How to: Deploy Form Templates That Contain Form Code

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The process of deploying InfoPath form templates that contain form code to a server running InfoPath Forms Services can be divided into three distinct steps:

  1. Getting the form template ready. This step creates a new .xsn file which contains information about the server it will be deployed to.

  2. Uploading the form template to the server. This step requires a farm administrator to add the form template to the server and includes the optional step of verifying that the form template can be uploaded.

  3. Activating it to a site collection. This makes the form template available on a site collection so that it can be filled out in the browser or in InfoPath, depending on whether users have Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 installed.

Get a Form Template Ready to be Deployed by a Server Administrator

  1. Open the Publishing Wizard by clicking the File menu and selecting Publish.

  2. The first option in this dialog is To a SharePoint server with or without InfoPath Forms Services. Leave this selected and click Next.

  3. On the second screen of the Publishing Wizard, type the URL of a SharePoint server that you have at least Contribute rights to, meaning that you can add and delete content on the site, then click Next.

  4. On the third screen of the Publishing Wizard, keep the default settings of Enable this form to be filled out using a browser and Administrator-approved form template (advanced), and click Next.

  5. On the fourth screen of the Publishing Wizard, type a location and file name for the form template (.xsn) file. This can be on your local hard drive, a network file share, or a Web server. Click Next.

  6. On the fifth screen of the Publishing Wizard, click the Add button to select fields from the form template that will be shown as columns in the document library and in Outlook. This is optional. After you are done, click Next.

  7. On the last screen of the Publishing Wizard, click Publish. This saves your form template (.xsn) file to the location you specified. It is now ready to be uploaded to the server.

Upload a Form Template to a Server Running InfoPath Forms Services

  • Open the SharePoint 3.0 Central Administration site.

Note

You must be a member of the Farm Administrators group in order to complete these steps.

  1. Click the Application Management link.

  2. Under InfoPath Forms Services, click the Manage form templates link.

  3. Click the Upload form template link near the top of the page.

  4. Click the Browse button to open a dialog box, and enter the path to the published form template.

  5. Click the Verify button to verify that the form template does not contain any errors. This step is optional.

  6. Click the Upload button to upload the form template to the site. After this is done, click the OK button.

Activate a Form Template to a Site Collection

  1. On the Manage Form Templates page, locate the form template you uploaded.

  2. Click the drop-down and select Activate to a Site Collection.

  3. In the Activation Location section, click the drop-down and select Change Site Collection.

  4. On the Select Site Collection dialog box, click the Web Application drop-down and select Change Web Application.

  5. Click SharePoint - 80. This should be the name of your default SharePoint server. If not, select your default SharePoint server.

  6. Click the site collection name that you want to activate the form to, and then click OK.

  7. On the Activate Form Template page, click OK.

Note

Alternatively, activating a published form template can be done from the site collection administration page. Select Site Collection Features, locate the form template, and click the Activate button.