InfoPath Dev

I am a .NET developer/consultant who has been trying to help a client who is interested in InfoPath, but truthfully, at this point, the client is going absolutely crazy with what InfoPath CANNOT seem to do.

Here is the situation:  My client got Office 2007 with InfoPath and he played with it and found the VENDINFO form stored in the sample forms folder.  He really liked the form and wants to move data currently in an Excel spreadsheet into an InfoPath form very similar to the VENDINFO form.  When I first got involved with his need, this all seemed as though it should be pretty easy.  Each row in the Excel spreadsheet contains the data which is about 90% similar to the VENDINFO form.

First, he tried the "Import Data From..." selection on the File Menu and low and behold, that leads to nothing, nada, zilch - there are no Importers listed.  He went to MS Office MarketPlace and again, low and behold there is only 1 importer listed and its $495 and my client is very ticked off that he would have to pay that kind of money to use an application he just paid a fortune to have.  Thats when he asked me to get involved.  (I wish I had said no...)

Next, I tried to develop some XML through .NET so it could "feed" this form, but it doesnt work - anything I seem to do brings his table data in as a "Repeating Table" - ALL records on one form - that is NOT what he wants because each Excel row is ONE record - hence, repeating tables are merely useless - they are just an Excel table in Infopath - not quite the solution we are after.  I have frustrated myself for few nights trying to get InfoPath to behave, but forget it - I cant figure out what should be a very easy, plain task to do with this app.

Finally, I suggested he may need to contact an InfoPath "expert" and tried to leverage myself out of this problem as this is not really my area of expertise.  Well, today I talked to him - and after paying this "expert" he found on his own he wound up with, yes, you got it, a bunch of repeating tables - NOT what he was after!

I find it hard to believe that MS would produce a product that looks like a form generation and maintenance system, but behaves like, well, Excel with a prettier face! 

Is there any way to import data into InfoPath forms so that you get record-by-record behavior and appearance?  Or...  Is this just impossible to do with this Infopath app?

(I keep telling the client just to let me develop a .NET WinForms system for him and solve the problem - but I also offered to post this question here just to ensure all bases were covered.)

Again, this seems so simple a task to be able to do - but well, frankly at this point, it almost seems impossible!

Thanks for any help

This article has some info on using Excel data in an IP form (with Access as a medium between them) but I know that isn't your aim here. Not to sound like a company shill, but we sell a product that provides a 'one row from your spreadsheet = one InfoPath form' result -- you can find a demo video here. The tool itself is available here.

Hilary,

Thanks for your reply - at the very moment I got an email alerting me to your reply, I was sitting at the computer with my client actually looking at your (and others) MVP post up at MS InfoPath Tech Discussions!   

I appreciate your suggestions, and no, dont worry about being any "shill" - we have already looked at Qadabra's offering but I think my client has reached the "fed up" point and well, I cant really blame him.  He keeps asking me why he pays a fortune for MS Office and can use Word, Excel, Outlook, etc right "out of the box" and yet MS packages this "InfoMess" (as he now calls it) and then he has to buy still more software (and expertise) to do anything with it.  He keeps howling that if he ran his business like MS, he wouldnt have a business!  (like we have not heard that before?)

I did tell him I could probably engineer the solution he wants by going through Access as a medium to move the Excel data - or he could invest in either Qadabra's or TextBridge's offering - but this guy is a purist of sorts and feels he is being ripped off when he buys a "software tool" that then needs more $$$ to do anything with.

I appreciate your reply and lets see if he calms down a bit and gives some new thought to InfoPath, but for now, he seems to have convinced himself that InfoPath not only offers him nothing, it offers him just more work and $$$ out the window.  He says he will stick with Excel as he has for (too many!) years.

InfoPath can be a real struggle for power Excel users, too -- probably because they are so accustomed to being able to manipulate their data at will. Requiring a structure for that data (which a form tool *will* do!) often requires a bit of re-programming. And I do understand his frustration -- but I think that some of it stems from seeing the potential of things IP CAN do, he's decided that those are things it SHOULD do... like, for example, munge his historical data into individual forms. Good luck -- let us know if we can help!

Yup - well said - and you've hit the nail right on the head...

I have seen it time and again and you have stated it very well - they see what something can potentially do, and then feel it should do it - right out of the box - no extra purchases, no hiring techies like you and I...

I deal with small and medium business clients (and have since the early 80's) and it's amazing how many of my clients with well-run successful businesses are using Excel as a database system - which we both know, really, it is not.  I even had one job years ago converting a client who was using PowerPoint as a database!  Yup, true story - and what a mess that was!

I have 2 other clients who are currently looking at InfoPath and I will direct them both to this site, and to Qadabra's as well.

Thanks for your assistance, and I appreciate your help!