InfoPath Dev

Is there a way I can produce a diffgram of the changes made to my InfoPath data? I'm not sure if it makes a difference but I don't have a submit data connection.

I need to give the user full fuctionality off-line so the data they're working with is cached on the local harddrive. On submit I need to write the data back to the data cache (via DataSet/Diffgram) and then when the user is on-line again the data will be updated to the database. (There is a windows forms app that will handle the data synch).

Thanks.

Are you intending not using a submit data connection or it just doesn't show up? What are you using for your data cache (ie. Access or SQL)?

I have found an article regarding InfoPath 2003 does not have built-in support for change tracking.

http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;831795&spid=2515&sid=216

I cannot use the IP submit because the only options are web service, e-mail or SharePoint and I have to allow for the user to press submit while working off-line (business requirements dictate that the user should be able to 'submit' whether on-line or off-line so I need to save the data changes someplace until they are connected).

Data cache is produced via Dataset serialization.

p.s. - Thank you for the link! I checked it out but doesn't really solve my issue.

Why not just save the form locally? When they are online, they can submit directly. One of the reasons the database submit is not available is because you don't have the primary key.

Thanks for your response. I agree that only allowing 'submit' when the user is on-line would be preferrable, but I really need a solution for the user to be able to 'submit' even when off-line.

So I guess no one knows if you can generate a diffgram from InfoPath?

Well, it's just software. You could do it if you want in code ... :) InfoPath handles some ADO.NET diffgrams.

For offline diffgramming via code, here's my advice... write an OnBeforeChange event handler that copies the node to be changed. Write an OnAfterChange handler that copies the change and executes some logic to create a delta track. In other words, you want to log the xpath for the change along with pre and post values. This repeating section of 3 nodes could be a secondary DOM in your solution that you save in a special encrypted node in the main DOM (OnSave) or as a separate file (full trust). The section acts as a playback journal. From this, you can generate your diffgram.

Good luck. Please share any code you create with us. We would be very grateful! :)