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I'm trying to use InfoPath from my local PC, with my SharePoint 2010 site located on a remote server. I have all the admin privileges you could imaging, having built the remote server, so I should be able to do all I need.

When I try to connect to a SharePoint list, to populate a drop-down field, I'm told that I cannot access SharePoint. Not just the list, but the server itself. I worked around this by populating my dropdown from an XML view (http://my.remoteSPserver.com/_vti_bin/owssvr.dll?Cmd=Display&List={E0D120D6-AE14-4BA9-B1AC-AB7BCA54E379}&XMLDATA=TRUE&noredirect=true)

When i try to publish my form to SharePoint I'm told again that I cannot access the server.

I looked up both errors on Google and found that this is because apparently I don't have a root site collection (publishing: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/981854, populating my dropdown: http://vspug.com/ssa/2010/03/15/infopath-2010-cannot-connect-to-sharepoint-2010/)

So, I looked at creating a root cite collection, but when I get to the 'Create site collections' page within Central Admin, and select my web application, I cannot choose '/' from the Web Site Address options: only 'sites' is available.

This, to me, suggests I already have a root site collection. In fact, going to my SP server in a browser (http://my.remoteSPserver.com/) without any /sites/ or Pages, etc.. works, so that too is an indication, right?

This question isn't really about resolving the InfoPath issue (though if anyone can offer a solution, that'd be great), but rather to confirm that my assumptions about having a site collection are correct.

Thanks

Kevin

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1 Answer

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In Central Administration under application management there is an option to list all Site Collections which would be the most effective way to determine if a root site collection exists. If the "/" option doesn't exist when you go to create a site collection then that is a pretty good indicator though.

A few notes though, even if the site collection is under "/Sites" it can still be a site collection. The "/Pages" thing you referenced is a Page Library that belongs to a Site Collection or Sub-Site (Web).

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Thanks for the confirmation. It seems to do have a root site collection then, as the default page for my site is (clearly a made up domain <g>) my.remoteSPserver.com/Pages/default.aspx - so.. the InfoPath errors must be caused by something else. – QMKevin Sep 26 '11 at 20:04
It would seem so.... Did you build the farm with your personal account? I would validate that you are a site collection administrator though that is not required to work with InfoPath. – Mike Oryszak Sep 26 '11 at 20:10
In conjunction with my IT team, we built the server using Active Directory accounts like "SP Farm Account", "SP Services Account" and then specific named users like me, Kevin, who belong to Domain Admins, Enterprise Admins, etc.. plus I'm the primary site collection admin and in the site owners group. I'm certainly not a SharePoint expert, but surely the above should negate any permissions errors. I'll post a new question specifically about InfoPath and publishing, and see what results I get. – QMKevin Sep 26 '11 at 20:27
The primary site collection admin will catch it. Being a domain admin doesn't get you any access to sites though unless explicitly added. This is by design as there may be cases where sites need to be secured. – Mike Oryszak Sep 26 '11 at 20:30
it just occurred to me that: How would InfoPath know who I was when trying to publish to SharePoint? I work from home, so I'm not part of the same domain as the SP server. When I click to published my InfoPath form, the first step is to enter the SharePoint site address, and the error is immediate. There's no login prompt. This suggests that the server itself is the issue, rather than a permission, I think. Hmm.. this just gets more and more confusing :p – QMKevin Sep 26 '11 at 20:36

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