InfoPath Dev

In our InfoPath forms we have some Visual Basic codes. For example it validates that attachment is doc or pdf and doesn't allow other file types. Or we have code that supports form submission from anonymous site to another site. If we migrate to FormsViewer, will these codes work?

 Hi, Arthur:

FormsViewer doesn't support custom code - but it does support a Qdabra InfoPath code library called qRules. So - you could replace your form code w/ qRules commands (which are activated via rules) - then when your form is published to FormsViewer, the functionality will continue to work. qRules does have a command that can get the file extension of an attachment. I'm not sure if that specific command is supported in FormsViewer yet, but it could certainly be added without much trouble. I'm not sure on the submission question - I'll forward this to our lead FormsViewer dev & have him reply with additional info. 

Hi, Hilary: Does this mean, that we have to buy qRules license to keep current functionality? I'll wait for answer about submission. Thank you!

 Hello, Arthur: no, you do not need a qRules license to use FormsViewer.

 Hello, Patrick.

Sorry, but I don't understand. If my form has custom code, but doesn't have qRules and I want to change it to work with FormsViewer instead of InfoPath, how can I apply qRules commands to it without having qRules license?

Hi, Arthur - you could use the trial of qRules to add the commands to your form.

 Hi, Hilary - if I use trial and add the commands to the forms, these commands will not work after trial expiration. So in any case we need to buy license. Am I right?

As our company provides SharePoint solutions to clients, I want to be sure that we'll keep our on premises forms functionality in O365, if client purchases FormsViewer license and we purchase qRules redistributor license.

The commands will continue to work in FormsViewer, I believe - I'll ask Patrick to confirm. They would stop working in preview. If you purchase qRules, then the DLL won't expire, and the commands will continue to work in preview (filler) and in the browser in FormsViewer.

Hi Arthur,

Yes, if you purchase a redistributor license, the on prem InfoPath filler forms injected with qRules will continue to work perpetually. Once a form is injected with qRules, it never expires. It only expires if it was injected with the trial, but this is not true for FormsViewer.

If you are using FormsViewer, the publish and preview from the browser is very fast, so you should not have to use the InfoPath Designer preview and I don't recommend using it because you want to see how it looks in the browser anyway. So, once the form is injected with the trial, it should never expire if you are only using FormsViewer.

In the future, we will remove the qRules injector expiration (if it exists) so that FormsViewer customers won't have to worry about reinstalling a new trial to inject a new form. :)

I hope that answers your question.  We look forward to supporting you and your clients. 

 Hi Patrick,

 

Thank you for very detailed explanation!

One last question I think (for now :)).

"Manage Templates" in FormsViewer on O365 appeared only after I ticked "Allow users to browser-enable form templates" in SharePoint Admin Center -> InfoPath. So if Microsoft completely removes InfoPath forms services from SharePoint Online, will FormsViewer work without it? I mean there may not be option "Allow users to browser-enable form templates".

 Hi Arthur,

Users need to be Site Collection Administrators in the site where they're using FormsViewer in order to manage templates. I suspect the option you used had the side-effect of adding users to the administrators and that's why it worked. That option should not be necessary in order to use FormsViewer. Simply adding users to the Site Collection Administrators should be sufficient.

Please let us know if you find that to not be the case. 

 Hi Jimmy,

You are right. As I was doing testing on O365 trial and setting up everything on the same day, I added this option and also added user to Site Collection Administrators group at the same time. So I thought template management was enabled by this option, but actually it was enabled as the user became Site Collection Admin.
Sorry for misunderstanding.

Thank you Hilary, Patrick and Jimmy for your prompt and irrefragable answers!