InfoPath Dev

Hello.  I have these "reports" that are to be filled out and saved.  InfoPath has the export to excel option but when that is done, the format is not in a user friendly format at all.  So I fill out the report and save it as an xml file.  Then I open that file in an xml editor to add the line "<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="StyleSheet.xsl"?>" so that I can use a manually created stylesheet to view this report in excel with a user friendly interface.  My problem is, the user shouldn't have to do any of this. I would like to be able to use the Export to Excel function in InfoPath to grab the stylesheet and convert to the user friendly interface.  Is it possible to use stylesheets and export to excel in one step rather than saving the report and opening the xml file in excel (getting the prompt to use a particular stylesheet)?

Thank you,

Mike 

I think the Excel export is a canned feature and I do not think there is anyway to manipulate it.

Have you thought about exporting your data into a database? That is the standard practice I usually follow.

The model would be that your form data which you want to report on is saved into a table.

Then you create an Excel file which uses the table as the data source.  You set up the spread sheet the way you want it and whenever it is opened it gets the latest data from your table. 

This completly automates both sides of the process.  Users use the form and submit it as usual, other users open their spreadsheets and see the latest data, without any interaction or extra steps in between.

Also then you can create SQL reports, which are webbased for even more cool reporting without the need for excel.

I guess I cannot do what I wanted to do.  When the infopath form is saved, that data is exported into a database.  I was just looking for a way to make the export to excel have a nicer format should the user want to see the report in excel right after filling it out.

If it is in a database then you could create an excel file for viewing the data and add a hyperlink to your form.

Another common method is to create another view that is a summary for people as well.  That is pretty easy to create and you can make it look professional.

I have one other question.  When you export data from an InfoPath form to Excel, by default each column will show the name of the field and its XPath in parentheses.  Is there anyway of changing that default so that maybe just the name of the field or a screentip are in the columns?  Because when someone exports to excel, if they autofit the columns, those columns will be very long due to the length of the XPath.

 Hello,

 I have the same problem (infopath 2003) : the column header contains xpath (not very nice). I have also another problem with excel export : Numeric are imported in excel as text.

Any idea ?

thanks

I've found the solution to my problem for numeric values. My fied was not numeric in infopath.