InfoPath Dev

Hi,

I have an Infopath 2003 form.  We've been using it with tablet pcs for awhile.  Recently, I wrote a "lite" version of the app using dot.net win mobile (6.1) platform
for use on PDAs.  We use signature capture and the infopath form uses an ink picture control for it.  On my mobile app, I capture the sig, convert the byte array to Base64 and store in the correct xml node. 

I then move the xml file back to the tablet and open it in infopath and the ink picture control won't render the image.

This thread, http://www.infopathdev.com/forums/p/2734/5928.aspx, mentions the following:

>> Assuming that you have the byte array of the actual file as stored on disk (without the extra header information that InfoPath tacks on when it is stored in the
>> form as Base64), then you should be able to determine the filetype from the first 10 bytes.

I think my issue is that I need to tack on "the extra header information that InfoPath tacks on when it is stored in the form as Base64" as Matt Faus termed it.

I can't find any documentation on this.  Can someone please enlighten me about the "extra header" stuff?  I can tack it on in my code before saving it into the XML node so Infopath will render the sig OK.

Thanks in advance.

Hi CSpace and welcome,

Yes, you are right. You need to tack on the header information. We have various code that does this lying around the InfoPath "shop floor". The trick is finding someone and allocating time to get the code and package it off to you. :) I'm guessing that would take about 30 minutes or so to do and I'd have to pay the person to do it. ;) Life is not free, but this InfoPath forum sure is, so what on Earth am I suggesting to you ... :S

OK, I know that our forum search is hard to use ... so, Ernesto came up with a handy dandy Google search link: http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=003654972516704994317:4j0mji2l1rq

Go there and type in "mso inline base64" (without the double quotes) and click search. You should get two documents. Not sure that either of these will reveal the solution, but if they do, please reply here so that others can leverage your enlightenment.

If after all of these travails, if you still have no grand scheme, feel free to just PayPal us your hourly rate times 0.5 (30 minutes) and we will send you some "packaged" stuff. Sorry for the money grab, but if we spent all of our time helping people in the forum, we'd surely go out of business and no longer be able to help anyone... Here's a PayPal link... https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=5038435.

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for the welcome and your response.  I'm doing this project for a non-profit and funds are tight.

My base64 representation of the GIF image data looks fine (image header and all).  Using dot.net, I can save the image data to a gif file
and it looks fine in all of my graphics software.  Additionally, I have checked the data in the nodes for other completed forms that were done on tablet PCs.
Both that data and mine start with the "R0lGOD".

I tried creating a new infopath form with only the one ink picture control with XML as data source to keep things as simple as possible and it
still won't render.  

I'm wondering now if there are some image characteristics (DPI, etc) that I should be observing for the ink picture control to render the data.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks & Regards

Using opennetcf's mobile ink library, it became a simple task to include real INK controls in mobile apps using their managed code wrapper around the windows mobile ink api.

Post here if anyone wants a knowledge transfer (no charge).