routing/workflow

[sjackson]

we use infopath forms on sharepoint and we have a couple of forms that need
to get routed to different people for approval.

instead of each person emailing the next person who needs to approve, it is
there a way to have infopath send a notice or something to the next person on
the list?

thanks,

 

[S.Y.M. Wong-A-Ton]

Have you already looked into Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and
workflows? It has been built to deal with such scenarios.

Other than manually sending the form through email, you could make use of
alerts in SharePoint or add an extra email data connection to the form (if
you have not already done so) so that when the form is submitted to
SharePoint it also gets emailed to the following approver.

 

[Ameet Phadnis(e Tek Global Inc.)]

You can do this in current InfoPath also using User Roles and Submit Rules.
You will have to do the following to do it -
1. Create User Roles in InfoPath 2003
2. Under Submit you have to use the option of submit using Rules.
3. You will have to use the rules builder to specify which form gets emailed
to whom under what condition.

I have one article coming up sometime in couple of weeks on ASPalliance.com.
If you need a copy of the article please let me know.

Thanks,

 

[S-Man]

OK...first let me start by saying that I am not a programmer, and as
such, most of my solutions are not code based....

What I would try would be to create a route list:

Create a repeating table with three fields:

Field 1=autoincrementing number
Field 2=Drop down list box with all people who the form could be routed
to (preferrable pulled from an "external datasource"...maybe Active
Directory, maybe your HR system, or in my case, our help-desk system.)
Field 3=E-mail address text box which will be set by the selection of
the persons name in Field 2

Create a 4th field not in the repeating table that will contain the
NEXT number for the route list. This field does not have to be
displayed in the form, but will be present in the internal datasources
whose default value should be 1.

Now...when the person who fills out the form is ready to, have them
create the route list using that repeating table...this allows for
flexibility on the routing based upon department, form type, etc...

As each person hits the submit button the rules will do the following:

1. email the person whose field1 = field4
2. Increment field 4 by 1
3. Submit to Sharepoint
4. Close form

Give it a go!

 

[sjackson]

thanks i'll give it a try. my problem is i'm a hack, i have no training with
infopath it's all been just trial and error and now i'm the Infopath expert
in my company...
i'd love a copy of the article.

 

[sjackson]

thanks for the reply, i hate to ask but how do i auto increment in infopath?
as soon i learn how to increment i'll give your suggestion a try.

many thanks!

 

[S-Man]

Take a look at this article..
http://www.infopathdev.com/howto/tutorials/default.aspx?i=d663d7df90e94e65abb02632966e8127

 

[Ameet Phadnis(e Tek Global Inc.)]

The article will be posted on Monday on aspalliance.com. If the editor
doesn't change the mind it should be there. I will post the link over here
when it is posted.


Thanks,

 

[Ameet Phadnis(e Tek Global Inc.)]

Here is the article Link -

http://aspalliance.com/1036_Simple_Workflow_Process_Using_Microsoft_InfoPath_2003

 

[sjackson]

unfortuantely we have not upgraded to either of those yet BUT it is planned
for the future...
we do have a "sharepoint" expert but she's out on leave of absense. any idea
how hard it would be to change the way sharepoint handles notifications?
that seems like it could possibly solve my problem.


thanks,

Sjackson, if you are using Infopath 2007 and Sharepoint 2007 then you
should use the out of the box approval workflow. If the out of the box
workflow doesn't work for you then you can create the workflow in either
sharepoint designer or visual studio.

Maui Williams | Solution Developer II, MCSD.Net
Avanade | West Region
2211 Elliott Avenue, Suite 200 Seattle, WA 98121

-----Original Message-----
From: sjackson [mailto:[email protected]]
Posted At: Wednesday, October 18, 2006 8:58 AM
Posted To: microsoft.public.infopath
Conversation: routing/workflow
Subject: RE: routing/workflow

thanks i'll give it a try. my problem is i'm a hack, i have no training
with
infopath it's all been just trial and error and now i'm the Infopath
expert
in my company...
i'd love a copy of the article.

You can do this in current InfoPath also using User Roles and Submit Rules.
You will have to do the following to do it -
1. Create User Roles in InfoPath 2003
2. Under Submit you have to use the option of submit using Rules.
3. You will have to use the rules builder to specify which form gets emailed
to whom under what condition.

I have one article coming up sometime in couple of weeks on ASPalliance.com.
If you need a copy of the article please let me know.

Thanks,

--
Ameet Phadnis
Sr. Technical Consultant
e Tek Global Inc.
ASP Alliance Author Page: http://aspalliance.com/author.aspx?uId=44260