Newbie Questions

Re: Automating an internal ordering process

warrtalon — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:02:54 GMT

Good, that's what we like to see. We intend to help get you on the right path and help with gotchas but not so much to write the entire solution for you. Hopefully, the above detail will get you a great headstart, but feel free to drop back in and ask for help with individual items.

Re: Automating an internal ordering process

Helltopia — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:45:40 GMT

Great idea, I think this will put me on the right path to make it work!
Ill have a go at it asap and see where it brings me :)

Cheers!

Re: Automating an internal ordering process

warrtalon — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:10:04 GMT

You can definitely do all of this with some nifty logic within InfoPath itself and a workflow built in SharePoint Designer (hopefully, you're not opposed to SPD). I could write up the entire solution, but that's a bit much for a forum. Instead, I will try to guide you with some basic tenets:

- Start by going to Tools > Form Options > Browser and turning off your Save, Save As, Submit, Update, and View options. Leave only Print View and/or Close (or remove them all if not applicable)

- Create some sort of status field. Use this field to tell the form, the workflow, and the participants what phase the workflow is in (i.e. Submitted to IO, Submitted to SD, Submitted for Final Review)

- Set the status of this field by using custom submit buttons on the canvas for each view. The initial view will have the original submit button. That button will have rules (no code) that set the status field and submit the form to the MOSS library. Use the following method for Auto-Generating Filenames for InfoPath Forms

- Then, go to Tools > Form Options. Open and Save > Rules to create a set of rules with conditions for which view should get opened at which time. At the minimum, you would check the status field and switch views accordingly like this..."If status = Submit to IO, switch view to View2." What this does is automatically put the user on the IO view if the status of the workflow is at the IO step. I would go further and do a user check in addition to a status check. If the submitter opens it and the status = IO or SD, then show the submitter a read-only view that can't be edited but that can be reviewed at any point in the process. For the IO and SD views, check to see if the user is in IO or SD in addition to the current status of the workflow. Since you are using a browser form, you can't use built-in User Roles. I have a method for doing User Roles in Browser-Enabled InfoPath Forms

- Use that read-only view for your submitter also as your final approval view, except make your Approve button hidden until status = Submitted for Final Review. You can make a whole view read-only in the view settings, but it does not apply to buttons, so you can do this.

Does that get you started?

Automating an internal ordering process

Helltopia — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:06:46 GMT

Hi,

I have been snooping around this site for quite some time now, learned a whole deal of usefull InfoPath stuff. But now I need to ask a direct question that I dont see have been asked before.

I'm trying to make a multi-view order form in InfoPath (web enabled...). I'd like the form to automate a ordering process we have in the company that goes something like this (note; ‘customer’ is another department);
1 - Customer opens the 'order price offer' form, fills out the necessary info so that;
2 - Internal order department can estimate a price, or if need be, forwarding the form to the
3 - System department for a more throughout pricing specification, which then is offered to the
4 - Customer for final approval (or rejection).

The idea is to use a single form that goes through these 4 phases. I have the form ready with views for the different stages and got most of the work flows working in MOSS2007.

My problem is that I'd like the form to escalate as the order progress is being processed.
So when the customers have finished filling out the initial form (view 1 = order form), he presses the 'Order' button.
This will send the order form to a MOSS2007 list with an alert to internal order department that a new order has been posted.
Now the internal order dep. should be able to open the form, but with the added 'for the internal order department field' being opened automatically (view 2 = order form + internal order).
Most likely the IO dept will be able to provide the necessary calculations to present a price estimate for the customer. But if it is a special order, the form will be routed to the systems department for a throughout estimate.
This is handled now with a workflow in MOSS2007, but we'd like to be able to present the form to the sys department with the added field 'for system department' (view 3 = order form + internal order + sys department).

Now after the internal orders- , and maybe, the system department have been able to estimate an offer for the customer, the form is returned to the customer with a new field 'approve order' (view 4 = order form + internal order + sys department + approval). This is the summary of the order, and the estimate from the other departments. This summary should be write-protected, so that the only field active should be the field called 'approve order'.

My question is - how can I make the form opening new views for the recipients. So then when ie the customers send the form he only sees the order form, but when the receiving department opens the form - they automatically sees ‘view 2’ of the form (and without pressing the 'change view' form button on top of the form in not disabled...). And could I make the previous form (the one being sent) write protected, so that only the newly opened field in the form is write-enabled?

InfoPath and SharePoint provide some great tools, but we feel it’s not mature enough to be 100% user friendly. Especially for non-system power users. Hence I would like to hide/disable options and providing the users with just what they need to see and do. Hopefully eliminating potential errors that will occur if left alone ‘as is’.

Pardon for the long and windy post, but felt I had to illustrate the process I’m trying to get to work.

Any help is greatly appreciated :)