InfoPath and Sharepoint, and NOT SSRS?

• Duran

  SSChampion

  Points: 13259

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  September 26, 2016 at 11:02 pm

  #330496

  Hello,

  I wondered if I could ask the SSRS gurus here a question to make sure that NOT using SSRS is actually the right decision. There will most certainly be more info here than is required for what I am asking.

  I have been tasked with turning a paper form in to an e-form, it is currently a Word document. The form has a set of questions, which Project Managers will type in answers, and some of the questions will need to be answered using a drop down box, and a few will be multi-select. Ideally, a PM will bring up the page, fill it in, and everything will be saved into a SQL Database that I will create.

  I would like the PM to be able to open up the form at a later date to continue filling it in, or change things as circumstances dictate. A nice to have would be to enable them to either open up the form on their projects sharepoint site ( I suppose it could be added as a default form on any new project sites), or save it with the option to email the form to themselves to share (this could be a default action), or email the URL to themselves to then share. Part of the forms mandatory info is their email address, and general details, name etc..

  Originally I was asked to create this in SSRS, but from what I have read this would not work as well, especially went it comes to entering information, or even be possible in the first place as SSRS is really for presentation.

  Would it better to use Infopath or Sharepoint Developer, or both and publish to Sharepoint? I hear Infopath is getting retired, but supported until 2023. Is there are particular type of form I would create? It does not have to look mega pretty, my view is that should make it as similar to the original form as possible to aid adoption, and ease the transition. But will be creating reports of the form with SSRS for a more pleasant read-only viewing experience. I will be using the unique project number as a primary key in the database, the idea being that when SSRS is used, the user can type in the project number to retrieve the form, and perhaps any additional project related forms that may be added later.

  So judging by the details, am I correct with my chosen path, rather than trying to use SSRS to allow users to enter in information? I kind of feel as though anyone with good experience of SSRS will quite likely have experience with Sharepoint and maybe Infopath as well.

  Thank you in advance

  Regards,

  D.