InfoPath Dev

Hi all,

Questions from a desperate newbie.   I have recently jumped into InfoPath 2003 up to the neck:-(.  I need to turn an Access db into a SharePoint (SP) list, then use InfoPath (IP) to access this db.   Access has been my db software for years and my jproblem is looking at IP with an Access data model view.  It just don't work...

 I've been using the Intro to InfoPath2003 book along with MS's InfoPath areas on MSDN and Office web sites.  Both very helpful if I can get beyond this Access paradigm paralysis.
 
This is my Access db.

                                      tblPROJECT
                                        |        | 
                                        |        |
                                        /         \
                       tblDATA1           tblDATA2 

tblProject has a 1 to many relationship with both tables DATA1 and tblDATA2 (the key field in all tables is fldElement).

I am starting with a blank IP form.  tblProject is the root element.  DATA1 and DATA2 are subgroups to tblProject.  Does this create the 1 to many relationship between the tables (I guess they are called groups now, IP tables are used in form layout)?

How does InfoPath store the data on the SP server.  I am trying to imagine it as a "table", but it seems more like multiple documents of one "record" or "row" each.

How do repeating sections, groups, or tables relate to MS Acess subforms or subreports?

It would be so nice to have the light bulb go on, everything else would fall in place:-)

So many questions, so little time.  I do appreciate all the patience the experts tend to show us in these forums.

Welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of InfoPath.

It would help to know what you are trying to accomplish. Is the data just manipulate din the DB or does the DB just source some information and the result needs to go somewhere else?

I do not think you can really migrate this DB to SharePoint since SP cannot represnt relational data. it all has to be one-dimensional lists.

I would look at just migrating from Acces to SQL or SQL Express.

Your forms can be stateless (the xml document from the form is never saved) and you can use InfoPath similar to an Access form. The data is queried, displayed, updated, and submitted back to the database.

Or you can pull data into the form from the DB but also save the form state to SharePoint and use a workflow on this data from there as others open up the form and add more data.

You can combine these two but you have an issue of concurrent users and the data getting out of sync between the forms and the DB.

If you would like to see a demonstration of best practices for an enterprise form solution using SQL, send me an email.

Clay,

Thanks for the response….

I am undoubtedly making this harder than it should be, and probably not explaining it well.  We are tracking projects.  Each project can have none, one, or multiple milestones and/or activities (thus the relational tables).

The number of projects will remain fairly stable.  The number of milestones and activities will change more frequently 

Project Managers are to access this data and keep it updated. The data is eventually imported into MS Project to create Gantt charts.

This was a local application and MS Access was working just fine.  When we used this app locally, we pulled data directly from Access and into Project.  The data must now be available across the internet via web.  I tried using Access with data access pages but they were difficult to work with and seem very slow (at least I thought so).  About the best I can do for tools right now are SharePoint and InfoPath.   SQL is not an option at this time (I hope for SQL Express as soon as I can get it approved).

I guess at a minimum I need a simple interface to collect this data on SP using IP, then a process to move it into Project.  This all sounds kinda clunky, but then us newbies tend to think that way…(at least for awhile:).

Thanks,

John

Hey John.

 Another option is using multiple InfoPath forms.

You can have one to update projects but then have sub forms for your activities and milestones.  Sometimes this can give you some more flexibility. You can link from one form to another.

The danger is modifying multiple parts at once. InfoPath checks data consistency before submit. So if you have a form open and someone else updates the backend data either through Access or another form the submit is not possible since the data is different then when the form was started.

Also once you have the forms updating the data properly.

All you need to do is publish the form to SharePoint. (Create the link to the template). That will be where others open the form initially. Can give them desktop shortcuts or whatever.

Your Access DB would need to be in a shared location that everyone can access. (another nice thing for SQL)

They would open the form. Query for the project they want, and do their thing.

That way you have one form for all projects which is dynamic and complete.