Jimirig

Some solutions require a unique ID to be used for identifying forms saved in SharePoint or be used as a customer ID. There is a simple solution that does not use code, which is nice since many, many solutions these days are being generated with code. What some do not know is that so many tricks, solutions, and customized features are already built in, you just have to know how to get to them.

First, in SharePoint create your form library, we will call our UnitqueID. Then open InfoPath and create your form. Open the data connection wizard and create a connection to receive data. Next select that you wish to receive the data from a SharePoint List or Library and click next. Enter the URL to the form library, http://portal/UniqueID and select next.

After clicking next again you will need to select the columns you want to use. For this demo, we only need “ID” to be selected. Now go ahead and click next all the way through the wizard and hit finish.

Now you need to place a Text Field or Expression Box on your form and build a formula for the field.

Next to the Value input select the “fx” symbol to create a formula. You will need to type in max( and then select “Instert Group or Field and browse to the secondary data connection source and drop down until you find the ID and press ok.

Finish the formula by adding )+1 so the whole formula should read max(@ID)+1. Press OK and OK again to close the properties of the field. Publish your form and open the form to test.

(Note: The library needs to have at least 1 item in the library in order for the ID to be generated. The first form will get a “null” response.)

InfoPath is a great solution, that not many people are really familiar with to electronically save forms on a computer, network folder, or in a content management system like SharePoint. Here are some instructions on using a sample from InfoPath and adding a save button to save into SharePoint.

Start with your InfoPath Form. Modify anything or start from scratch. For this we used the sample status report that ships with InfoPath. Other free templates can be found at Microsoft Office Online.

Place a save or submit button accordingly and right click on the button to set the properties. There are two ways to submit a form into SharePoint without the use to code. One is to just submit the form, two is using Rules. For this exercise we will just use submit. Rules and conditions apply more for advanced vallidations, and other actions upon submission like open a different form etc. Select Submit in the drop down and click on the Submit Options button.

Next you will need to enable the form to be submitted and then select SharePoint Document Library in the drop down list. Then click Add, to add a data connection for the form.

After clicking add you will be asked to point to a document library for the form to be saved. At this point, since you haven’t already published the form, the libray probably doesn’t exist so you will need to go into SharePoint and add a new form library.

Back to InfoPath, enter the name of the form library (full URL – http://domain/Form%20Library/) and then you will need to change the name of the form. By default the program chooses “Form.” This doesn’t work for multiple forms. So let’s concat a name based on information from the form. Click on the button to the right and you are prompted to enter fields, or formulas. We will concat a formula.

Click OK and you will be back to the wizard and your naming convention will be in the name field. You should also check the box to Allow overwrite.

Click Next and Finish. You have now created a new data connection for your form. Click OK until you are back at your form. Now it is time to Publish to SharePoint. Click File from the top menu bar, and the publishing wizard will open.

If you haven’t saved your form at this point InfoPath will prompt you to save. Here you will select that you want to publish to a SharePoint server and click next. Enter the URL to the form library that you wish to save the form to and click next.The next screen you will need to select document library, and hit next. It is OK to leave the check box for Form Services checked if you are running Form Services. Next you want to update an exisiting form library. Select the appropriate library and hit next. Then hit next and then Publish.

After the form is successfully published go ahead and give it a test. Using InfoPath you can simply click preview at the top or go into SharePoint and click new in your document library. After saving the form you should have something like this in SharePoint.

Have fun!

After reading several articles about the built-in Workflow in SharePoint, I wanted to reach out and set a more advanced example. Many articles always state the obvious approval workflow, or check in/out. Well there is much more that can be done with ease. Why other authors do not discuss these, I don’t know, lack of knowledge, who knows. So here we go.

1. Using workflow with data in a document or form library.

When storing a document in SharePoint, by default there is not any meta-data entered. These have to be configured with custom columns. Not a difficult ordeal. Simply create a document library, and add columns to the library. Now when you upload a document you will be asked to enter the information pertaining to the document.

So now you can select a type of article like Customer, Management, HR, etc. This tells users more information about that document without opening it. You can add as many columns as needed to describe the data. This also creates more content for the search to index, better qualifying your document for best results.

Now once you have selected a type you now have data to work with. Using SharePoint Designer you can create a workflow for that library. You can make this workflow react based on that information. For example, when a document is uploaded and the article type is HR, then you can start an approval process only to HR, or whomever is selected in the data. A workflow can also write the data associated with the file if that is needed.

If this were an InfoPath form you would add the columns in the InfoPath publishing wizard.

Instead of uploading you can use your own document template living in SharePoint. Notice what happens in Word when you create a new document directly from SharePoint. You have the option of completing these fields directly in Word and they will be published into SharePoint with the document when it is saved. Requirements can also be configured in SharePoint.

***Caution – If a workflow is enabled using this information variables must be set in the workflow to guarantee that the document is complete and ready for the process to start. Even creating a column that must be checked for the workflow to start would be sufficient.

2. Manipulating data in SharePoint Lists

One of the nice features of SharePoint is the ability to create your own custom lists. This is a very simplified usage of forms without using InfoPath. It has many limitations however that we don’t need to discuss. We will go ahead and use a guestbook list as an example here. This guestbook will be for a wedding and we will have thank you emails sent automatically 7 days after the wedding.

