InfoPath Work Flow Approval Routing based on data entered

[BLancaster]

We are currently looking into using InfoPath for our forms needs. However,
we need to make sure the Work Flow will work the way we need before we invest
too much time in researching InfoPath. Is there a way to have a form use a
particular Work Flow for Approval based on what data has been entered in on
the form.

For example the field Location says AES. We want that form to go to the
principal of that school and then to the appropriate HR staff. If the
location says LCE we want it to go to the principal of that school first and
then to HR. I did read of a scenario about a form being created from a
template specifically for a group. However, does that mean I would have to
create a form based on that template for every location/department? What we
would like to do is use the same form and have the form route based on the
location and/or a combination of how fields were filled in. Is this
possible? Any help you give is greatly appreciated.

 

[Clay Fox]

Hi Barb.

Definetly you can build one form with all of the logic for the routing.
Workflow can be simple or complex so some of what you need will depend on the
exact flow. It may take some additional components. What you describe looks
pretty basic.

What version of InfoPath do you have? Do you have SharePoint?

If you would like to see some examples of InfoPath workflow let me know.
You can email me from here http://www.infopathdev.com/members/clayfox.aspx

 

[BLancaster]

Thanks for the quick response. We have not yet purchased SharePoint and we
currently are using Office 2003. We will, however, be going to Office and
SharePoint 2007. All of this is new to us and I am only able to go by what I
am reading on the internet. So any help I can get with what exactly we will
need to purchase will be greatly appreciated. Also, we would like to be able
to do some reporting on the data collected on the forms. So, I also think we
will need some type of WebServices but not 100% sure on that. You can contact
me via E-Mail at (e-mail address removed)12.fl.us if you have any further
information or post the info here. Again thanks for any help you can give
me.

 

[Gavin McKay]

Hello,

As Clay mentioned, you can definitely implement a number of workflow
solutions. There are a number of ways to implement workflow with infopath
and Sharepoint and it really depends on what you want to achieve. Sharepoint
comes with basic wofklow functionality out-of-the-box, there are many
third-party plug-in workflow components, and of course you can build your own
using Windows Workflow Foundation or other solutions.

RE reporting that depends on where your data will be stored. If you are
storing your information in SQL Server then you have SQL Server Reporting
Services or anything that can connect to and interrogate SQL Server data
(Microsoft Access, Excel, anything ODBC-compliant, etc.). If you are storing
the data in Sharepoint, then there are a couple of Sharepoint add-ons you can
use to report on this data.

HTH

Gavin.