Forum Discussion
Published InfoPath Form Not Appearing in SharePoint
I think I just may be confused on exactly what publishing a form to Sharepoint is? I assumed if I created a form then published it, the user would see the "form" ie the Form Name that they could click on, the form opens in a browser and they fill it out. I foresee many forms listed in this form library that I could then either use folders or Content Types to filter, however, I can't even get one to show.
After I've published it, the "form" file does not show in my library. If I go to New > Form it then opens the form I published, which doesn't make sense. I"m not creating a new form I want to fill in the one I published.
As well, if I uploaded a bunch of test ones, where are they listed so I can delete them?
Hi Mercedes,
Ok so there are a few things here. When you create a form library and you create an InfoPath form and publish to it, you are creating a template for users to fill out when they want to create and submit a form. Every single list and library in SharePoint uses content types, whether you see them or not. You just may not be using custom ones. When you publish your IP form template, you are updating the template of the default Form content type in the Form document library.
Then to use it, users just go to the library and click New -> Form and the web form should open, they fill out and submit it. This is all assuming that the IP form has a submit data connection. This is all assuming you want the generated output to a submitted form file in a library. You can have a list and customize with InfoPath, though the current strongly recommended way is PowerApps. Do you see your form if you click New -> Form? When you publish, you will not see your template in your library. That is behind the scenes in the content type as a template. Only forms submitted with your template will show as documents in the Forms library. Hope that helps.
This is the confusing part: "Then to use it, users just go to the library and click New -> Form and the web form should open, they fill out and submit it. "
I have one library. Can I not have 5-6 forms in it? When they click on New > Form, where do they pick which of the 5-6 forms I've created before filling it out?
"This is all assuming you want the generated output to a submitted form file in a library. "
We don't want any of the "filled in data" to be saved in SharePoint. I have a simple form with a Submit (submit is to email) that we want users to fill in that are emailed to different people, depending on the the form.
"Do you see your form if you click New -> Form? " When I click on New > Form it just opens the last form I uploaded.
Here is what I just did as a test. I created Test and Test 2 forms (well I guess they are templates as there is no way to create a single form with IP). I published BOTH to the same library in SP called FillableForms. When I go into Site Contents, FillableForms show 0 items. When I go File > New Form It opens Test2 form. Where is Test 1? What if I have 10 forms I need to be available to be filled in?
I don't understand why this is so complicated with Microsoft. If I owned Adobe Acrobat Pro, I would create the fillable form with a submit button to email, save as as pdf, then drag and drop the pdf to a library in SharePoint. Done. Simple. Easy. Separate forms listed as separate files. Why can't we do the same?
Mercedes,
It sounds like Microsoft Forms might be a better alternative for you. It is much less complex (albeit less flexible) but might meet your needs. I wasn't aware that you were just having it email and not submit. The library will always show 0 items because you're not submitted forms to that library - you are emailing them so there are no submitted forms to store. In SharePoint, it's a 1:1 relationship between forms and content types. If you want 6 forms, you need 6 content types. You would do that if the forms are completely different, but if they are very similar or part of the same process, I would strongly recommend using 1 form template and using views for different parts of your form. The reason you're seeing Form2 is because Form1 got overwritten by the last form you published. Again, this is because you have 1 content type, and 1 content type can only have 1 template. If you want 2, you would go to Site Settings -> Site content types, create a new one based on the Document / Form parent, then add that to the library, and publish your forms to that. In your case, typically I've seen where the Form library is called Form Templates, and you create however many content types for your forms. Again, 1 content type per form. You ONLY have to do all this if you want it to be a WEB form. If you are fine with folks using InfoPath, then you don't need SharePoint at all. SharePoint is only using the web form, and to do that, it publishes the form to a content type. I'm sorry but SharePoint and IP just does not work like Acrobat where it is a file sitting in a library with no infrastructure behind it.
This is where MS Forms might work great for you. If Acrobat Forms work great for you, why not use them? Use whatever the best tool for the job. Use MS Forms if you have fairly simple needs. Use Adobe Acrobat if you like. IP is (well was) very flexible and had its uses which is now replaced with PowerApps so use that IP if you need a powerful custom form. InfoPath is dead as of version 2013, it's just kept in for compatibility purposes.
Say I have 5 forms and create 5 content types. Where do I SEE the list of the 5 forms in SP? Why is a user going to File > NEW when they are not creating a new form? They need to fill in an existing form. I do not understand who designed this as it is completely nonsensical for FORMS. Don't support InfoPath FORMS if you cannot quickly fill out a form.