Pro InfoPath 2007 (Expert's Voice) [Paperback]

Philo Janus (Author)

Book Description

Series: Expert's Voice | Publication Date: February 26, 2007

InfoPath tracks the dates, revisions, additions, etc., made to electronic forms in an organization. It works in conjunction with SharePoint, Access, and BizTalk.

Pro InfoPath shows .NET developers how to create electronic forms specific to various industries (medical, manufacturing, publishing, etc).

This book will cover using InfoPath to solve form problems for the developer. It will be a ground-up introduction to cover fundamentals and an in-depth review of how to solve more advanced problems using the new capabilities of InfoPath and InfoPath Forms Services.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Philo Janus graduated from the US Naval Academy with a BSEE in 1989 to face a challenging career in the US Navy. After driving an aircraft carrier around the Pacific Ocean, a guided missile frigate through both the Suez and Panama Canals, and serving in the US Embassy in Cairo, a small altercation between his bicycle and an auto indicated a change of career (many would say that landing on his head in that accident would explain many things).

His software development career started with building a training and budgeting application in Access 2.0 in 1995. Since then he’s worked with Oracle, Visual Basic, SQL Server, and .Net building applications for federal agencies, commercial firms, and conglomerates. In 2003 he joined Microsoft as a technology specialist evangelizing Office as a development platform.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (February 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590597303
• ISBN-13: 978-1590597309
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #159,313 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I started developing software with Access 2.0 in 1995 - so I definitely believe that every application needs a database. It's also the reason I get so passionate about SQL and normalized databases.

I've written workgroup applications in VB, and enterprise business processes in C#. The "little ERP tracking app" I built in ASP and Oracle became part of the SevenSpace Spyglass suite, which was bought by Sun Microsystems and blended into their enterprise IT management suite. (I suspect by the end the VBScript stuff may have been replaced, but I'm not positive)

I worked for Microsoft for six years as an Office Developer Evangelist, and was one of the first sales engineers in their BI group.

I've since left Microsoft, and now just tool around creating SharePoint architectures for government agencies.

And a big hello to bh28630!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rare specimen of readable technical writing, April 12, 2007

By 

William Prada - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pro InfoPath 2007 (Expert's Voice) (Paperback)

I had spent a week "getting up to speed" on InfoPath using the usual sources of information: MSDN and hit or miss Google searches and had ended embarrassingly uninformed about the product.

I have been developing software for 15 years and have never run across a development environment as poorly document as public domain body of work for InfoPath. The documentation that I had uncovered was for the most part blatant Microsoft marketing hype. There is a lot of information about the amazing capabilities of InfoPath but very little about actually utilizing them. The Ministry of Public Education in Redmond had done its job well.

I was approaching desperation when I ordered Janus's book. I sprung for the next day delivery and as promised, it was on my doorstep the following day. As it happened that had been a very long and frustrating day of wresting the subject of the book. In spite of my mental fatigue I eagerly opened the cardboard packaging. My expectations were low. Competent technical writing seems to have become a lost art. I was hoping for a few good tips to mitigate my frustration but what the book delivered was actually marvelously lucid writing and answers to the FAQ's that had been swimming around my in my head for the last week.

I read the book at one sitting and saw the brick wall that I had been butting up against clearly and methodically dismantled. In particular, complexity of InfoPath's security model was spelled out clearly and concisely.

I have long devoted precious shelf space to the books that shipped with Borland Object Oriented Pascal. I haven't used that language in many years but I considered the documents to be the last existing example of a good documentation package. I simply can't bear to get rid of it. I will now have to make space next to it for the Janus book.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Pro InfoPath 2007" useful for technical and business people alike, September 8, 2007

By 

Dana Hoffman (Connecticut, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pro InfoPath 2007 (Expert's Voice) (Paperback)

There are all too many technical books that are heavy on theory and light on "how to", or start out in an introductory fashion and then suddenly venture into highly technical territory without including the necessary background information needed to understand the content.

In "Pro InfoPath 2007", Philo Janus neatly avoids these pitfalls. Since he's writing about a product with whom most readers may not be familiar, he first answers the vital question, "What IS InfoPath?" with a comprehensive introduction to the product. Then Janus carefully outlines the capabilities of InfoPath and walks the reader through the steps necessary to create InfoPath forms in all kinds of environments; how to meet business needs in a myriad of situations; and most importantly, includes possible issues and limitations that one might encounter when using InfoPath and provides the necessary workarounds.

My own company has InfoPath installed but despite an enterprise-wide need for exactly what InfoPath does, is resistant to its use because of a fundamental lack of understanding of the software and how to best deploy it. A read of this book would convince them that they have a good product sitting on the shelf that would meet their needs and interface neatly with Sharepoint and other applications already in use.

Thumbs up to Philo Janus for a job well done.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great book., April 26, 2007

By 

Eric L. Yen (Covia, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pro InfoPath 2007 (Expert's Voice) (Paperback)

If you are doign anything with InfoPath 2007 then get this book!!! This book is an easy and informative read. The author even tries to make it his goal that this can be a weekend read. Not like your typical mind numbing rehash of the tech manuals. Philo not only describes what InfoPath 2007 is but gives real example that you can take into work.