If you have access to a server running InfoPath Forms Services, you can design a browser-enabled form template (browser-enabled form template: A browser-compatible form template that has been published to a server running InfoPath Forms Services, and that has been browser-enabled so that users can both display and fill out the form in a Web browser.). If you design such a form template, your users will not require Microsoft Office InfoPath to fill out the form. Instead, they can fill out the form by using a Web browser.
If a significant portion of your form users must fill out their forms on a mobile device, you can design a special type of form template for them to fill out in a mobile device browser. You should understand, however, that certain InfoPath features and controls work differently in those templates, or are not supported.
Support for form controls
You can use the following table to determine whether InfoPath Forms Services supports a particular InfoPath control.
Since mobile device browsers do not support HTML tables, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), and certain other browser technologies, some controls appear differently in a mobile device browser than they do in a desktop browser.
Furthermore, mobile device browsers completely ignore some controls; for example, a file attachment control.
= Full support 
= Partial support 
= No support
| InfoPath 2007 control |
Desktop browsers |
Mobile device browsers |
| Text box |
|
|
| Check box |
|
|
| Button |
|
|
| Expression box |
|
|
| List box |
|
|
| Drop-down list box |
|
|
| Repeating section |
|
|
| Hyperlink |
|
|
| Option button 1 |
|
|
| Optional section 2 |
|
|
| Repeating table 3 |
|
|
| File attachment control |
|
|
| Date picker 4 |
|
|
| Rich text box |
|
|
| ActiveX control |
|
|
| Bulleted list control |
|
|
| Choice group |
|
|
| Choice section |
|
|
| Combo box |
|
|
| Horizontal repeating table |
|
|
| Horizontal region |
|
|
| Ink picture control |
|
|
| Master/detail control |
|
|
| Multiple-selection list box |
|
|
| Numbered list control |
|
|
| Picture control |
|
|
| Plain list control |
|
|
| Repeating choice group |
|
|
| Repeating recursive section |
|
|
| Scrolling region |
|
|
| Vertical label |
|
|
1Consider using a drop-down list box instead.
2Consider using multiple views instead.
3Consider using a repeating section instead.
4In mobile device browsers, the date picker appears as a text box with data validation.
Support for business logic
You can add business logic to your form template to help prevent data-entry errors and to automate specific actions in the form for the user. In particular, you can use data validation (data validation: The process of testing the accuracy of data; a set of rules you can apply to a control to specify the type and range of data that users can enter.), conditional formatting (conditional formatting: The process of changing the appearance of a control, including its visibility and read-write state, based on values entered into the form.), and rules (rule: A condition or action, or a set of conditions or actions, that automatically performs tasks based on events and values in the form.)to make the form show validation messages, change formatting, or perform other tasks.
You can use the following table to determine whether or not a given browser supports a particular type of business logic.
= Full support = Partial support = No support
| InfoPath 2007 feature |
Desktop browsers |
Mobile device browsers |
| Formulas 1 |
|
|
| Data validation |
|
|
| Rules |
|
|
| Conditional formatting 2 |
|
|
| User roles |
|
|
1Except xdXDocument:get-Role, Position, and Last functions.
2Mobile device browsers support some conditional formatting features; for example, you can hide or display controls depending upon conditions you define in the form. You cannot use conditional formatting, however, to change the appearance of a control based on conditions in the form. For example, you cannot use conditional formatting to change the color of text in a control.
Tip For a detailed list of the features that desktop and mobile browsers support, see Web browser compatibility in InfoPath Forms Services.
