InfoPath forms, where applicable and available, are a great way to improve the look and feel of your list forms and also for adding client side functionality like validation and rules. InfoPath forms disable the default SharePoint forms for new, edit and display item on a content type basis (ex. the Item content type, which is the basis of many lists). This default behavior is not desired in some cases and the ability to modify the display form (or at least use the default SharePoint version) is needed. One good example is a list that has a lookup to another list: the OOB behavior of the display form is to hyperlink the lookup value to its details form. In InfoPath form (all purpose form), this is not the case – you see the lookup like plain text. The fix is easy.
Open the list in SharePoint Designer. On the details page, in the Content Types section (lower left of the details pane), click Item (or the content type you are using). A new page opens with the content type settings. All you need to do is modify the Display Form (under Forms). Instead of ~list/item/displayifs.aspx (Item is the content type in this case), use ~list/dispform.aspx (or whichever display form you want to use). Save your changes (top left) and that’s it.
How To Set Focus To The First Field In An InfoPath Form Web Part
InfoPath Form Web Parts seems to be slightly different. If you have a form in a web part, the focus upon page load is not anywhere in the form even if you have the tab index set in InfoPath Designer. The first logical answer may be to use JQuery for this simple housekeeping task. After all, you make the end users life a little easier. Unfortunately, JQuery (element.focus()) won’t work, not even for any other control on a page that has the InfoPath web part (JQuery does work in other scenarios and other web parts and forms). InfoPath forms have additional script handlers and that could be the issue.
As I faced this scenario recently, I decided to check the good old JavaScript with a timer, so setTimeout way the way out. Add a content editor web part to the page, edit its source and type the following:
Of course, you need to substitute your own ID for the text box you want to give the focus (view source or use Dev tools to get that). When done, click OK and in the CEWP settings, set Hidden to true (check the box) in Layout.
Your page with the web part form should now load with your favorite element having the focus and the cursor is ready there (this may take a little while, try a value less than 1000 but small values may not work).
SharePoint 2010 Books
It is hard to cover all references on SharePoint 2010 in a short post, so this post only covers books. There are currently over 100 SharePoint 2010 books, including books that are not released yet, those in different languages or non-book format and those covering SharePoint Designer, InfoPath, Office 365 and directly related products.
You can find various sites with a few picks of SharePoint 2010 books, but the most complete list is the V4FAQ (http://wssv4faq.mindsharp.com/Lists/v4FAQ/V%20Books.aspx) which groups books into a number of categories like administration, courses, development, general, designer, other languages and other format (ex. Kindle). The list (hosted on SP 2007) contains some properties on each book including, ISBN, price, release status and links to e-stores in different countries (from Amazon). This list is well maintained and updated regularly. May be Mike Walsh (the person behind V4FAQ) will add brief reviews one day!
Identifying your area of interest (and level) should be the first step. You can then scan the above list for possible titles. Most, if not all, books on Amazon provide a detailed table of content and this should give an idea about topic coverage. You can also check the editorials and user rankings and comments on Amazon. If you need to find more, you may search for reviews on the Internet (some books are reviewed either as promotion or recommended based on their value). Some books also offer free excerpts and even complete chapters (in addition to random content you can access through Amazon, Safari or similar services (the above FAQ also lists books with free chapters at http://wssv4faq.mindsharp.com/Lists/v4FAQ/VII%20Book%20Extracts.aspx).
Earlier releases usually rely on the Beta versions of SharePoint and some screen shots may look a little different from the final release of SharePoint. Now, with plenty to choose from, you have to do more work to select one or more (and stay on budget).
Another simple list (not as fresh, but categorized) is from Joel Oleson at
Note: another that was circulated recently is available at the (powered by SharePoint Foundation 2010) which has other great resources as well (books by Ian Morrish, shared by Mai Omar).
