How to create a SharePoint State Machine Workflow: Part 3 - Create the task form

In Part 3, we will create the workflow's task form. In Part 4, we will configure this form to be called as the task form.

1. load Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007
2. Under Design a form, click Design a Form Template, click Blank, then click OK
3. click Insert, Layout Table..., 2 columns, 3 rows, click OK
4. add three buttons to the right column, last row
5. in Design Tasks, click Data Source
    a. double-click myFields and rename it to TaskForm and click OK
    b. right-click TaskForm and click Add...
    c. for name, type status
    d. click OK
6. double-click the first button
   a. change Label to Approve
   b. click Rules...
   c. click Add...
   d. click Add Action...
   e. select Submit using a data connection from dropdown
   f. click Add...
   g. be sure Create a new connection to submit data is selected and click Next
   h. select To the hosting environment, such as an ASP.NET page or a hosting application
   i. leave Submit as the name for the data connection and click Finish
   j. click OK
   k. click Add Action...
   l. select Set a field's value
   m. click icon to the right of the Field textbox
   n. click status and click OK
   o. for value, type: accepted
   p. click OK
   q. click Add Action...
   r. select Close the form from the dropdown
   s. uncheck If changes have not been saved...
   t. click OK
   u. click OK
   v. click OK
   w. click OK
7. double-click the second button
   a. change Label to Reject
   b. click Rules...
   c. click Add...
   d. click Add Action...
   e. select Submit using a data connection from dropdown
   f. click Add...
   g. be sure Create a new connection to submit data is selected and click Next
   h. select To the hosting environment, such as an ASP.NET page or a hosting application
   i. leave Submit as the name for the data connection and click Finish
   j. click OK
   k. click Add Action...
   l. select Set a field's value
   m. click icon to the right of the Field textbox
   n. click status and click OK
   o. for value, type: rejected
   p. click OK
   q. click Add Action...
   r. select Close the form from the dropdown
   s. uncheck If changes have not been saved...
   t. click OK
   u. click OK
   v. click OK
   w. click OK
8. double-click the third button
   a. change Label to Cancel
   b. click Rules...
   c. click Add...
   d. click Add Action...
   e. select Close the form from the dropdown
   f. uncheck If changes have not been saved...
   g. click OK
   h. click OK
   i. click OK
   j. click OK
9. in left column, first row, type: Instructions
10. in left column, second row, type: Comments
11. in the right column, first row, drop a text box control into it
    a. double-click the text box control
    b. change field name to txtInstructions
    c. click Display tab and check Multi-line
    d. click OK
    e. drag the bottom edge of the control down a little ways so a few lines of text will show
12. in the right column, second row, drop a text box control into it
    a. double-click the text box control
    b. change field name to txtComments
    c. click Display tab and check Multi-line
    d. click OK
    e. drag the bottom edge of the control down a little ways so a few lines of text will show
13. when the task form loads, we want txtInstructions to populate automatically with what was typed in
    to txtInstructions on the initiation form
    a. on the Desktop, create a file called ItemMetadata.xml (CASE IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!!!) with the following text in it:
       <z:row xmlns:z="#RowsetSchema" ows_txtInstructions="" />
    b. in Design Tasks, click Data Source, click Manage Data Connections... (near bottom)
    c. click Add
    d. click Create a connection to Receive data
    e. click Next
    f. be sure XML document is selected and click Next
    g. click Browse and select ItemMetadata.xml from Desktop
    h. click Next
    i. be sure Include the data as a resource file... is selected and click Next
    j. click Finish
    k. click Close
    l. double-click txtInstructions
    m. click the fx button next to the value text field
    n. click Insert Field or Group...
    o. change data source in drop down to ItemMetadata (Secondary)
    p. click :ows_txtInstructions
    q. click Ok
    r. click Ok
    s. click Ok
    Note: In the code that creates the tasks in the workflow, we will add txtInstructions to the task's
          ExtendedProperties and populate it with txtInstructions from the initiation form. ItemMetaData.xml
          will get this value from the task's txtInstructions property (added in ExtendedProperties) and will
          then populate the task form's txtInstructions textbox on load.
14. make form be able to open in a browser or in a client application
    a. in Design Tasks, click Design Checker, click Change Compatibility Settings...
    b. in the Compatibility category, check Design a form template that can be opened in a browser or InfoPath
    c. in the Security and Trust category, uncheck Automatically determine security level, click Full Trust
    d. click OK
15. save form in My Documents as PeerReviewTask.xsn
16. retrieve the form's id
    a. click File, Properties
    b. copy text in ID textbox into notepad to be used in a later step. it should look like this:
       urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:infopath:PeerReviewTask:-myXSD-2008-07-30T18-33-30
17. publish the InfoPath form
    a. click File, Publish
    b. select To a network location
    c. click Next
    d. browse to the workflow project's location and name the file PeerReviewTask.xsn
    e. click OK
    f. click Next
    g. delete the path in the textbox and click Next
    h. click Publish
    i. click Close

Posts in this series:
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Create the initiation form
Part 3: Create the task form
Part 4: Create the state machine workflow
Part 5: Add workflow history logging
Part 6: Add task notification emails