Create a SharePoint library or site content type for your form template

Many teams use Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services to collect information and share files. If this is the case in your organization, you can use a SharePoint site as a way for your users to share, track, and merge Microsoft Office InfoPath forms that they fill out. For example, a sales team might use a SharePoint site as a place to fill out, save, and view data from sales report forms.

In this article

Before you begin

Introduction to creating libraries or site content types

Create a library when you publish a form template

Create a site content type when you publish a form template

Before you begin

When you publish a form template to a document library, every form that is created in that document library will be based on that form template. Publishing a form template to a document library lets you quickly deploy a single-use form, such as an informal survey to capture restaurant preferences for a team lunch.

If you publish a form template to a server that is running Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, you can also do the following:

Publish a form template as a site content type     When you publish a form template as a site content type, you enable users to assign multiple form templates to a single document library or to assign the form template to multiple libraries across a site collection. A site collection is a set of Web sites on a virtual server that have the same owner and share the administration settings. Each site collection contains a top-level Web site and can contain one or more subsites. There can be multiple site collections on each virtual server. Use a site content type when you want to widely reuse information or to enable the collection of data from many forms in a single place.

Enable users to edit fields by using a datasheet view    You can allow your users to add or edit data for a field by using a datasheet view or by editing the properties for a form in the document library. This enables users to add or update data for one or more forms without actually opening the forms.

Note: Datasheet views are enabled in the Web browser only for users who have Microsoft Office Access 2007 installed.

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Introduction to creating libraries or site content types

To create a library or a site content type, you must have access to a SharePoint site. You must also have the permissions to create a library or site content type on that site.

Support for libraries and site content types varies, depending on whether your server is running Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 or Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. Therefore, you should ask the server administrator if you are not sure which version of Windows SharePoint Services is running on the server.

The following information describes some of the differences between creating a document library or a site content type on a server that is running Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 or Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.

Windows SharePoint Services 2.0

When you publish a form template to a site that is based on Windows SharePoint Services 2.0, you create a form library. A form library is a folder in which a collection of forms that are based on the same form template is stored and shared. Each form in a form library is associated with user-defined information that is displayed in the content listing for that library.

To publish a form template to a form library on a site that is based on Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 2.0, you must belong to the Web designer site group on that site.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0

When you publish a form template to a site that is based on Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, you can create either a document library, which functions just like a form library in Windows SharePoint Services 2.0., or you can create a site content type for your form template. You must have at least Design permission on a Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 site to publish a form template to a document library or to create a site content type.

Note: To create a browser-enabled form template, you must publish your form template to a server that is running InfoPath Forms Services. Find links to more information about InfoPath Forms Services in the See also section.

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Create a library when you publish a form template

The following procedure describes how to create a library by publishing a form template to a server that is running Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 or Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.

1. Save your form template.

2. On the File menu, click Publish.

3. In the Publishing Wizard, click To a SharePoint server with or without InfoPath Forms Services, and then click Next.

4. In the Enter the location of your SharePoint or InfoPath Forms Services site box, enter the location of the SharePoint site, and then click Next.

5. On the next page of the wizard, click Document Library, and then click Next.

   Note: If you are publishing a browser-compatible form template to a SharePoint site, the Enable this form to be filled out by using a browser check box is unavailable. To create a browser-enabled form template, you must publish your form template to a server that is running InfoPath Forms Services. Find links to more information about InfoPath Forms Services in the See also section.

6. Click Create a new document library, and then click Next.

7. In the Name box, type a name for the document library.

8. Optionally, type a description in the Description box.

   The name and description of the form template will appear in the default view of the document library.

9. Do one of the following:

   Add a column

   1. Click Add.

   2. Do one of the following:

      • To add a new column to the document library, select the field whose data you want to appear in the column, select (None: Create new column in this library) in the Site column group list, and then type a name for the column in the Column name box.

      • To use an existing document library column or site column, select the category in the Site column group list, and then select a name in the Column name list.

        If you select a repeating field to display data in the document library, you can define how you want to display the field in the document library by clicking a value in the Function list. You can choose whether to display the first value in the field, the last value in the field, or a count of all of the occurrences of the field or whether to merge all of the values together.

