10/2/2007

COMPUTING
SERVICES
DEPARTMENT

GETTING STARTED WITH INFOPATH 2007

An introduction to InfoPath 2007| Craig Goacher

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Contents
Microsoft InfoPath 2007 ......................................................................................................................... 4
Where do I Start? .................................................................................................................................... 4
Form Structure ........................................................................................................................................ 5
Creating a Form....................................................................................................................................... 6
Adding Tables .................................................................................................................................. 6
Adding Controls............................................................................................................................... 6
Template Parts ................................................................................................................................ 7
Storing Form Data ................................................................................................................................... 8
Existing Databases........................................................................................................................... 8
Individual Forms ............................................................................................................................ 10
Design Checker...................................................................................................................................... 11
Form Views ........................................................................................................................................... 12

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Keyboard Shortcuts............................................................................................................................... 13

Microsoft InfoPath 2007

InfoPath 2007 is the latest version of Microsofts forms management software which comes as part of
Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise edition. Using InfoPath it is possible to create forms and publish them in
a number of different ways, for example, printing them to paper or distributing electronically..
If you currently create all your paper-based forms using Word, you will know how tricky it can be. InfoPath
provides a much easier way to design the layout of your forms and easily drag and drop different form
elements onto the page.
You can convert a Word document into an InfoPath form template by using the Import Wizard in
Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007. The wizard keeps formatting intact and converts text boxes, check boxes,
and list boxes to their InfoPath counterparts, so your form retains its familiar look.
With InfoPath 2007, forms can be easily attached to existing Access or SQL databases or they can even
contain data within the forms themselves!

Where do I Start?

Choose to customise one of the sample forms to explore the sort of forms that you can create with
InfoPath 2007.
To create a blank form select Design a Form Template and then with Blank highlighted in the based on
section click OK. You will then be presented with a blank form in Design view.

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When you first start InfoPath 2007 you will be presented with the Getting Started Window as pictured
below. From here you can open a form you have already saved on your computer, begin creating a brand
new form, or customise one of the sample forms that comes with InfoPath 2007.

Form Structure
Down the right hand side of the window you will see the Design Tasks
pane. The design of an InfoPath form is usually structured around
tables inside which you can place various controls for managing your
data.
Clicking Layout in the Design Tasks pane gives access to the various
table and region features to allow you to design the layout of the form.
Choose from Table with Title, One-Column Table, Two-Column Table
etc.
You can manipulate the cells within any tables you add by highlighting
the appropriate cells and then selecting options within Merge and split
cells:
Here you can perform actions such as Merge Table Cells, Split Table
Cells Vertically, Split Table Cells Horizontally etc.
Use the Insert Layout Controls: section to add scroll bars to your tables
or to individual cells.

Controls can be added to your form to allow someone to insert or

manipulate data. Selecting Controls in the Design Tasks pane will give
you access to all of the controls that can be added to an InfoPath form.
Some of the most common controls you will come across are:

Drop-Down List Box: Allows you to select from a specified set of

values.
Date Picker: Displays a calendar from which dates can be selected.
Check Box: This is helpful if you want your users to give some kind of
Yes/No or True/False response to a question.
Option Button: Also known as Radio buttons. These can be used to
allow a user to select one or numerous selections from a selection of
choices.
Button: These can be set to perform a number of predefined InfoPath
actions when pressed such as submitting information to a database or
adding a new record.
You will find many more controls available to you. Enter a name of a control into InfoPaths help menu to
find out more about it.

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Text Box: Text boxes are used to input and display plain text. They will
not accept any special characters (=, @, ~ etc.)

Creating a Form
Adding Tables
A good starting point is to decide on a table structure to use as the basis of your form template such as
Table with Title. This will add a table to the top of your form as pictured below. You can then give your
form a title and place any required controls into the lower half of the table or even add further Tables to
the layout.

Adding Controls

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To add a control, place your cursor where you would like the control to go, for example inside one of your
tables, then select the desired control from the list found within the Design Tasks pane. The control will
then be placed on your form at the location of your cursor. You can add as many controls to a form as
youd like as shown below.

