Q: InfoPath Designer 2010 message says "By default this control will send data to the server whenever its value changes"

Problem: InfoPath Designer 2010 displays a message stating: “By default this control will send data to the server whenever its value changes. Reason: It uses the following expression requiring server-evaluation: . This can lead to effects that can be evaluated only on the server.”

Following that message, the instruction in the dialog box states, “To change the options for sending data to the server, modify the postback settings on the Browser Forms tab in the control properties dialog box. Some controls do not support these settings.”

Here’s an example of what the message and dialog box look like.

One cause of this problem: You changed the URL to the External List where the InfoPath form is published. The instructions in the dialog box to resolve this issue will not work.

Solution: Fix the List URLs in the manifest.xsf file and republish the form

To complete this task, extract the files in the InfoPath form XSN. You can manually extract the files in a number of ways:

1.       Rename the .xsn file to .cab, double-click the cab and drag and drop the component files to a file location.

2.       Within InfoPath 2010 Designer, click File, then click Publish and finally, click Export Source Files

3.       Use the Microsoft File Expansion utility (expand.exe) to extract the component files.

Once the files are extracted, open the manifest.xsf file in a text editor and adjust all URLs that point at the target list to the new URL of the External List. Save the xsf file and then use the Cabinet Maker utility (makecab.exe) to repackage the xsn. The process of creating a cabinet file requires that you create a DDF (diamond directive file) so that makecab.exe knows how to process your request.

In the November 2010 issue of SharePointPro Connections, we will be publishing an article on speeding InfoPath Form deployment that contains a script showing how to expand and create a cabinet file using PowerShell. It should be available by Halloween in print (subscribe for free) and on the website at InstantDoc ID 125998.

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