FMR: Microsoft InfoPath with some the Power of Microsoft Word.

[G. Tarazi]

It is a strange request but this is from our end users too.



We wrote an enterprise Application (InfoPath / SharePoint / SQL Server / C#)
to replace an old Lotus Notes / Windows application.



The end users of the new application, started using both applications in
parallel, and here are some of complaints about InfoPath:



1- InfoPath is Unable to handle the copy and paste as efficiently as
Microsoft Word or Lotus Notes (when pasting to rich text boxes), for
example, the end user will copy something from lotus notes, and he will be
able to paste it with no problems in Microsoft Word, but the formatting may
change when pasted in InfoPath.



2- There is no "paste special" for the rich text boxes.



3- InfoPath's rich text boxes are not providing the advantages of image
and text editing that is in Microsoft Word, and the end user expects all
Microsoft Applications to share the same amount of power.



4- We are using InfoPath to keep the application as a document (for the
end user), in other words it looks like a document to the end user, but it
is an application for (the business analyses people) (we are saving the
results to a database), but the problem here is that the end user is not
benefiting from that at all, his idea is to use the form as a document
(Lotus Notes does that, and it's 10 years old, why InfoPath does not), for
example, the end user would like to modify parts of the form at runtime
without affecting the form controls:

I will try to explain it as the following: Imagine the form is Word
document, the user is able to edit around the controls, and the data in the
controls, move the controls (with limitations, if the control is inside a
repeatable section, the control is limited to the section).
We are not interested about the data around the controls, we are interested
about the data that is in the controls (of course we will save all the data,
some to the database, and some as word format, or xhtml).
The idea goes further, in print preview for example, the end user would like
to have some of the pages portrait, and some of them landscape, and would
like to specify page brake at runtime for a specific from instance (inside
the rich text control, or outside the controls, in the form itself).

In other words, the end user is expecting the power of InfoPath (controls,
repeatable sections, deployment, etc.) and the flexibility of Microsoft Word
(advance editing, advance image manipulation, the possibility to work with
very large documents)



I know Microsoft Word is programmable, but it lakes the InfoPath UI and
deployment.



Thanks

 

[olivier]

It doesn't appear a so strange question, it's a growing need, I encounter
such requirements. We have also to consider that forms aren't build for
pleasure but as a shortcut to "help" machines understanding things that they
aren't able to understand as free text. This would suggest to forget heavy
fields and replace with recognition rules but according to translation
software, quite a long time seems to be required to do just a little as an 10
years old child. Forgetting those "metaphysics" consideration, Infopath could
propose "use word as editor" like Outlook does. Perhaps is it on the way,
sure it's difficult because of the xml translation underneath. Finally, when
I read you mail, I wonder also why the application didn't consider the fact
to use Word and add some fields in it. Anyway, this is not an answer, just to
say you're not alone, let's wait for authorized response.

 

[G. Tarazi]

Actually we did test Word 2003 last February (2004), but our main problem
was the limited controls available for that product, comparing to InfoPath,
and the limited deployment capabilities of the solution, and some other
problems.



In Word, you can import a schema to the Templates, and use that schema
elements in the text fields (which are actually the Microsoft Word Editor
itself, and that is exactly what we were looking for), but I was not able to
do the same with Combo Boxes, and other controls.



There are no native (or I was not able to find) combo boxes there, of course
I can use the VB controls that word has, but having 700+ controls on a Word
Document made it extremely, extremely slow.



But it is extremely fast with very large documents if you have only text
areas (not controls), just a text area linked to an XML schema.



And then I had more problems controlling the text and the areas, and I was
not able to get the repeatable sections that I had in InfoPath to Word,
maybe they have something similar, but I was not able to get it to work as
InfoPath.



Then I realized, as long as you don't use any control in Microsoft Word, and
use the schema and the base editing area, that product is very fast, once a
control touches the editing area, everything changes, it slows it down
immediately.



And there were deployment issues, we don't deploy the solution to every PC,
just one web site, it is a simple web site, you click on a link there, and
we build all the underlying xml from the database, and open it using a form
published on the web site.



Then when the form changes (and that happens once or twice a month)
redeployment is just updating the web site.



I was not able to do that with Word, or maybe it is possible, but not
straight forward and clear as InfoPath.



Using C# in word was also not that clear, everything is one type "object"
and you must guess by your self or read the documents to get an idea what is
the original type there, and that is a direct lost of developer
productivity, and tons of new bugs.