Chapter 3. Understanding Data
Getting to know the InfoPath Designer is very important if you're going to get the most benefit from the program. Getting to know and understand data is just as important. One of the main obstacles occurs when the data is not set up correctly, or logically.
A lot of users, and developers for that matter, treat the data side of forms management as they would Excel spreadsheets or Word documents. This is not said as a slam against either the products or the people. It is just truth. The reason for this dilemma is that people don't know any better. Users feel they don't have the time or capacity to learn the ins and outs of databases, and some developers feel they already know it enough.
This chapter covers data—primarily data used in databases. While you can use data without managing whole databases, having a good understanding of what databases, or in this case relational databases, are and how to work with them will help you create forms that are more logical, powerful, and easy to work with. In this chapter you will
Be given a quick database primer.
Read about the databases to which InfoPath connects.
Be given an overview on XML.
Be introduced to Web services.
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