        1. To enable users to add or edit data for this field by using a datasheet view or by editing the properties for a form in the document library, select the Allow users to edit data in this field by using a datasheet or properties page check box.

           Note: To use a datasheet view, users must have Microsoft Office Access 2007 installed on their computers.

   Remove a column

   1. Under Column Name, click the name of the field whose corresponding column you want to remove, and then click Remove.

   Modify a column

   1. Under Column Name, click the name of the field whose corresponding column you want to modify, and then click Modify.

   2. Do one of the following:

      • Type a new name for the column in the Column name box.

      • Select the category in the Site column group list, and then select a name in the Column name list.

        If you select a repeating field to display data in the document library, you can define how you want to display the field in the document library by clicking a value in the Function list. You can choose whether to display the first value in the field, the last value in the field, or a count of all of the occurrences of the field or whether to merge all of the values together.

        1. To enable users to add or edit data for this field by using a datasheet view or by editing the properties for a form in the document library, select the Allow users to edit data in this field by using a datasheet or properties page check box.

           Note: To use a datasheet view, users must have Microsoft Office Access 2007 installed on their computers.

10. When you finish choosing the columns for your library, click Next.

11. On the next page of the wizard, verify that the information is correct, and then click Publish.

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Create a site content type when you publish a form template

The following procedure describes how to create a site content type by publishing a form template to a server that is running Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.

1. Save your form template.

2. On the File menu, click Publish.

3. In the Publishing Wizard, click To a SharePoint server with or without InfoPath Forms Services, and then click Next.

4. In the Enter the location of your SharePoint or InfoPath Forms Services site box, type the location of the SharePoint site, and then click Next.

5. On the next page of the wizard, click Site Content Type (advanced), and then click Next.

   Note: If you are publishing a browser-compatible form template to a SharePoint site, the Enable this form to be filled out by using a browser check box is unavailable. To create a browser-enabled form template, you must publish your form template to a server that is running InfoPath Forms Services. Find links to more information about InfoPath Forms Services in the See also section.

6. Click Create a new content type, and then click Next.

7. In the Name box, type a name for the content type.

8. Optionally, type a description in the Description box.

   The name and description of the content type will appear in the list of Site Content Types that are available for the SharePoint site.

9. On the next page of the wizard, choose a location for the form template, and then click Next.

10. Do one of the following:

    Add a site column

    1. Click Add.

    2. Do one of the following:

       • To add a new column to the document library, select the field whose data you want to appear in the column, select (None: Create new site column) in the Site column group list, and then type a name for the column in the Column name box.

       • To use an existing site column, select the category in the Site column group list, and then select the name in the Column name list.

         If you select a repeating field to display data in the document library, you can define how you want to display the field in the document library by clicking a value in the Function list. You can choose whether to display the first value in the field, the last value in the field, or a count of all of the occurrences of the field or whether to merge all of the values together.

         1. To enable users to add or edit data for this field by using a datasheet view or by editing the properties for a form in the document library, select the Allow users to edit data in this field by using a datasheet or properties page check box.

            Note: To use a datasheet view, users must have Microsoft Office Access 2007 installed on their computers.

    Remove a site column

    1. Under Column Name, click the name of the field whose corresponding column you want to remove, and then click Remove.

    Modify a site column

    1. Under Column Name, click the name of the field whose corresponding column you want to modify, and then click Modify.

    2. Select the field, and then do one of the following:

       • Type a new name for the column in the Column name box.

       • Select the category in the Site column group list, and then select a name in the Column name list.

         If you select a repeating field to display data in the document library, you can define how you want to display the field in the document library by clicking a value in the Function list. You can choose whether to display the first value in the field, the last value in the field, or a count of all of the occurrences of the field or whether to merge all of the values together.

         1. To enable users to add or edit data for this field by using a datasheet view or by editing the properties for a form in the document library, select the Allow users to edit data in this field by using a datasheet or properties page check box.

            Note: To use a datasheet view, users must have Microsoft Office Access 2007 installed on their computers.

11. When you finish choosing the columns for your site content type, click Next.

12. On the next page of the wizard, verify that the information is correct, and then click Publish.

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