Qdabra Quarterly Newsletter January 2012

Are you wary of wading into the deep end with InfoPath and SharePoint? Worried about how to herd your growing flock of forms into a cohesive whole? What about those rogue forms lurking in the mist? Now is a good time to consider the big picture. You may need policies to ensure consistency and compliance among your expanding pool of InfoPath forms. A short internal training program can be a first step in this direction. Combining a short training seminar with a compliance checklist can reduce your costs and raise the quality of your solutions. We recently created Qdabra’s Quick Start InfoPath seminar. It’s just five 30-minute sessions and the price is right at $250 per person. You learn the key techniques to build scalable, low-cost InfoPath solutions and you also receive reference materials, sample forms and a ready to go solution to measure compliance. The sessions are listed below. We expect classes to fill up quickly. Reserve your spot today by filling out our online form here. Our free weekly webinars continue in 2012. Every Thursday at 8 am PST we do a quick 20 minute demo and presentation covering a key technique or best practice. Yes, we are now recording the most popular webinars and will make them available on our YouTube Qdabra site. We’re also planning a Forms Wiki for 2012. You will be able to download the most popular forms, XML template parts, and hands-on-labs – all for free! Happy New Year! --Patrick Halstead, Qdabra Founder and InfoPath MVP

News and Announcements

qRules v3.4 released

qRules helps you create powerful forms with all the features that custom code provides, but none of the maintenance that custom code requires.

New with qRules 3.4:

• SaveToPath - Saves the main or a secondary data source's XML to a local file
• CreateDirectory - Creates a local directory
• DeleteFile - Deletes a local file
• ChangeConnectionUrl - Changes the URL for a data connection (webservice, XML file, etc.)

Also includes updates to popular commands:

• Insert command is now iterative.
• Improved exception messages returned by SaveToSharePoint.
• and more...

Learn more and download the trial version of qRules for free here.

DBXL 2.6 released

DBXL is a Web service you can use to map your forms into a SQL database. Reporting on your InfoPath forms has never been easier than with Qdabra's DBXL.

New with DBXL 2.6:

• XML to XML Mapping: DBXL supports submitting XML from one form to another, without code.
• Apps Web Part: Create an iconic app interface for your forms
  
• Improvements to the Standalone Dashboard, including better performance

InfoPath Tools

New value packs are available as well as additional XTPs!

Value Pack Plus

Quickly add common features to InfoPath without write code with qRules. Use these template parts in your InfoPath forms right away – simply customize as needed. Each XTP comes with documentation to guide you towards building advanced end-to-end InfoPath solutions. Click here for more information.

XTP Value Pack

These template parts can go to work in your InfoPath forms right away – you can customize them to your needs. Each XTP comes with documentation to guide you towards building advanced end-to-end InfoPath solutions. Click here fore more information.

InfoPath Help

InfoPath Quick Start class

Qdabra is offering a new course, "InfoPath Quick Start" which runs 30-minutes per day for one week.

• Sessions:
  • Create a SharePoint forms factory – learn simple out of the box techniques to go from 5 to 50 forms
  • Design forms that flex – learn how data-driven design can reduce costs as your form needs change
  • Reduce maintenance costs – see how a common library can contain costs among your forms
  • Enforce consistency and compliance – see how a simple checklist process can steer new forms in the right direction
  • Integrate with backend processes – see how one Web service is all you need to connect to your cloud databases
• Scheduled on Feb 6 - 10, 2012
• Cost: $250

Contact us for "Quick Start" and customized classes.

Free weekly webinars

Tune in to this free series of weekly webinars and learn how you can unleash the hidden power of InfoPath. Content varies from beginner to advanced and includes how to use Qdabra Database Accelerator (DBXL) for quick and easy reporting and use of the unique commands in Qdabra qRules. If you haven’t had a chance, you can register today.

• Weekly Webinar: Thursday, from 8am PST

Qdabra on Channel 9

In this 4-part video series, complete with sample code and a Hands-on Lab (HOL) for guidance, you can learn from the InfoPath experts at Qdabra Software how to access external data sources in InfoPath 2010 - Accessing External Data Sources with InfoPath 2010: 4-part Channel 9 Video Series

Community Blog highlights Copying specific rows to nested repeating groups Show unique rows in a secondary repeating data source table - no code! How to iterate a qRules command Free Sample: Copying Repeating Data Use qRules to create unique form names How to retrieve the DocID for a submitted form qRules & Browser forms - Command order matters! How to Use Report Builder to Build Queries and Retrieve Data from DBXL

Thank you for your continued support!