Message: Rules and code will not run on changes made outside the form

Question

I receive the following message - "Rules and code will not run on changes made outside the form." when I check the checkbox for "Allow users to edit data in this field by using a datasheet or properties page" option.

http://whitepages.unlimitedviz.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/image_thumb3.png

So what does the message (Rules and code will not run on changes made outside the form.) mean? (It is mean that all the rules will not run on the web-based infopath form in the SharePoint once it was modified by the workflow? (or are there any other meaning to it?)

Answer 1

In infopath you can define rules and actions on a form. The rules act on the data entered in the form. When editing form values outside of infopath these rules will not run.

E.g. you have code in a form that duplicates a value to a second field. This code will run when filling the form in infopath or formservices. But it will not run if the field is populate using the SharePoint UI or Datasheet view.

You may want to disable that checkbox if some important business logic is run in the form. Otherwise your data may end up 'invalid' (when edited outside infopath), because some code didn't run.