Chapter 7. Custom form fundamentals
This chapter covers
- Customizing the out-of-the-box forms with InfoPath
- Publishing a form template to a form library
- Mapping form data to columns
- Customizing the initiation and association forms
Workflows and forms are a powerful combination because most business processes revolve around forms. To have a holistic understanding of how to build custom workflows in SharePoint, you need to know how to build custom forms and the tools available for building them.
Three types of tools are available in SharePoint to build custom forms: out-of-the-box forms (auto-generated), InfoPath forms, and ASP.NET forms. It’s important to know when to use each type and their pros and cons. For instance, you can accomplish a great deal with the out of the-box forms without ever needing to use a more advanced tool like InfoPath or ASP.NET. Working with the out-of-the-box forms is simple and fast, saving you time and money. Because of this, it remains a good place to start whenever considering a forms solution. However, the shortcomings of out-of-the-box forms sometimes necessitate the use of InfoPath, which will be discussed in further detail in this chapter. Because ASP.NET forms are a programming topic, they’re covered in chapter 9.