InfoPath Dev

I have a few assignments I am almost done with at work, I am stuck on the last peice:

1. how to create a view-only version of just one of the views (for example a pdf) and send it in an email through a workflow so our employees don't have to do any steps themselves.
2. how to not only send the above peice but any files which were uploaded as attachments

Here is what I have found so far through looking at other's posts:

• http://www.deviantpoint.com/post/2009/06/06/Custom-SharePoint-Designer-workflow-for-extracting-InfoPath-attachment-fields.aspx  I have a SPD activity from this developer which I plan to use to save attachments which were uploaded on my infopath form to a sharepoint library
• I have the "SPD activities" pack from http://spdactivities.codeplex.com/ which I will use to send an email with list item attachments if i need to do it this way
• I know how to create a list item when a new form is created with the same name - so i could technically have a library and a list if i needed to so that I could send attachmetns to the corresponding list items
• I have downloaded a trial of the muhumbi PDF converter

 With that said, I still don't know how to just create a workflow which will automatically save a view as a PDF and email that view plus attachmetns to a list item if there are any, or from a document library if i go that route. 

I've only been doing this for a month and I think I'm catching on quickly - this is just one thing I'm stuck on :(.  I have the option to purchase workflows if anyone knows of any that can do what i'm asking.

 Any help is GREATLY appreciated :)

Hi Lindsey,

Too bad you don't have a link to InfoPathDev.com on your homepage! :) Seriously, SYMWong does a good job but we get a ton of posts from people befuddled by her web site. I think she should have a forum! And, I've told her so, but she is a hermit in New Zealand and likes to keep a low profile.

Glad to see you're in Seattle. So is Qdabra - provider of this free forum and the company I work for.

Anyway, so let's look at your post .... one question and comment:

1. What is a "view only version of just one of the views"? You know you can mark a view as read-only. You can also create a Print View for a view. Not sure either applies, but go to View Properties if they do.
2. For attachments, I recommend uploading them to SharePoint and converting them to links in your form. Otherwise, you'll have a bunch of large attachments floating around in email.

Regarding your bullet points, here's some quick thought:

• That's great if you are saving the attachment to a DocLib. But will it conver to a link? qRules does this too (free trial available) and it doesn't require a workflow. I haven't tried the deviantpoint SPD activity.
• Why bother? You can send an email with default InfoPath data connections and rules. What does SPD activities give you there?
• Here again, qRules supports mapping an InfoPath XML form to a SharePoint list (including attachments). Easy as pie but maybe you are on a no carb diet. Ok, so you can do this yourself if you want to write code. IP2010 supports lists too but you're on 2007, right?
• Muhumbi PDF converter is good and we have even advertised it here before, but it has some limitations. How long is your view? Is pagination going to be required? Do you want to install Muhimbi on your server?

I don't think you need a workflow for what you are doing. Keep it simple and straight InfoPath. Don't bother with add-ons if you don't need them. For example, CutePDF is a free printer driver that we use to print InfoPath forms as PDF - no need for Muhimbi there.

You're going good. It's a marathon so don't sprint. Slow and steady.

BTW, nice website! Now, how about an hour of free InfoPath MVP training if you put InfoPathDev on your resources page? Send me email! :)

Solving World Peace - one InfoPath form at a time ... not!

Patrick,

 Thank you for your quick response!  I am very impressed with this forum.  I would love to do a hour of InfoPath MVP and put your link on my website, you can email my personal email if you're intersted: lindseymichelle23@yahoo.com.  I just started my website and I haven't had much time to work on it, it's no where near being even started.  Let me know if Qdabra has anything useful for us, my manager is all in favor of purchasing a product if it can help our employees be more efficient.

Here's some clarification of my problem...

I have an infopath form with about 8 views on it - steps for our employees to follow, different pages to input information for a certain process, approvals, etc.  They are set up nicely and buttons link to each other so it is smooth like a web page.  The last problem I am having is that 2 of the views are a finalized and formatted estimate and proposal (one is a estimate, one is proposal).  Depending on which the employees are working on, I need to send this view only to the customer.  I am new - maybe I am doing this the wrong way?  Is there a way to make this view a word template?  I currently have  print view that will show either the proposal or the estimate, whichever needs to be sent (conditional formatting), so I guess I could have the employees print to cutePDF or novaPDF and it would make a PDF of that view but my boss is requesting that this all be done automatically :/.  Anyway, if you have no further suggestions, you sparked some ideas and I'm going to talk to the team today about keeping it simple!  If you have any other ideas throw them at me!  Thanks again for your help.

Hi Lindsey,

Thanks for the warm thoughts. I've asked Jennifer to follow up on the cross-site marketing. Then, we can schedule an hour for your free training.

For your issue, I'd use CutePDF - it's free and easy and you can set up print views for the estimate and proposal view. It's way easier to print the PDF and send it to the customer than to print through Word - and believe me we've done that countless times too. But, CutePDF is a piece of cake. I use it internally for all of our scenarios like yours.

Cheers!

Hi Lindsey,

Nice to see you here as well. InfoPathDev is a great site.

Regarding your questions on how to convert the InfoPath Form to PDF automatically using a workflow, have a look at this post. 

Emailing attachments is also possible using the Muhimbi Workflows Power Pack, see http://blog.muhimbi.com/2009/12/send-rich-emails-with-attachments-from.html.

Good luck, 

Jeroen