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Sharing forms with people who have InfoPath provides the best experience for filling out forms. Some of the benefits include:

• Entering richly formatted data, including information formatted with bold, italic, and underlined fonts.
• Inserting pictures into rich text fields.
• Using repeating tables (repeating table: A control on a form that contains other controls in a table format and that repeats as needed. Users can insert multiple rows when filling out the form.), lists, and hierarchical groups of controls.
• Using optional sections (optional section: A control on a form that contains other controls and that usually does not appear by default. Users can insert and remove optional sections when filling out the form.) bound to Extensible Markup Language (XML) (Extensible Markup Language (XML): A condensed form of Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) that enables developers to create customized tags that offer flexibility in organizing and presenting information.) data, for easy reuse throughout the user's organization.

Furthermore, people who have InfoPath can take advantage of features such as 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.), calculations, rules (rule: Conditions and actions that automatically perform tasks based on events and values in the form.) based on business logic, and the built-in spelling checker. These features help ensure the accuracy of the data that users enter. In addition, with InfoPath, users can fill out forms offline and then submit them later when they connect to the network.

If some users do not have InfoPath installed and you want them to view InfoPath forms that have already been filled out, you can modify your form to display the data in Microsoft Internet Explorer. You can also have users save their completed forms as Web pages or send completed forms in e-mail messages.

However, if you need to collect data from users who do not have InfoPath installed, you can create a Web Form that is based on your InfoPath form and is configured to use the same XML Schema (XML Schema: A formal specification, written in XML, that defines the structure of an XML document, including element names and rich data types, which elements can appear in combination, and which attributes are available for each element.) and data source (data source: The collection of fields and groups that define and store the data for an InfoPath form. Controls in the form are bound to the fields and groups in the data source.) as your InfoPath form. To create such a Web Form, you use Microsoft ASP.NET, a unified Web development platform that provides the services needed to build Web applications.

If you want to allow only users without InfoPath to view InfoPath forms that have already been filled out, you can modify your form to display the data in Microsoft Internet Explorer. You can also have your users save their completed forms as Web pages or send completed forms in the body of Microsoft Office Outlook® 2003 e-mail messages, so that users without InfoPath can view them.

To learn more about InfoPath and Web Forms, and to help find the best solution for your particular business needs, see Microsoft InfoPath 2003 Decision Tree.

Viewing form data

As a form designer, there are several ways you can allow users who do not have InfoPath to view forms that have already been filled out. You can modify your form template (form template: In InfoPath, a file or set of files that defines the data structure, appearance, and behavior of a form.) to be displayed in Internet Explorer. Additionally, you can have your users either export a completed form to a Web page or send a read-only view of the form by using Outlook 2003.

Viewing InfoPath forms in Internet Explorer

When users save a form that is based on an InfoPath form template, only the form's raw XML data is stored in the saved form. The form's design, including the text formatting, layout, and use of color added by the form designer, is stored in the form template that the form is based on. If a user opens the saved form in a program other than InfoPath, only that raw XML data appears.

Users who don't have InfoPath can view a form by opening and rendering the form in Microsoft Internet Explorer. To enable users to open a form in Internet Explorer, you can modify the Template.xml file, which is one of the form files (form files: A collection of files that are used to implement an InfoPath form. File types can include .html, .xml, .xsd, .xslt, script, and other file types that are necessary to support the functionality of the form.) in a form template. To learn how to modify a Template.xml file in this way, see How to view transformed InfoPath form data in Internet Explorer.

Note  Some features and functionality are unavailable when a form is displayed in Internet Explorer. For example, some of the form's functionality that is present in InfoPath is not present in Internet Explorer. For example, custom scripts and secondary data sources may not function the same as when the form is opened in InfoPath.

Viewing InfoPath forms as Web pages

When users fill out a form, they can use the Export to Web feature to save their form as a Single File Web Page (MHTML) (Single File Web Page (MHTML): An HTML document saved in MHTML format, which integrates inline graphics, applets, linked documents, and other supporting items referenced in the document.). This format allows users who do not have InfoPath to view the completed form in a Web browser, but it does not allow them to fill out or modify the form.

To learn more about how to export a completed InfoPath form as MHTML, see Save a form you've filled out as a Web page.

Sending InfoPath forms in e-mail messages

Users can send a completed form in an Outlook 2003 e-mail message to other users, including those who do not have InfoPath. When users send a form in an e-mail message, the body of the message contains an HTML (HTML: The standard markup language used for documents on the World Wide Web. HTML uses tags to indicate how Web browsers should display page elements such as text and graphics and how to respond to user actions.) view of the form, which allows users without InfoPath to view the form. The form itself is also attached to the message, so that users who have InfoPath can open the attachment and view it in InfoPath.

To learn more, see Send a form in an e-mail message.

Collecting form data with Web Forms

If you want to collect data from users who do not have InfoPath, you can use ASP.NET to create a Web Form version of your form that users who do not have InfoPath can open and fill out.

Web Forms can be filled out by using a Web browser, but they lack the rich features of an InfoPath form. To create a solution that uses both an InfoPath form and a Web Form version of the form, you must use the same XML Schema and XML Web services for both the InfoPath form and the Web Form. To do this, you should have a basic understanding of XML, XML Web services, XML Schemas, and ASP.NET.

The following table describes some resources that can help you learn more about creating Web services and working with ASP.NET.

Note  To learn more about partners and resources that can help you lower your development time and costs, visit the InfoPath Third-Party Solutions site.