InfoPath Dev

hi

I am a beginner to infopath..however, I managed to create infopath connection to SharePoint list and that works fine. There is a new project that requires the data to be submitted to SQL Server, and the form is a browser enabled form. Where do I start..I do not have a development machine that mirrors the current MOSS. However, I did install MOSS on a separate server and am using it for testing purposes..

 Could someone tell me where to start, must it contain web service, data connection library and such..if yes..what are the steps involved. The idea is simple, users fill up the form and data is submitted into diff tables..Could it be codeles..or must it have the web service code...?

Hi Kalp1200,

Currently I'm working on a project kind of like the same as yours. I think we can help each other by sharing info. I've been asking arround and someone told me you need to have a web service with a (xml) data mapping file which sends it to the SQL Server as far as I know. I hope there is a other way because my form has around 120 answers so.

Greetz

Kalp/Martijn.

 you do not need to have web services installed to connect an Infopath form to SQL server.  When you create the form, you have an option to connect to an SQL server (open Infopath, Design a from Template, Database, then select your database).  This will also create some custom action types (run query, new record, delete & submit, refresh).  You do need to have some type of SQL client installed on each PC that will be accessing the form, at least in my experience.

Hope this helps.

You need DBXL to do this. It takes the infopath form and process's the relavant fields into the database.

It depends on your SQL fields.  If you have large binary types, then you will need a web service to submit to the SQL database.  If not, create the SQL data connection as a primary connection and you will be able to submit to the database.  If you have large binary fields (like varchar MAX), you can use web services or alternatively, call SQL stored procedures directly. 

Some possibly useful links:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/infopath/archive/2007/01/29/submitting-to-a-database-via-web-services-in-infopath-forms-services.aspx

http://www.innovation-hut.com/go.aspx?id=c141dde4-3dbe-4a80-a3a6-3a436ad9d6ca

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/philoj/archive/2005/11/08/490200.aspx

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/jannemattila/archive/2007/10/25/from-infopath-to-database-via-web-service.aspx

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/webservices/RestWebService.aspx

http://www.bizsupportonline.net/ (I recommend the books too!)