SPC’09: Introduction to SharePoint Applications using InfoPath and Forms Services 2010

Disclaimer: This post is based on notes taken while watching a conference session. For that reason, it may contain incorrect information or data that I might have misunderstood. Also, the product it refers to was not available yet at the time of the writing, thus, not allowing me to validate the present information.

This session was an introduction to applications based on InfoPath 2010 and Forms Services 2010, and it was given by Peter Allenspach and Bojana Duke, from Microsoft. It was split in three parts, consisting of a demo each:

  • Demo 1: Customizing SharePoint List Forms
  • Demo 2: Creating Mashups with Forms Web Part
  • Demo 3: Office Business Application

Here are the news about developing applications with InfoPath 2010:

  • With SharePoint 2010 and InfoPath 2010 you have the possibility to customize a list’s forms with a single click. This allows you to create a new list form with InfoPath very easily, and you can even mix data from several lists and show it on the form.
  • When designing a new InfoPath form for a list, you can add or remove fields from the list just by adding or removing them from the InfoPath form.
  • Customized InfoPath List Forms are made available offline when you synchronize your list with SharePoint Workspace 2010.
  • Forms Services in SharePoint 2010 supports FireFox and Safari browsers, besides IE.
  • Forms Services in SharePoint 2010 supports WCAG 2.0 accessibility standard.
  • InfoPath Forms with code-behind no longer requires an administrator to deploy them. They can be deployed with a one-click process and run as a Sandbox Solution without any security concerns.
  • The InfoPath Form Web Part is now available to be placed anywhere, allowing any InfoPath form to be rendered. This Web Part also accepts connections from other Web Parts, allowing it to be used to create mashups easily.