Plan deployment of administrator-approved form templates (Office SharePoint Server)

Applies To: Office SharePoint Server 2007

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Topic Last Modified: 2016-11-14

InfoPath Forms Services provides functionality that enables both administrators and users to deploy browser-compatible form templates. Browser-compatible form templates (.xsn files) created in the design mode of Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 can be opened in a Web browser from servers running InfoPath Forms Services. InfoPath form templates (.xsn files) created in Office InfoPath 2007 design mode can be converted into browser-enabled form templates that run on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. An administrator must deploy form templates that contain business logic such as a compiled, managed code DLL (form code); require full trust; or use a data connection that is managed by an administrator.

If your organization will deploy form templates that require administrator approval, you must consider several factors in your planning:

• Map out a review and testing strategy for the deployment of administrator-approved form templates. It is important that form templates that could potentially have a performance impact on the server or that contain business logic are thoroughly reviewed and tested prior to deployment to production systems. We recommend that as part of your planning process, you develop a design standard for form templates that defines best practices, guidelines, and mandatory requirements to be followed by designers of form templates. We recommend that you develop a review checklist for form templates that makes it easy for administrators to verify that new form templates comply with the standards you have established. Also note that any good testing process includes testing in a staging environment to verify that the form template works as expected and to measure the performance impact under load.

• You should make sure that administrators are available to approve forms in a timely fashion. This will help to reduce bottlenecks in the publishing cycle. Administrators who review and approve form templates should be familiar with the form template design process and have a good understanding of the networking environments to which the form template will be available once it has been deployed.

• You should carefully consider the approval workflow. If your organization will use form templates that perform sensitive operations, such as submitting data to databases or Web services, then you should ensure that your approval process allows for adequate technical review.

• You should have an accurate understanding of the difference between administrator-approved form templates and user form templates, and which form templates require deployment by an administrator.

• You should make sure your server configuration strategy enables the features you need to support the deployment of administrator-approved form templates.

• You should ensure that you understand how network and application security affect your organization's forms. For example, if a form will access databases in a different domain than the Office SharePoint Server 2007 server on which the form template resides, such a form template requires full domain trust. Therefore, it must be carefully reviewed by an administrator prior to deployment to confirm that the form template's code does not compromise your organization's security policies. Likewise, you should confirm that form template authentication and authorization have been properly configured.

• Determine whether new form templates that require administrator approval need to be created on a regular basis, and if so, ensure that the necessary procedures, personnel, and applications are in place to support the approval process.

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• Plan Sites and Features, Part 1

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See Also

Concepts

Plan what form templates are needed (Office SharePoint Server)
Plan deployment of form templates (Office SharePoint Server)