Need help with Infopath to XML/webpage

[Mike]

Hi guys,

I'm a novice Infopath user and I know very little about HTML and less abut
XML. So that sets the stage.

Here's what I'm trying to do:
I want to use Infopath to allow my peers and I to create and manage a
growing library of media items. These are essentially links to content items
(videos) that exist elsewhere. There's enough metadata to allow content
managers to accurately tag the items (topic, title, image--linked externally,
date, etc.).

So far so good--I've even been able to add a "Filter by topic" drop down
that hides content items that do not match the filter selected by the user,
as well as a search feature.

Where I'm running into trouble is in the end-user application. It cannot be
an Infopath form--it has to appear as an embedded web part on a SharePoint
site. What I'm trying to do is preview the form, enter my content items, save
it as an XML file, and import that XML into Expression Web. I can do
this--and the data does show up--but I *lose the filter and search boxes
altogether.* I can add them manually, but they don't do anything.

So my first questions (and believe me I have more, I'm just hoping to get
traction with ths first. ) are:
1. Is there any *easy* way to get the filter and search functionality to
function in this Preview-->XML-->web application?
2. Should I be doing this a different way altogether?

Thanks in advance for all your help!
Mike

 

[Ed Thurber]

Mike:

This sounds simillar to something i was playing aroud with the other day.

There is an XML Webpart. it accepts a path to an XML file (the file created
by your infopath form) and an XSL file.

create the view in infopath (it sounds like you already have this)
save the form to your file system using the "Save as source files..."
option.
in the directory that is created you will find several XSL files. Find the
one that is for the view you want to render. you can either copy this file
into sharepoint and enter the URL in the "XSL link" field on the webpart or
you can copy the contents of the file and paste it into the "XSL editor" on
the webpart.

make sure when you create the view that you are only using browser
compatable controlls or they will not render.

hope this helps

Ed Thurber

 

[Mike]

So Ed, that rules out using thumbnail images, correct? When I tried adding
the xml/xsl directly into sharepoint before I had either my text all jumbled
together (without the XSL added) or just the filter and search fields with
nothing else (title, topic, etc.) available with the XSL added.

Any idea what would cause that?

 

[Ed Thurber]

no, sorry. i am a real newbie when it comes to XSL. i had just been
playing with the XML webpart with a very flat XML file. Used infopath to
generate a simple XSL to view the file.

as for thumbnails. if the control is not available in browser forms then i
am pretty sure is will not work if you try to use it. I tried the
master/detail controls and they didn't show up at all on the view.

 

[Mike]

So Ed, do you need both the XML and the XSL or is it one or the other?