How can I automate the process of deploying an InfoPath form on SharePoint Server 2007?

Question

It is a real pain to deploy my InfoPath 2007 forms from a designer in our SharePoint SharePoint environment. All of our forms require "full trust" because they include business logic written in C #. Here are the steps of the manual:

1) Run the Publish Form wizard in InfoPath, specifying the destination site to publish and location to save the xsn file.

2) Deactivate the existing version of the form from the functions of the site collection (if an older version exists).

3) Log in to the Administration Center on the development server. Go to Application Management → Manage Form Templates and download the xsn file.

4) Activate the form as a function of the site collection.

Does anyone have an idea how this can be automated? Maybe through stsadm?

Answer 1

You can pack InfoPath forms in SharePoint solutions (.wsp files). They can be deployed using STSADM. For more information:

• http://blogs.importchaos.com/alonsorobles/2008/06/04/creating-a-sharepoint-solution-for-an-infopath-form-template-deployment/#comments
• http://www.crsw.com/mark/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=37
• http://blah.winsmarts.com/2008-8-Deploying_InfoPath_2007_Forms_to_Forms_Server_-and-ndash_Properly.aspx

Answer 2

We can create our own service for deploying the InfoPath form on the Share Point server. I developed a service to solve my problem. I used the "STSADM" command to deploy the InfoPath form. You must understand the syntax of STSADM so that you can create a script to deploy the InfoPath form.

Here I summed up what I did. This may be helpful for you. I developed a web service that will build a script using STSADM and save it as a bat file and run a batch file using the Process command available in C #.

Answer 3

Another pair of options:

1) After starting the publish form wizard, use the batch file with stsadm commands in the following blog: http://sharenotes.wordpress.com/2008/03/18/using-stsadm-to-deploy-upgrade-update-infopath-forms -templates-with-managed-code-behind /

2) Use the InfoPath form deployment tool on Codeplex (or you can just use the tool to generate batch files): http://www.codeplex.com/InfoPathFormsInstall