I just came across two great InfoPath resources:

1. A series of articles by Christopher Domino (12 detailed articles so far!). Christopher's articles look deeply into many InfoPath aspects, from "declarative logic vs code", deployment approaches, and backend integration discussions to detailed code dive-ins. Highly recommended.
   
2. CodeProject.com has a few interesting InfoPath articles; I particularly liked their review of the Logic Inspector (new InfoPath 2007 feature that offers an easy way to debug form logic) and the walkthrough on how to invoke BizTalk orchestrations using InfoPath.

Alex Weinstein
Program Manager

Shoutout to InfoPathDev.com - several of our product team alums are hosting an excellent resource for the InfoPath developer community. Lots of great content there: sample form templates, very lively forums, and walkthroughs. My personal favorites:

1) Localizing form templates. Very clever method, using secondary data connections to store localizations in XML files. I still refer to it as "the Shiraz Cupala method". Note that this method works even better with InfoPath 2007, as button labels can now be dynamic (can come from a data source).

2) Super-FAQ: auto-generating sequential row numbers.

3) Interop between rules and code: article on xdextension. Note that this trick is not supported in browser-enabled form templates.

Alex Weinstein
Program Manager

• Office Online: Your one stop shop for tutorials, getting started material, and other help-related articles.
• Developer Center: Got code? Go here to learn how to go above and beyond with your forms using managed code and script.

MS Learning has some free Office 2007 courses. In particular, here’s a What’s New course for InfoPath. Here’s the outline:

• What's New in Microsoft® Office InfoPath® 2007
• Converting Office Word and Office Excel Forms to Office InfoPath
• The Forms Converter
• How to Convert Existing Forms to Office InfoPath
• The Design Checker
• Designing Forms in Office InfoPath 2007
• Codeless Form Design
• How to Create Template Parts
• Multiple Views in an Office InfoPath Form
• How to Create a Print Layout View
• Guidelines for Designing Forms
• Publishing and Managing Forms
• Multiple Browser Support Using Office Forms Services
• How to Publish Forms Through E-Mail
• Creating List Views of Form Data in Office Outlook
• How to Export Form Data to Office Excel

Take a look, and let us know if you find it useful!

Alex Weinstein
Program Manager

I'd love to compile a list of blogs about InfoPath to help the developer community connect and share insights. If you wrote at least one InfoPath article in the past, and plan on writing more, please leave a link to your blog in the comments.

Expect an OPML compilation in a week or two!

UPDATE: OPML compilation is here.

Alex

I've been on a hunt for cool InfoPath-related blogs; well, I just found a gem. Shoutout to Liam Cleary whose blog talks about SharePoint, VSTO, Groove, and, of course, lots and lots of InfoPath. I loved all the screenshots and detailed walkthroughs. Some highlights:

1) Article on Word import - a walkthrough of a new feature in InfoPath 2007 that allows converting Word documents into InfoPath form templates.

2) Very interesting article on picking the right technology for your project: Word + VSTO or InfoPath.

Alex Weinstein
Program Manager

Registration is now open for the 1st session in the InfoPath 2010 Academy Live Series, An Introduction to SharePoint Applications using InfoPath 2010, presented by Bojana Duke.

In this series, you will hear directly from InfoPath product team members who will talk in-depth about  InfoPath and Forms Services 2010 and how you can quickly and  easily build applications in SharePoint without writing a line of code.

Click the link below to sign up for this free event.

Event Title: An Introduction to SharePoint Applications using InfoPath 2010 (INP02AL)
Date/Time: Wed Feb 10, 2010, 8:30 AM, USA Pacific
Event Registration URL: https://www.eventbuilder.com/event_desc.asp?p_event=e0b96f2a

Do you want to hear about the exciting, new features and scenarios that have been added in InfoPath and InfoPath Forms Services 2010? Then, sign up for our upcoming Academy Live series.

In this series, you will hear directly from InfoPath product team members who will talk in-depth about  InfoPath and Forms Services 2010 and how you can quickly and  easily build applications in SharePoint without writing a line of code.

The series will consist of 4 sessions presented by members of the InfoPath product team. We will present 1 session a month, starting with an “Introduction to InfoPath and InfoPath Forms Services 2010”, presented by Bojana Duke from the InfoPath program management team. This session will take place on Wednesday, February 10th at 8:30 AM (PST).

Whether you are an InfoPath newbie or an experienced InfoPath user, we encourage you to sign up for these free sessions. Stay tuned for more details on how to sign up.

Thanks!

The InfoPath team.

It's Friday, and on Fridays I usually try to dig up a cool article or two from the community

1) Patrick Tisseghem wrote a beautiful walkthrough on making browser forms show up in a web part - no code required, just follow the screenshots.

2) S.Y.M. Wong-A-Ton published a very detailed paper on saving InfoPath forms to a SQL Server 2005 XML column. This is a very cool integration scenario that enables powerful data analysis using XQuery, and even crazy things like joins between your XML form data and LOB data stored in a relational system. Be sure to check it out!

Alex Weinstein
Program Manager

We promised, and here it is: the OPML compilation of RSS feeds of bloggers that write about InfoPath. Just download the file and import it into your favorite news aggregator.

