Microsoft Office InfoPath 2010

There are 3 fundamental parts to InfoPath, two of which you need to master to be able to learn and master the basics of InfoPath.

The first is are data sources, of which the Main InfoPath data source is the primary one you need to understand and use. The Main data source houses fields, which are bound to controls on an InfoPath form. The fields have data types, which by themselves can be used for data validation in InfoPath. The Main data source defines the final XML of your form, and the document that you will be either storing somewhere or passing to another system. So understanding the Main data source is key to learning InfoPath.

The second fundamental part is rules. Rules can be seen as the business logic you declare in an InfoPath form. This business logic can be declared on the form itself or on controls. You do not need to know how to write code to work with rules. All you need to learn is how to construct formulas, how to use InfoPath functions, and how to add conditions to rules.

The third and last part to learn InfoPath is coding. If you have certain functionality in InfoPath that cannot be done through the first or second fundamental parts of InfoPath, you can opt to write code to get this functionality in InfoPath. Coding is not a fundamental part of InfoPath, but can be seen as advanced add-on to extending functionality offered through InfoPath.

The InfoPath 2010 Cookbook takes you on a journey to learn InfoPath the easy way through step-by-step tutorials from the ground up. In it, you will learn how to master the first two fundamentals parts of InfoPath 2010 through 101 step-by-step tutorials. This InfoPath 2010 book will teach you how to create InfoPath forms without writing code.

If you are totally new to InfoPath 2010, you may want to know what lies ahead if you want to learn it. The InfoPath 2010 learning curve looks something like the following:

1. Learn how to create a new form template.
2. Learn what views are and how to work with them.
3. Get familiar with the controls in InfoPath.
4. Learn what the difference is between fields and controls.
5. Learn what rules are, what types of rules are available, and how to add them to controls.
6. Learn how to get data into an InfoPath form from an external data source.
7. Learn how to set up a connection to submit an InfoPath form to a particular destination.
8. Learn how to publish a form template.

These basics are covered in the first 6 chapters of the InfoPath 2010 Cookbook mentioned above. And the following article summarizes some of the most common things you'll have to learn: Introduction to designing a form in InfoPath 2010.

Those are the basics you will have to master to be able to work with InfoPath 2010. Once you have the basics covered, it is time to move onto integrating InfoPath with other applications such as SharePoint Designer 2010 and SharePoint 2010.

Where SharePoint 2010 is concerned, once you've mastered the basics, it is then time to learn:

1. How to create an InfoPath browser form.
2. How to set up and configure a SharePoint Form Library.
3. How to set up an InfoPath form template to be submitted to a SharePoint Form Library.
4. How to publish an InfoPath form template as a content type.
5. How to create an InfoPath form template so that data can be submitted to a SharePoint List.

Much of the process has not changed going from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010, so this list of InfoPath SharePoint articles can help you get started with using InfoPath in or with SharePoint.

InfoPath 2010 Cookbook 2 is a beginner to intermediate level book that teaches you how to work with SharePoint list forms, SharePoint form library forms, SharePoint lists, SharePoint Designer 2010 workflow forms, document information panels, in addition to integrating InfoPath 2010 with Word 2010, Access 2010, and Excel 2010 through SharePoint 2010. It consists of 101 step-by-step tutorials in cookbook-style (having a Problem-Solution-Discussion) format. This book does not make use of code and is not for developers or administrators.