How to: Create a Custom Document Information Panel from InfoPath

Starting from the Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 application, you can browse to the desired site or list and select the content type for which you want to create a custom document information panel. Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 sets the selected content type as your primary data source, as well as the autogenerated form as a starting point. After you are finished with the form, you can publish it to the content type to another location.

To create a custom property Panel pfrom InfoPath

1. In Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007, on the File menu, click Design a Form. On the Design a Form dialog box, under Design a new, select Form Template, select XML or Schema, and click OK.

   The Data Source Wizard appears.

2. Navigate to the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 site or list on which the content type resides. Click Next.

   Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 queries the server and displays a list of the content types residing on the specified list or site. If you entered a site URL, Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 displays a list of the site content types on that site. If you enter a document library URL, Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 displays a list of content types available for that document library.

3. Select the content type for which you want to customize the document information panel, and click Next.

   Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 warns you if a custom document information panel has already been created for this content type. To create another custom form, click OK.

   Note

   The existing form is not altered until you publish your new form to the content type.

4. Click Finish.

   Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 loads an autogenerated document information panel, based on the content type schema.

5. Edit and customize the form as you want, and then save the form.

   Note

   Because the custom form is based on the content type schema, you cannot edit the form schema, as you can with typical Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 forms. To change the custom document information form schema, you would first have to change the content type schema itself in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.

6. Publish the form. You can choose to publish the form directly to the content type, or to anlocation. Exit Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 when you have published the form to the desired location.

To publish the custom document information panel to the content type

1. In Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007, from the Filemenu, click Publish to open the Publishing Wizard. Click Next.

2. Verify the content type information displayed by the wizard, and then click Publish.

   Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 warns you if a custom document information panel has already been specified for this content type. To override those settings, click Yes.

   Note

   If the initial custom form was published directly to the content type, then that form is overwritten with the new custom form. If the initial form was published to some other location, however, the new custom form is published directly to the content type, and only the content type setting specifying the location of the custom document information panel is overwritten. If you publish to a shared location, you will need to update this location using the content type settings page.

   Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 displays a dialog box confirming that the form was published successfully.

3. Click Close.

To publish the custom document information panel to some other location

1. In Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007, from the File menu, click Publish to open the Publishing Wizard, and then click Next.

2. Select a destination other than As a Document Information Panel template for a SharePoint site content or list content type as your publishing location, and then click Next.

3. Complete the Publishing Wizard as you would for publishing any other form.

4. Within the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 user interface, navigate to the settings page for the content type, and then click Change Document Information Panel settings.

5. Select Use existing custom template (URL, UNC, or URN), and enter the URL or URN location of your custom document information panel. Click OK.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Create or Edit a Custom Document Information Panel from within Office SharePoint Server 2007
How to: Update a Document Information Panel for Content Type Changes

Concepts

Document Information Panel Overview
Custom Document Information Panels

Other Resources

Updating Document Information Panels for Content Type Changes in SharePoint Server 2007