The other day I asked if it was possible to deploy an InfoPath Form to a MOSS server without the use of the InfoPath client program, ( to publish to a server) but also to deploy a Form that had been developed in a completely different domain than the target domain of where the Form would ultimately end up residing in.
The wisdom of thought the other day was, no. In other words I would have to publish the Form using the InfoPath client to the target Moss server AND doing so in the same target domain the Form would ultimately reside and run from.
Well low and behold…… I discovered (and proved in my work environment ) both those statements are false. You can deploy an InfoPath Form without publishing the Form to the Moss server. And what's more, you can prepare the deployment package of the Form in a totally different domain, of where the Form will be deployed to. How?... Here are the steps
1) Install the InfoPath Hotfix onto your machine where you use the InfoPath client program, as referenced from the following: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/958139
a. Without this hotfix installed you'll get an error which prevents you from continuing.
2) After installing the hotfix, bring up your Form in your InfoPath client program.
a. From the top menu bar select File / Publish
b. When the Publishing wizard appears select the LAST radio button option: "As an installable form template ( requires Microsoft Visual Studio )
c. Follow the default prompts until the wizard completes.
3) The wizard will produce a Microsoft Installer Package (.msi) file.
4) Copy that Installer package to your Moss server.
5) Execute the Installer (msi) program. The program will extract your Form's template.xsn file to a file system location you choose.
6) Then do the remaining steps with Central Admin { Verify, Upload, Activate }
7) Done.
Ya, okay so you need Visual Studio on the same machine that you run the InfoPath client program wizard from, big deal. The bigger picture here is,
A) You can develop your Forms and any associated code that you may have in completely different domain and environment than your Production environment. A feature I'm sure your SA's will be most happy with. And in my case require.
B) You don't need to have InfoPath client in the same domain as your Production Environment. Something that may not be an issue for some people, but never the less, there are folks out here where the scenario is real.
Happy coding…..