Start by creating a custom list in SharePoint. “Title” is a default column name in SharePoint, and can be changed to a different name on the list. We will change that to Last Name and create several other colums, First Name, Relationship (drop down list), email address, and guest names. Additionally we will need to create a calculated value column which reads:

=Modified+”7″

This formula will make a date that is 7 days after the modified date.

Your list should look something like the image to the right. Now open SharePoint Designer and create a new worflow. Set the condtion to be a compaison of data and set as Email Date is equal to Today. This will make the workflow wait to send email until then.

The action needs to be set to email a message. The “To:” field is the email address entered in the form. You can even get creative with the names. Remember the guest names that were asked to be entered? Well you can set an else if condition also which states that if the guest name field is not empty to send a different message which would include all the names in the greeting.

These are two very simple examples of uses with SharePoint workflow. Many other functions are available without writing code. All of these features can be used to create many different applications for SharePoint like a support ticket system, remiders and more. Many of these are never mentioned and should be.

Advanced? Check out the things you can do with adding a third party workflow solution like K2 BlackPearl!

Part 2 of SharePoint Workflow next week!

All businesses use paper in one way or another for purchasing, receipts, orders, time sheets. These forms are usually custom printed with a logo, and pertaining information for that company. Some of these forms once they are completed are either stored in a box or manually entered into a computer. Why not just knock out 90% of that hassle and have the forms digital from the start. Not only will you save money from buying paper, you will also be one step closer to being a greener company which is a big deal these days.

Several options are available right off the bat without really having to have some professional design help. Microsoft Office has many contributed templates that others have submitted available to download for free. Some of these templates are word orders, time sheets, asset tracking, etc. Adding your logo is very simple. Microsoft has made InfoPath very simple to use for the basic functions. If you can use Microsoft Word, then you can customize basic features of InfoPath. Once this form is filled out it can be saved and sent where it needs to go via email or folder share.

More advanced option would be to save the form directly in SharePoint. Speaking of SharePoint, what about a simple Punch In/Out site on MOSS or WSS where employees just go to a site on your intranet and click a button. When the day is done, go back to the site, click punch out, and supply information if needed. Let SharePoint calculate the time spent on the job. SharePoint knows who is visiting the page so there is no need to identify the employee. You can also just simply create a custom list in SharePoint where a user enters the required information.

An even more advanced option for larger organizations is to build custom forms for orders, time sheets, and others that are stored in SharePoint and require an approval process. Many of which could be attached to a workflow to automate the process. For example when a time sheet is submitted for approval, it is sent automatically to the manager, and then once approved there all the time is recorded in SharePoint and payroll only has to verify the information and get a check completed.

There are many different variables that can be programed to ease business. Many of which only need to be done once and then they run for years so the overhead is very low and the ROI is very high due to maintenance. This also increases the time spent everyday doing business. Instead of manually taking down all the information for an order and then walking over and faxing or handing over to another person, have a computer do it instantly for each order. That saves a huge amount of time and money for business owners.

Find out more by looking at our solutions or contact us for more details.

Written by: Cory (cory@jimirig.com)

Recently I was searching the web for workflow and found many different types. Workflow is automation to be plain and simple. Think of it sort of like an assembly line, different parts get put together by a machine and then BAM! you have a finished product or process. Adobe has workflow, Microsoft, IBM, K2, and they all serve a different purpose. Here at Jimirig, we specialize in Microsoft workflows, and K2 workflow, using Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft InfoPath. The way that we use it is for business process automation. We aren’t building cars. Business workflows are organzied to streamline some activities in business and create more effiecient processes. Workflows can also be designed to make business decisions. An example of that would be purchase orders, if the requested amount is less than $10,000.00, approve, if more, notify a manager for approval. That is a very simple example since the technology can do much more.

Some businesses depending on that they do could use a different technology to achieve efficiency. Some may be fine just using SharePoint workflows, which can do many things with documents, lists, etc. Document approvals, email notification, retention. Others may need more “umph” for the process and may use more advanced workflow built on the Micrsoft Windows Worfkflow Foundation in .Net or K2 BlackPearl for even more robust workflows which can tap into different systems like SharePoint, BizTalk, SAP, or Oracle. All depends on the situation. Workflow is still a young technology so-to-speak even though it has been around for quite some time.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A workflow is a depiction of a sequence of operations, declared as work of a person, work of a simple or complex mechanism, work of a group of persons,^[1] work of an organization of staff, or machines. Workflow may be seen as any abstraction of real work, segregated in workshare, work split or whatever types of ordering. For control purposes, workflow may be a view on real work under a chosen aspect,^[2] thus serving as a virtual representation of actual work. The flow being described often refers to a document that is being transferred from one step to another.

A workflow is a model to represent real work for further assessment, e.g., for describing a reliably repeatable sequence of operations. More abstractly, a workflow is a pattern of activity enabled by a systematic organization of resources, defined roles and mass, energy and information flows, into awork process that can be documented and learned.^[3][4] Workflows are designed to achieve processing intents of some sort, such as physical transformation, service provision, or information processing.

Workflow concepts are closely related to other concepts used to describe organizational structure, such as silos, functions, teams, projects, policies and hierarchies. Workflows may be viewed as one primitive building block of organizations. The relationships among these concepts are described later in this entry.

The term workflow is used in computer programming to capture and develop human to machine interaction. Workflow (management) software aims to provide end users with an easier way to orchestrate or describe complex processing of data in a visual form, much like flow charts but without the need to understand computers or programming.