InfoPath Dev

Hi

Ive been using Infopath for a number of years now and we even purchased DBXL v2.4, although i purchased it as it came with Querydb and Active Directory Web service which i use in the form.

I have one large Change Request form which is attached to a SQL database and gradually over the years the form has become more complex as ive added new rules/conditions, columns/tables, additional hidden sections, SQL queries etc, etc.   The problem is, this was supposed to be a cheap temporary solution but as it did the job and we could adapt quickly to our indivdual company needs, but .roll on 5 years and i now have 18000 changes in the SQL database all trying to use the one single template,...of course i am unable to delete obsolete SQL columns as the forms XML is tied to the database,......(this is where you guys can tell me "Told you so !!" ).   Another driver for the move is that an increasing number of staff members are starting to use the form remotely (submitting/Retrieving) which is very slow,..im hoping DBXL will speed this up.

I now want to bite the bullet and move over to using DBXL,  al though company is still unwilling to invest a great deal of money so im trying to utilise what i have already in place,  I therefore have the following questions :-

1. What is the best way to replicate the current form into a new form ?.  are there any tools etc ?.  I have experimented with exporting the current form and then creating a new form based on the saved XML and that seems to bring back the current schema layout, ... i have also cut and paste the contents of the exisiting form in design mode and then pasted it into the new form and that seems ok,....the problem i have is how do i copy all the rules from the old form to the new one. ?

 2.  I simply want to use DBXL as a middle layer to submit the data to SQL, ....is this possible and how would it impact the current data ?.  Could old data/change requests be retrieved and updated ?

3. As i currently have 18000 changes/entries,...does DBXL see those as seperate individual forms meaning i have to updgrade from a beginners to a basic licence ?

I'll stop there as i could go on and on, but i think you get the idea of what im trying to achive.

Thank you in advance

P.S. When does v2.8 become available and is there any information on what enhancements are to be included ?

 Hi -

2.8 should be released very soon - Keep an eye on the DBXL product page over the next week or so. There will be a list published there of the enhancements.

Do you currently submit filled out XML for your SQL bound form? Or is the template just for querying from / submitting to SQL? Do you need to submit to the same tables, or can you use views to combine data from new tables with the old in order to aggregate the data?

In general, we don't recommend using DBXL with existing data - however there are approaches that can be used to achieve this, it can just get a little tricky. Here are a few blog posts:

http://www.infopathdev.com/blogs/jimmy/archive/2011/07/27/using-dbxl-with-existing-data-other-approaches.aspx
http://www.infopathdev.com/blogs/hilary/archive/2009/10/13/use-dbxl-submit-with-existing-sql-data.aspx
http://www.infopathdev.com/blogs/patrick/archive/2008/07/09/using-dbxl-with-existing-databases.aspx

Hi Hilary,

Thanks for taking the time to reply, i know you are a busy little bee :)

 I think the answer is both. I have a single template which is a Change Request form which is currently tied to a SQL Database,  a user first opens up a blank form/template, fills it out and then submits it to the database with a unique RFC number, as well as the individual fields we also submit the entire XML form to a table on the SQL database.  The processing team will then open up the individual RFC form via a web page which basically gets the XML from the database and opens it up in infopath, they then review the RFC and approve it making any amendments and then submit the data back to SQL,.. a similar process then occurs whereby another team opens and then completes the required actions requested within the RFC and then change the status and submit it to SQL.

I basically want to utililise the DBXL webservices to update the SQL tables, i can not seem to get my head around why i need to hold all the individual RFC's forms in DBXL( i have 18000 RFC at present and i just cant justify the licencing costs)  and why data can not be simply added to an exisitng SQL table ?. ... Starting a new set of tables is possible as once an RFC is closed, we are only really interested in the data supplied and all this is available in the database.

My initial issue is how do i easily convert or copy my exisiting Form and its SQL schema to a new one ?,... Rules/Formatting etc ?.  Am i going to have to start from scratch ?