Sneak peek:

Cheers!
Alex

Our colleagues at Office Online released several interesting InfoPath topics:

1. Form Data Aggregation and Merging:
   - Design a form for merging 
   - Merge actions for fields and groups
   - Merge InfoPath e-mail form data in Outlook
   
   
2. Document Information Panel:
   - Introduction to designing a Document Information Panel by using InfoPath
   - Design a Document Information Panel by using InfoPath
   
   
3. Workflow:
   - Introduction to using workflows with InfoPath forms
   - Design a form to respond to a workflow status
   

Alex

Some new MSDN resources to check out:

1) Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007 SDK

2) InfoPath Developer Reference for Managed Code

Alex

Making my Technorati rounds searching for InfoPath community content, I came across two very cool articles:

1) InfoPath 2007, Forms Server, MOSS 2007 by Sahil Malik: start from a Word form, publish it to be filled out in the browser, play with the content type and configure the document library. Fun read, and lots of screenshots.

2) InfoPath Forms for Mobile Web Browsers by David Gerhardt: good starting point if you're exploring your way around the mobile forms arena. (UPDATE: Fixed link)

Alex Weinstein
Program Manager

Is this blog useful for you? Which articles are most useful? One very important way you can tell us is by rating the content that we publish: just use the little "star" control next to the title, in the detail view for each article -

This will help us improve the quality; plus, when we get enough ratings, we'll be publishing the "top rated articles" list - so if you rate an article, you're helping the community as well.

Thanks!

Alex Weinstein
Program Manager

Do you want to learn about InfoPath and SharePoint 2010 in FREE Web casts with the InfoPath product team? Then sign up for the InfoPath 2010 Academy Live Series.

There are 3 remaining sessions in the series. The next session “Building SharePoint Applications with InfoPath 2010” will take place on Wednesday, March 10th from 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM (PST).

If you missed our 1st session, “An introduction to SharePoint applications using InfoPath 2010”, you can view it on demand here. Just click the “Register Now” button.

This is a great opportunity to learn all about our new features and scenarios directly from the product team, so sign up now!

A few folks put together good resource compilations of everything InfoPath-related: articles, screencasts, help topics... Check them out:

1) InfoPath 2007 resources by Joris Poelmans

2) Office 2007 Spotlight: InfoPath 2007 by Michael Gannotti

3) Building Web Forms with Office InfoPath Forms Services by Dave Glover

Alex

InfoPathDev is a free resource, dedicated to bringing Microsoft InfoPath users the information and tools they need to be successful in their projects.

• More than 10K members, 30K threads, and 50K posts—it is the community to ask questions, get answers, and collaborate
• Microsoft MVPs frequently post, including three MVPs from Qdabra—expertise
• Forums - content ranges from general and newbie questions to SharePoint and SQL integration, coding, publishing, and Microsoft InfoPath 2010
• Downloads – template parts, videos, and tips to help you create powerful forms
• Blogs – expert advice from InfoPath developers and testers, including MVPs

You can also follow InfoPathDev on Twitter.

Take a look new InfoPath-related resources that were recently published to MSDN and Office Online:

1) The official "What's new in InfoPath 2007" review - excellent way to get to know new stuff that's coming with Office 2007.

2) A series of video walkthroughs on InfoPath 2007:

• Convert a Word document into an InfoPath 2007 form template
• Use InfoPath e-mail forms to view data in Outlook 2007
• View the business logic in an InfoPath 2007 form template

3) InfoPath Glossary - InfoPath comes with quite a few special terms; clarify any ambuguities with this tool.

Alex Weinstein
Program Manager

If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably passionate about InfoPath. You built several InfoPath applications, and think the technology has lots of potential. But you also realize that InfoPath is still a fairly new product, so there’s a lot to be done to realize this potential into customer value.

Why not take your passion to the next level? InfoPath is gearing up for vNext, and now is a perfect time to influence your favorite XML form designer from the inside. Come work for the InfoPath Team!

We’re looking for experienced Program Managers to help define the next, revolutionary wave of InfoPath client and Forms Services.

We have three positions open:

1) Programmability PM: seeking individual familiar with programmability and/or enterprise development who is passionate about making InfoPath easier and more powerful for developers. Formal job description coming soon.

2) Forms Services PM: define and drive the v2 of Forms Services. Are you passionate about XML and AJAX technologies? If so, this position is for you.

3) Program Manager who will help us make it easier to create and use electronic forms and integrate them into business applications.

Please submit your resumes to our staffing consultant, Michael Ashe, at [micashe at microsoft]. Make sure you meet the minimum posted requirements before you apply.

Have you submitted your entry for the InfoPath and SharePoint 2010 solution contest yet?

If not, hurry up! There are only 10 days left to submit your entries.

For a taste of what we’re looking for, here’s one entry from Clayton Cobb of the Colorado SharePoint users group.

Think you can do better? Click here to see how to enter.

Please note that only legal residents of the US and Canada are eligible for prizes.  However, we're eager to see videos from everyone, and we will showcase the best videos we receive, regardless of whether you are awarded a prize.