A qForm-based solution will have catalog and search functionality not available in non-qForm solutions. While the Qdabra Upgrade Tool allows you to add functionality to your existing solutions, it is also possible to create new qForm-based solutions from scratch. This document aims to explain the following scenarios:
1. How to use the Upgrade Tool to upgrade an existing solution.
2. How to create a qForm solution from scratch.
3. How to use the Upgrade Tool to create an Admin solution.
4. How to use the Upgrade Tool to create an Admin Plus solution.
Upgrading an existing solution
Having designed a form in InfoPath, you can use these steps below to upgrade your form, turning it into a qForm to gain additional functionality in DBXL.
Running the Upgrade Tool
1. Open the Qdabra Upgrade Tool.
a. A link to the form was installed during the installation of the DBXL Tools. Find it in Start > All Programs > DBXL Tools > QdUpgradeForm. The Qdabra Upgrade Tool will open in InfoPath.
2. Fill out the Upgrade form fields and upgrade the form.
a. Click the button on the right-hand side of the Input Template Form field to browse your local drive and select your InfoPath form.
b. Click the button on the right-hand side of the CatBase Form field to browse your local drive and select the QdCatalogBase.xsn form. This is installed with DBXL, in the following path: C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\QdabraWebService\install\.
c. Click the button on the right-hand side of the Output File field to browse your local drive and select the path and name for the output InfoPath form.
d. Click on the Upgrade button.
Figure 1: Fill out the Upgrade form fields
Verify the upgrade was successful
3. Open the form in Design mode in InfoPath
a. Right-click on the Output File and select Design. The form will open in InfoPath in design mode. This is the first step in verifying the upgrade was successful.
Note: You should remove any Submit buttons in the main view. Because the taskpane has a Save button that submits to DBXL, you do not need a Submit button if you are submitting strictly to DBXL.
b. Save and close InfoPath.
4. In the Database Accelerator Administration Tool (DAT), create and open a new configuration.
a. Click on New Configuration.
b. Enter a Name for the configuration, such as SampleQForm, and attach the upgraded form.
c. Click on Save, then OK when the dialog confirms this action.
d. Click on the Open link.
5. Fill out a sample form
a. Click on + Add Document.
b. Complete the form, filling out all required fields.
c. Click on the Save button in the right hand task pane.
Figure 2
Notes:
• Due to the fact that upgrading modifies the form’s data source, you will need to do one of the following when upgrading a currently existing form into qForm:
o Create a new docType in DBXL and add the mappings from scratch
o Manually update the docType's mapping.
• In case a new version of QdCatalogBase is released, you can use the upgrade tool to update an existing qForm solution.
Create a qForm solution from scratch
You can create a qForm-based solution from scratch, that is, by opening the QdCatalogBase form in design mode and modifying it as desired.
To open the QdCatalogBase form, open the default.htm URL installed with DBXL and click on the qForm link. The URL is located at http://<servername>/QdabraWebService/default.htm.
Figure 3
Create an Admin solution
In this scenario you will design a qForm to manage your existing form. However, form created will not be able to edit the individual documents. There will be two Document Types (or configurations) in the system: the "target" Document Type, which is not qForm-based, and the almost-unchanged qForm that serves as the catalog for the former.
1. Use the Qdabra Upgrade Tool, as explained previously in this document, to upgrade your InfoPath form.
2. Extract the form’s files and edit QdConfig.xml file by setting the target DocType and setting CatalogMode to "Catalog".
a. Right-click on the output (upgraded) form and click on Design.
b. Click on File > Save As Source Files and select a directory to store the source files.
c. Navigate to the folder created in the previous step and open the file called QdConfig.xml in the text editor of your choice, such as Notepad.
d. Find the node Config/Logic/DocType and set its value to SampleForm, which is the name of your original (or “target”) form.
e. Find the node Config/Logic/CatalogMode and set its value to Catalog. Save and close QdConfig.xml
f. Right-click on manifest.xsn and select Design. Select File > Save As, select a location and save the file as SampleFormAdmin. Close InfoPath.
3. Create the Document Types in DBXL.
a. In the DAT, click on New Configuration.
b. Attach the original, InfoPath form.
c. Enter the form’s name, in this case SampleForm.
d. Click Save, then OK when the dialog confirms the action.
e. Click on Catalog to return to the list of Document Types.
f. Click on New Configuration.
g. Attach the upgraded, Admin form.
h. Enter a descriptive name, such as SampleFormAdmin.
i. Click Save, then OK when the dialog confirms the action.
j. Click on Catalog to return to the list of Document Types.
4. Test your solution.
a. Click to Open the document type SampleForm.
b. Fill out the form and submit it.
c. Return to the DAT and click on Refresh. You will see that SampleForm is now listed as having one document, as seen in Figure 4.
d. Click to open the document type SampleFormAdmin. You will see a Catalog view of the documents, where currently only one is listed.
Figure 4
e. Click on + Add Document. A new window will open; this is the original form created in InfoPath, that is, SampleForm. Fill out the form and submit it.
i. If you click on the View icon, you will see a link through which you can open the original form.
ii. If you click on the Edit icon, SampleForm will open, allowing you to update form and submit it.
f. Back in the Catalog view, click Reset in the task pane. When the Catalog refreshes, you will see two documents.
g. Close the form and click Refresh in the DAT. SampleForm is now listed as having two documents. SampleFormAdmin is still listed as having 0 documents.
Create an Admin Plus solution
The Admin Plus solution is more advanced than Admin mode, because it also allows the user to edit the documents belonging to the target (or original) Document Type.
The steps to achieve this will be identical to those detailed above for the Admin solution, noting the following differences:
1. You will set the CatalogMode node to "Full" instead of “Catalog”.
2. To avoid confusion, name your form SampleFormAdminPlus instead of SampleFormAdmin.
3. Even though the documents submitted will still be saved under the target Document Type, you will be able to create new documents from the Admin Plus document type itself. That is, when you click + Add Document you’ll be able to submit the document without seeing the target document type open in a separate window.