InfoPath Dev

We have a large number of InfoPath 2003 form libraries that use customized non-browser-based IP templates. Our enterprise is currently upgrading us to Office 2007 (with IP 2007). I would like to describe a compatabiliy issue and see if others are seeing the same behavior.

I found that opening and editing a 2003 template in 2007 is OK as long as it is saved as 2003 version. The problem we are having is that if we publish the form back to the library using IP 2007, it wipes out the data in the library's promoted fields. To get around this I have had to find a machine with InfoPath 2003 in order to publish successfully.

The Microsoft site seems to indicate that I should be able to do this without an issue, but that is not my experience. So I am reaching out to the community for a sanity check. Are any of you dealing with compatability issues in InfoPath 2003/2007?

Thanks!

 

Hello, I ventured out on to the site today to see if I could get some input on compatibility between 2003 and 2007.  We have gone through an upgrade from Infopath 2003 to 2007.  I have saved me template as a 2003 version, but it seems that I still have SOME (not all) employees who are not able to open my newest template.  I wasn't able to see replies to your post from last year, so I thought I'd check in and see if you were able to find a solution --other than having to publish from a computer with Infopath 2003.  Thanks

Is everyone now running 2007? Or are some still using 2003? Who is having trouble opening your template and what are their errors? I use IP 2007 and am able to create 2003 compatible templates without issue...

Hello and thanks for responding!

Initially, we had some people, who had upgraded to 2007, who were getting the following error:  This form was created with a new version of the form template.  Infopath cannot find the new version.  Do you want to open with the older version?

I also had other people, who had upgraded to 2007, who were NOT getting an error, but when they clicked New to start a form, an old version of the form opened up.

I also had others who were able to open the current form with no issues. 

I asked for some guidance from internal sources and was told that some of the upgrades didn't go well.  So, to resolve the problem, I saved the template in a 2003 version and republished it.  This took care of most of my problems.

I still have one employee though who doesn't get an error, but opens up a different vesion when she clicks New.  I didn't even think this was possible if I published a newer form to the library.  I don't even know where that old template is sitting for her to access!!!!

 

Our site employees complete an Infopath form and then attach it to a ticketing system.  Two of the employees responsible for processing requests are not able to open forms, attached inside the ticketing system, from ONE employee.  This employee is pulling up our latest template, because others can open it in the system, but two of our processors are getting a message that Infopath is trying to contact the server and then a message indicating that Infopath can't find the form template.

 It is all very random....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve found 2 fundamental behaviors that are different in IP2007, at least when updating and publishing templates to libraries originally created with IP 2003.

 

1.       You can no longer open the library template from the Advance Settings page, make modifications, and then ‘Save’ directly back to the library—not necessarily a bad thing. IP 2007 wants you to ‘Save As…’ outside of SharePoint, make your edits and save the template, and then republish the template to that library.

 

2.       When you publish an IP 2003 template to an existing library using IP 2007, it must be published only to the library it was saved from. If you publish to a different library, even if the structure is identical, it will delete the information in the promoted columns. In my case, I had a test lbrary that was identical to my prod library. With IP 2003 I could publish to the test library, verify my changes, and then publish the same template to my production library. However, with IP 2007, I can only publish back to the library from which I saved out the template.

 So, we're still testing and I'll be glad to post any additional findings back to the forum.Michelle, as far as the version conflicts, IP caches the form on the local computer. We always stell folks to open the newer version if they get prompted. When  user is still having difficulty, we ask them to clear their temoprary Internet files (browser cache) and that usually fixes the problem.Until our entire enterprise has been upgraded to Office 2007 we are going to continue creating libraries in IP 2003 mode. Would you agree, Hillary? 

 

Have your users that are having issues clear old versions of their form from their InfoPath cache. When you first open InfoPath, a "Getting Started" dialog pops up. It has, on the left, a section called "Form categories" -- make sure "All Forms" is selected. In the main body of the dialog, you'll see the cached forms. Select one you wish to be rid of, and under "Form tasks" on the right, select "Remove this form".

Alternately, remove all cached forms: Start > Run > Infopath /cache clearall

Thanks for posting your findings! I have had issues with promoted columns being cleared, and I'm glad to see I'm not the only one....

Thanks to both of you for all the input! All the "cache talk" helped.  I need to try a few things with users first thing on Monday, and then go from there, but I feel like we are going in the right direction!  Thanks so much.