We can't seem to avoid InfoPath Forms Services...
Our InfoPath templates are installed on user desktops and not actually deployed to the SharePoint server. However, we do want to upload InfoPath documents and use SharePoint workflows for review and approval.
We have no problem creating and uploading these documents. All users with the template installed can successfully open and modify the documents on SharePoint. Initiating a standard workflow like Collect Feedback is no problem either.
The problem occurs when the reviewer clicks on the hyperlink in the email to open the document under review. This http request for the xml document somehow gets directed to InfoPath Forms Services. InfoPath Forms Services responds with the following error: "The following file is not a valid InfPath form template: urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:infopath:myTemplate:=myXSD-2008-12-02T20-50-52."
It seems that when we navigate to the document and select it in the list viewer, the action is handled by the DispEx jscript method and InfoPath Forms Services is either not involved or somehow satisfied. When we put the http request in my browser (same as the link in the workflow generated email), then InfoPath Services complains about the template. We notice also that if weenter the URL in the browser and append the query string argument "NoRedirect=true", then InfoPath happily opens the document.
We've tried deactivating InfoPath Forms Services by deactivating the Enterprise feature, but that made no difference in the behavior described above.
Realizing our deployment approach is a bit off the norm, can anyone recommend the best way to address this problem? Is there a way to take Forms Services out of the loop through configuration (as opposed to writing code)? Is it necessary to develop custom workflow with links that specify "NoRedirect=true"?
Thanks,
-Brad