Template Parts

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In addition to designing form templates, you can also design template parts, which are areas of a form
that you can reuse in other form templates or Microsoft Office documents. For example, you might create
a template part that includes fields for collecting contact information or for signatures on printed forms.
You could then use that template part in several different form templates. To create a template part, in
the Design a Form dialog box, choose to design a template part instead of a form template.

Storing Form Data

InfoPath forms are capable of displaying data from and storing data in Access or SQL databases. You can
share or publish your form template in order to gather data from users who fill out your form.

Existing Databases
To use an existing database with a new form,
select Database
in the Design a Form
Template window and click OK. In the next
window you will be able to select the database
that you want your form to connect to. You can
also add, remove or modify tables contained in
the database.

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After specifying a name for the connection to your database InfoPath will generate a form with areas in
which to run queries from and add new records to your database. All you need to do is drag the fields you
want to use from the Design Tasks pane into the appropriate area on the form.

Click on the Preview button

to see the new form in action. Simply click the Run Query
button and the form will display all the data in the database for the fields you placed on the form as
shown.

InfoPath sets up the connections and creates the Run Query and New Record buttons for you, so you only
need to think about what data you want to see and how you want it displayed. Try adding a new record to
a database from an InfoPath form. When previewing the form just click the New Record button and then
enter the details for each of the fields into the form and then click the Submit toolbar button
.

These diagrams show a new record being from an

InfoPath form (left) to an Access Database (above).

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Youll then be able to see the record youve just added by opening up the original database.

Individual Forms
If you only need to send a form to a few individuals and feel that creating a database to hold this data may
not be necessary, you could create a form and then email it to the required people who would then be
able to fill it in and send their completed form back to you when they click the Submit button.

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You can even have Outlook create an InfoPath forms folder for you to store them in. You can then go back
and look at how people responded in the forms when further action or analysis is required by opening the
individual forms. Everyones answers will remain stored within the forms.

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Design Checker
InfoPath 2007 offers many possibilities for creating forms such as the
ability to create form templates that can be opened using older
versions of InfoPath, browser compatible templates or convert forms
from other programs such as Word.
To try and limit any compatibility issues InfoPath includes a Design
Checker tool which will warn you of any parts of your form template
which may cause you problems. Some browsers dont support features
that InfoPath does, and new features for InfoPath 2007 may not all be
supported in older versions.
The Design Checker will allow you to spot and correct any
compatibility issues before you publish your form and avoid errors
when people try to access your forms.
Once you have made any alterations, click Refresh in the Design
Checker to scan your template again and ensure that no errors are left.

Form Views
InfoPath allows you to design different views of your form template which allows users to different ways to
look at your data. For example, you might want a view that is optimised for printing, or a summary view that
only shows part of the data.
You could set a rule on a button to change the forms view when clicked.
To do this you would click Views from the Design Tasks pane. Select Add a new view give the new view a
name and then click OK. Initially the new view will be an empty form, but you can easily copy and paste
everything from the original view into this new view.
You would now need to drag a button onto your form in
either/both views.
Double click the button to be taken into the buttons
properties window. Click Rules to begin creating the action
which will switch the views. In the Rule window click Add
Action, and then select switch view from the Action drop
down menu. Pick the view you want the button to go to (In the
example to the left the view is named Basic Information).
Click OK in the remaining windows and the rule will be applied.
Select the new view using the Views menu in the Design Tasks
pane. Make the required changes to this new view, for example only include certain controls or change the
background colours, fonts etc.

There are many different things you can do with views and rules such as applying particular views depending
on user roles, data from one control affecting other controls on the form etc.

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Now when you preview the form and click the button you should see the view change from the one you added
the button to, to the updated view you created.

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Keyboard Shortcuts
Many of the keyboard shortcuts found in other Microsoft Office programs can also be used in InfoPath.
For users who regularly use keyboard shortcuts, here are some of the shortcuts more commonly used in
InfoPath.

Design a new form

CTRL + SHIFT + D

Preview the current form

ALT + P

Display the properties of the currently selected control

ALT + ENTER

Insert a control
ALT + I

Display the selected date picker

ALT + DOWN ARROW

Display the Design Tasks pane

Select the next control

TAB

Select the previous control

SHIFT + TAB

Good Luck using InfoPath 2007

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ALT + N

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