Reusing InfoPath forms as Content Types - Part 1

By: Rahul Mehta   |   Updated: 2010-09-21   |   Comments   |   Related: > SharePoint

Problem

In order to create different InfoPath forms, SharePoint generally needs different form libraries. This is true even if the form shares many common fields. The problem is that creating multiple libraries and developing multiple forms can be costly.

Solution

InfoPath 2007 allows you to publish forms as content types. Content types are a collection of different sets of data. The benefit of using content types is reusability. Rather than building everything from scratch, content types provide a generic set of data objects to start with.

This article is the first of a 2 part series. The first will discuss how to publish InfoPath forms as a content type. The second article will show how to reuse content types in another library.

How to publish InfoPath form as content type.

Here is a sample employee information form which contains basic information like Name, Id, Address and Years of Experience.

Click on File>Publish

A publishing wizard will appear. Select "To a SharePoint server with or without InfoPath Forms Services". Click on Next

Next, you need to provide the path of the InfoPath forms library. Copy the path and paste it in the box. Click on Next. (note: I have hidden part of the URL for privacy purposes)

Now you will be given an option to publish your form to a "Document Library" or a "Site Content Type". For our purposes, select "Site Content Type". Click on Next

An option will appear to "Create a new content type" or "Update an existing site content type". Select "Create a new content type". Click on Next

Provide a meaningful content type name and description (optional).Click Next

ThThe form content type always points to a form template. So we need to save a template to a location. Provide a path where you want to store the template.  (note: I have hidden part of the URL for privacy purposes)

Add the needed properties you want to publish and click on Next.

Click on "Publish" and your form will get published as a content type.

Next Steps

• Look for Part 2 of this article -- How to use published infopath form content types in other libraries

About the author

Rahul Mehta is a Project Architect/Lead working at Tata Consultancy Services focusing on ECM.

This author pledges the content of this article is based on professional experience and not AI generated.

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