InfoPath Dev

Hi,

 I've recently began using Infopath, and have designed a form to be used on a tablet PC, with large button controls for input through the touchscreen. The forms will only be completed on this single unit, and feed a database on the same unit.

The form consists of two questions, each with 5 possible answers. Once these have been selected, the user will press a "next" button that will submit the data, redirect them to another form (with a further 2 questions) and close the current one.

I've got a couple of issues with the form design.

 1. After making my form "fully trusted" (and designing it on the unit to avoid any problems with digital signing/certificates), this process worked fine - provided you promptly completed the form, and pressed the "next" button control. If the user takes longer than approx 1 minute, the "Some rules were not applied" dialogue box appears saying "InfoPath cannot create a new, blank form. InfoPath cannot load this form. The signature on this form is not from a trusted publisher"

It works fine if you quickly complete the form, but we plan to place the tablet on display, to be completed by users ad hoc - it might not be used for extended periods of time, and we're considering using a screensaver displaying information when it is not in use. Does this affect the form's security settings? Do the forms "time-out?"

2. After disabling the menu bar on my form (to prevent users from accessing it) by following the advice here, the menu bar also disappeared from the main InfoPath program (not just the form I had designed). I've reversed the code to state "=true" and this has solved the problem, but how would I ensure that only the form I'm designing has the menu bar disabled?

I'd really appreciate you help on this - I've searched the forums (and most of the web!) looking for solutions, with no luck.

 Many Thanks,

 Tom

Hi Tom,

First off, don't use Full Trust unless you have to. It's a bad practice because it increases your cost of deployment and maintenance. You probably don't really need Full Trust. For example, the error you are getting: "The signature on this form is not from a trusted publisher" is because you haven't correctly deployed the code signing certificate to your users. Solution: don't make the form full trust. Leave it as default domain trust.

I have no idea why timing would make a difference. What's the code in your form doing?

I don't think there's a way to disable a menu bar in InfoPath without disabling it for others. Since InfoPath runs as one instance on your machine.

Hi Patrick,

 Thank you for your help - I am only deploying the form to one user account, which will be used to access a touchscreen terminal for input. I'm using the same account to design the Infopath form - from what you say, it seems that the problem lies with accepting the certificate.

I have already set the publisher of the certificate (me) as trusted, but this only seems to work when the trust level is set to "fully" trusted. How do I get Infopath to trust (and open) the forms that are accessed through a rule? (i.e. the user will press the "Enter" button, which will submit the data, open a new form, and close the current one)

After changing the trust level to "domain," the forms no longer open; giving the "not from a trusted publisher" error message. Reverting back to "fully" trusted gets rid of the problem but once again, the form will "time-out" and give the "not from trusted publisher" message if left for more than 30 seconds (it works fine repeatedly if you quickly choose your answers and submit them).

I haven't added any additional code to the form, and started afresh using your advice - but ended up with the same problem... can you help?

Thanks for taking time out to answer my original question - I'll have to live with no menu bar!

 Best regards,

Tom

Hi Tom,

I don't understand why you are getting the "not from a trusted publisher" error message. What is the topology of your network? Are you publishing the form to a Web server? Is this Web server in your local intranet? Are there any security policies enforced on the client computers. There are very few scenarios where Full Trust is required. The fact that you are doing it needs to be explained. Otherwise, you are likely doing something wrong and that is leading to your problem. In other words, we need to look at the root cause, not at the error caused by some possibly unrelated fix (which was making it full trust). 99% of all solutions do not need full trust and it's not a best practice because it is a deployment nightmare - you're having one of the bad dreams right now...

If your form has no code and is published to a site that you have in your local intranet domain, and your client computers aren't locked down, etc. you don't need full trust.

Sorry, but we need to understand this a little more.

Hi Patrick,

 After taking my PC off the network and removing our network's security settings, the problems have disappeared, and I've set the forms to "Domain" trust.

 The forms now work fine - thanks for all your help.

 Best regards,

 Tom