InfoPath the right application?

[redsanders]

Each year our school district must create and submit a District Improvement
Plan (DIP) to the State. A number of district offices must submit their
portion of the DIP, leading to one final compiled document. Users are to
organize their data in a table-like format with 9 columns, such as Strategy;
Implmementation timeline; Personnel responsible, etc.

Last year, an individual in our district attempted to utilize InfoPath and a
SharePoint server to collect and compile these data. Users were to log in to
the SharePoint server and add their data to a pre-designed form. It was a
MESS! Log-in times were measured in minutes. Data was lost, overwritten,
etc.

My question - was this the right approach, or are these applications
inappropriate for this task?

Looks like I will inherit this task. Most users would bristle if told we
will be using InfoPath agan - unless I can demonstrate that this IS the right
approach, and that past problems have been eliminated. I pose this question
here since I am unfamiliar with these two applications. However, I have a
lot of experience of learning new applications to meet district needs -
especially Microsoft products. Advice is most appreciated!

 

[Clay Fox]

InfoPath is the best electronic forms solution. However, your infrastructure
and connectivity, etc can play a part in the performance. There are some
known limitations with SharePoint and how you architect the form could also
play a part in your issues too.

We specialize in improving enterprise form solutions which typically are
poor performers with SharePoint.

Check out the Database Accelerator at http://www.qdabra.com

It is a free download and gives you a centralized server to host your forms
but actually stores the form in SQL.

I can show you a demo of some similar solutions if you are interested.

--
Thanks

Clay Fox

Qdabra Software
http://www.qdabra.com

InfoPathDev.Com
The Largest InfoPath Forum in the World
http://www.infopathdev.com

 

[Kalyan G Reddy MVP (GGK Tech)]

Hello

You have to built a New Infopath Form from Dataconnection (SQL in your case)
and store the data in the Db and also save the forms to Sharepoint Server.
Visit MSDN site and Practice Infopath labs especially working with
Dataconnections and Webservices.