web Part. 3. In the Forms category, select InfoPath Form Web Part, and click Add. 4. Click the link that says “Click here to open the tool pane,” and the Web Part tool pane will appear on the right side of the screen. Figure 18-21 shows some tool pane settings. FIGURE 1821 Integrating SharePoint 2010 with InfoPath 533 5. The first drop-down box, called List or Library, contains multiple options, depending on how many forms have been published to the current site. The names of these forms are listed, along with names of lists on the site that have custom InfoPath forms (customizing SharePoint list forms is covered later in this chapter). There is also an extra option called Deployed Forms. Pick the desired form name; or if the form was deployed via InfoPath Forms Services, pick Deployed Forms. 6. The rest of the Web Part options are pertinent to the way the form will be displayed, and the behavior when the Submit button is clicked. 7. Click OK at the bottom of the Web Part tool pane to save the changes. The InfoPath form will be displayed directly on the SharePoint page, which can now be easily and quickly filled out by site users. Customizing the Document Information Panel An earlier section of this chapter, “Connecting to SharePoint from within Microsoft Office 2010 Applications,” introduced the document information panel. To change the appearance of the docu- ment information panel, such as displaying it in a color other than the default blue, or inserting a company logo or other graphics, you can use InfoPath to perform this type of customization. Inherently, a Document Information Panel is going to be associated with a content type in SharePoint. When a custom document information panel is created, the process involves InfoPath communicating with a specific document library in order to obtain information about the content types and metadata (columns) associated with the library. Therefore, before the form is created, obtain the URL of the target document library. Once you have the URL, use the following steps to customize the look and feel of the document information panel using InfoPath 2010: 1. On the Backstage view in InfoPath Designer 2010, click the New tab on the left. Figure 18-22 shows some of the Available Form Template options when creating new forms. FIGURE 1822 534 CHAPTER 18 iNtegratiNg the office 2010 clieNts With sharePoiNt 2010 2. In the Advanced Form Templates section, choose Document Information Panel, and click Design This Form on the right. 3. On the fi rst screen in the Data Source Wizard, enter the URL to the target document library, and click Next. 4. Choose the content type that the custom document information panel will be associated with and click Next. 5. Click Finish. At this point, a new form will be displayed in Design view in InfoPath, with all of the library fi elds already inserted. Customize this form by changing the background color, adding a company logo, or rearranging the form fi elds. 6. It is recommended that you save your own local copy of the form template as a backup, so click the Save button at the top of the screen. 7. Click the Quick Publish button, located in the Quick Access Toolbar at the top left of InfoPath, above the File menu. (Alternately, click the File menu, and on the Info tab, click the Quick Publish button). This publishes the custom document information panel back to the document library specifi ed in step 3. From this point on, fi les in that document library will display the new custom Document Information Panel instead of the default blue one. Customizing SharePoint List Forms By default, lists in SharePoint have a standard look and feel. In previous versions of SharePoint, form customization was not an easy or intuitive endeavor. With SharePoint 2010, you can use InfoPath to do advanced customizations of regular list forms. Typical SharePoint lists have three associated forms: NewForm.aspx — This is used when a new item is created in a list. DispForm.aspx — After a list item has been created and it is opened to view, this form is used. EditForm.aspx — When the Edit Item button is used on a list item, this is the form that is fi lled out. The form customization process starts with fi rst navigating to the desired list. On the List tab in the Ribbon, look in the Customize List section for the button called Customize Form. If the icon does not exist, then the current list type is not compatible with InfoPath form customization. To verify this, go to the list settings screen and click Form Settings. A message will indicate non-compatibility. Follow these steps to customize a SharePoint list form: 1. Open the target SharePoint list. 2. Click the Customize Form button in the List tab in the Ribbon. Integrating SharePoint 2010 with InfoPath 535 3. The Microsoft InfoPath Designer 2010 application will start running. 4. A very basic version of the current list form will be displayed in InfoPath Designer, with a Fields pane displayed on the right side of the screen. 5. Customize the form by changing the background color, adding a form title, or rearranging the form fields. See Figure 18-23 for the Design view of this Sales Report form. FIGURE 1823 6. Once the form customizations are complete, click the Quick Publish button, located in the Quick Access Toolbar at the top left. 7. A notification will pop up, saying that the form was published successfully. Click OK and close InfoPath Designer. Figure 18-24 shows the list form after it has been customized. FIGURE 1824 536 CHAPTER 18 iNtegratiNg the office 2010 clieNts With sharePoiNt 2010 All three of the list default forms are automatically changed to be displayed with the new colors and title. This example shows an EditForm.aspx fi le of an existing list item. Think of the possibilities! No client software is required to work in SharePoint lists that have been customized in this manner, as the forms are browser-based by default. INTEGRATING SHAREPOINT 2010 WITH MICROSOFT VISIO The Microsoft Visio application enables the creation of advanced visuals such as charts, diagrams, fl owcharts, and even fl oor plans and network diagrams. This section covers several ways that you can use Visio and SharePoint in conjunction. Chapter 25 explains how SharePoint workfl ows integrate with Visio Services. The Visio Graphics Service is a service application in Central Administration. SharePoint users can create Visio diagrams on their client machines and publish them to the server, after which point the client software is no longer needed. After the diagram has been published to the Visio Graphics Service, the server can take care of refreshing that diagram and maintaining the data connections inside of it. Visio Graphics Service Confi guration In Central Administration, click Manage Service Application, and see that the Visio Graphics Service is listed. Click the Visio Graphics Service link to get to the Visio Graphics Services Management page. There are two different pages here, where service customization options are located: Global Settings — This page contains settings such as the maximum diagram size, maximum and minimum cache sizes, and the maximum data refresh duration. Also, if external data connections are to be used in Visio graphics, there is a section here for an unattended service account’s Application ID. Trusted Data Providers — This page contains a list of default data providers, with databases such as SQL and Oracle. You can add new, custom trusted data providers here. You can save Visio fi les as web drawings. You can view these fi les in the browser. They have a fi le extension of .vdw. Visio Web Access Web Part When added to a page in SharePoint, the Visio Web Access Web Part is used to display Visio fi les that have been saved to SharePoint as a Web Drawing (VDW) fi le. Follow these steps to insert a Visio Web Access Web Part on a page and confi gure it: 1. At the top left, click Site Actions and choose Edit Page. 2. On the Ribbon at the top, click Insert Web Part. 3. In the Business Data category, select Visio Web Access, and click the Add button. . office 2010 clieNts With sharePoiNt 2010 INTEGRATING SHAREPOINT 2010 WITH INFOPATH Since its inception in Microsoft Offi ce 2003, InfoPath has been highly integrated with SharePoint. SharePoint 2010. in the site collection. InfoPath Form Web Part One of the new SharePoint 2010 out-of-the-box Web Parts is called the InfoPath Form Web Part. This Web Part allows for the insertion of any browser-based. forms. Integrating SharePoint 2010 with InfoPath 531 To open documents in the browser, in the Form Library settings, click Advanced Settings. Figure 18-19 shows the options for Opening Documents