InfoPath Dev

Hi guys,

I've read a few articles about UDC and multiple Sharepoint environments but I've never read an article that explain how everything tied together (usually the authors explain everything in high-level overview with no samples) so I'm wondering if someone can explain to me how UDC works and how can I switch my Data Connections between 2 or more Sharepoint environments (let's say I have DEV, TEST, and PROD environment).

A little bit of background of what I know so far:

1) I know how to setup DCL in Sharepoint

2) I know how to convert a Data Connection to File and store it to SP DCL

3) I don't know how this works with multi-environment since it appears I have to switch the Data Connection in each and every control in the form every time I'm about to publish.

4) I don't know how I can publish to multi-environment using UDC: should I publish manually per environment (hence changing the Submit Option every single time I'm changing the environment?)

5) I don't know how to create a re-usable "sub-form" component (e.g.: a Search box with a filter backed by SP list) within the multi-environment situation

Please share your best practices if you know any.

Thanks!

The best approach for publishing InfoPath forms across multiple environments (e.g. DEV/TEST/PROD) is to publish you connections to the Central Managed Connection Library (CMCL) in Central Admin (under General Application Settings>InfoPath Form Services>Manage data connection files). This will also require that you publish your template as an Admin Approved form. The steps for deploying connections in the CMCL are quite simple, but a little counter-intuitive. This article explains it nicely though: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff621104.aspx

Just to add to this - after checking the Scott Roberts / Hagen Green book (Designing Forms for Microsoft Office InfoPath and Forms Services 2007) the data connections in the CMCL can't be access from IP directly when designing the form - you can only select from the data connection library version. In fact, in preview, IP uses the DCL (data connection library) version - so if for security reasons you delete your DCL version after uploading to CMCL, your form won't be able to connect to the data connections after preview. But as Tom mentions - this does allow you to use a single data connection across the entire server farm - so the trade off is in the convenience factor when designing your form.

You can select an existing data connection in a DCL and then modify it to use the CMCL in the published, admin approved version of the template. The design version will continue to use the connection from the DCL.