InfoPath Dev

Hello all,

I am relatively new to using InfoPath, but it has proven to be a great tool (so far) to create a front-end for an Access database.

I have spent the past couple of weeks designing forms to allow users in my office to interact with our employee/asset database. I originally tried to limit this to only a couple of forms, but due to restrictions with database submission from InfoPath, I have since broken up the entire thing into about 15 different forms. I have created a "menu" form with lots of buttons that open the other forms, to create a pretty decent UI.

The problem I'm having is related to the two ADO security warnings that open every single time any form is opened. This has gotten very old for me while creating these forms, and users will likely feel the same way. I've learned that creating a script to "install" the form on each client machine takes care of this problem. However, regform.exe only makes one script per .xsn file. As I said, I have about 16 of these. It's not very practical to ask users to install 16 different scripts in order to make the security warning disappear.

Is there any way I can group all of these scripts into a single one? Or perhaps make an MSI to house all of them? In addition, if the database that the forms connect to is located on a server share, will there be any problem with registering the form templates on the client machines?

I appreciate all of your help in advance. InfopathDev has been invaluable to me in the last couple of weeks :)

Hi Justin and welcome to our forum!

I wonder if you really need 16 forms. We have a Database Accelerator which simplifies submitting and connecting to databases. But anyway, now you have 16 forms ... lots of maintenance and unless you have 16 primary keys in the database, probably overkill....

You are asking about Full Trust. Full Trust is not something to be taken lightly because it requires a user install which is costly. We have deployed hundreds of forms and we absolutely *do not* do Full Trust. Full Trust is not a best practice.

OK, so you've ignored our warning and you're Full Trust. Now, to consolidate XSNs in a single MSI will require a tool that aggregates MSI. There are many tools out there that will help you create aggregate MSIs. Microsoft even has a tool called Orca that supports creating MSIs. I would look for a tool that decomposes your MSI and allows for aggregation of other MSIs into one via some kind of chaining. The other possibility is to sign all of the XSNs with the same digital certificate and have people install that digicert. That way, they don't even have to run the MSIs, but installing that digicert sure is a pain in the patooty.

Hope this helps!

Is there any way to make those two ADO security warnings disappear without setting Full Trust on the forms? The forms don't need to access anything ActiveX or anything on the client machines...all they need is a data connection to an Access DB stored on a server share.

Also, I actually DO have quite a few primary keys. However, most of them are for tables of data that will rarely change...for example: Office locations, Vendor information, asset status, etc. I suppose there are only about 6 tables that actually require that data be submitted to them via a form. I will take a shot at consolidating the forms into a smaller number.