InfoPath Viewer

L

Landyn

Question:

Is there an InfoPath Viewer? I cannot find one.

Suggestion to Microsoft:

I bought InfoPath 2003 and I want to use it for a project at school (I am in
Junior High School) but I can't because in order to do that each computer
needs to have InfoPath. We spend enough on InfoPath, can't you make a reader
that allows users to only fill out forms and not create or design them?
 
A

Andrew Watt [MVP - InfoPath]

Question:

Is there an InfoPath Viewer? I cannot find one.

Suggestion to Microsoft:

I bought InfoPath 2003 and I want to use it for a project at school (I am in
Junior High School) but I can't because in order to do that each computer
needs to have InfoPath. We spend enough on InfoPath, can't you make a reader
that allows users to only fill out forms and not create or design them?
Click to expand...

Hi,

This is an often requested functionality. Unfortunately it is not the
way it is made available.

InfoPath is designed primarily for intranet scenarios where all users
have the InfoPath client. It isn't, at least in the current version, a
Web forms technology. For that you might want to exploe whether
HTML/XHTML or XForms suits your needs.

Andrew Watt
MVP - InfoPath
 
L

Landyn

I am aware that InfoPath isn't designed for HTML and internet forms, however
that is not what I was referring to. I was referring to a situation where we
do have a server in which we could have the set up and configuration you
described. However, what we want to do is have a InfoPath viewer in which all
users can fill out a form, but not design them. And then, we would only need
2 - 4 copies of InfoPath. Even if you released the application I described
for a cheaper price, that would be better than spending money on a
application in which the system administrators will disable the create and
design form feature.

As for the form on the internet, we ARE interested in a product that can do
that. Do you recommend any? Does Microsoft make any?

Thanks,

Landyn

Greg Collins said:
That said, if you just want to be able to view the form, you can A) Export to MHT, B) Use your view1.xsl to transform the form .xml file, or C) Write your own custom XSL to transform the form .xml file.

--
Greg Collins [InfoPath MVP]
Please visit: http://www.InfoPathDev.com



Question:

Is there an InfoPath Viewer? I cannot find one.

Suggestion to Microsoft:

I bought InfoPath 2003 and I want to use it for a project at school (I am in
Junior High School) but I can't because in order to do that each computer
needs to have InfoPath. We spend enough on InfoPath, can't you make a reader
that allows users to only fill out forms and not create or design them?
Click to expand...

Hi,

This is an often requested functionality. Unfortunately it is not the
way it is made available.

InfoPath is designed primarily for intranet scenarios where all users
have the InfoPath client. It isn't, at least in the current version, a
Web forms technology. For that you might want to exploe whether
HTML/XHTML or XForms suits your needs.

Andrew Watt
MVP - InfoPath
Click to expand...
 
A

Andrew Watt [MVP - InfoPath]

Landyn,

Comments inline below.

I am aware that InfoPath isn't designed for HTML and internet forms, however
that is not what I was referring to. I was referring to a situation where we
do have a server in which we could have the set up and configuration you
described. However, what we want to do is have a InfoPath viewer in which all
users can fill out a form, but not design them.
Click to expand...

Yes, I understood that you wanted a form filling application for most
of your users not what is essentially a form-designing and
form-filling application in one package.

I guess the other marketing option Microsoft had were to split
InfoPath into a design client (which is what you want and would have
been more expensive) and a form filling client. That isn't what they
chose for InfoPath 2003.

On Microsoft Watch and places like that there are indications of
another approach - server-based licensing for some products in Office
12.
And then, we would only need
2 - 4 copies of InfoPath. Even if you released the application I described
for a cheaper price, that would be better than spending money on a
application in which the system administrators will disable the create and
design form feature.

As for the form on the internet, we ARE interested in a product that can do
that. Do you recommend any?
Click to expand...

You could create forms using HTML forms or XForms. Depending on your
current skills both have learning curves.
Does Microsoft make any?
Click to expand...

Microsoft makes ASP.NET. That includes a "Web forms" technology. The
upcoming release, now in public beta, has much easier forms creation
and data access than the previous (i.e. current) version. You could
start reading at http://www.asp.net/Default.aspx?tabindex=0&tabid=1.

Andrew Watt
MVP - InfoPath
Thanks,

Landyn

Greg Collins said:
That said, if you just want to be able to view the form, you can A) Export to MHT, B) Use your view1.xsl to transform the form .xml file, or C) Write your own custom XSL to transform the form .xml file.

--
Greg Collins [InfoPath MVP]
Please visit: http://www.InfoPathDev.com



Question:

Is there an InfoPath Viewer? I cannot find one.

Suggestion to Microsoft:

I bought InfoPath 2003 and I want to use it for a project at school (I am in
Junior High School) but I can't because in order to do that each computer
needs to have InfoPath. We spend enough on InfoPath, can't you make a reader
that allows users to only fill out forms and not create or design them?
Click to expand...

Hi,

This is an often requested functionality. Unfortunately it is not the
way it is made available.

InfoPath is designed primarily for intranet scenarios where all users
have the InfoPath client. It isn't, at least in the current version, a
Web forms technology. For that you might want to exploe whether
HTML/XHTML or XForms suits your needs.

Andrew Watt
MVP - InfoPath
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
L

Landyn

Hi,

So what you are saying is that Microsoft does not and will not in the future
have a filling-out application for InfoPath?

If so, I think that was a poor choice on Microsoft's behalf and if it cannot
be arranged to get the application I described I am saddened to report that I
will not even request that the school buy this software for student use, due
to cost. We have about 700 computers in the school, and each would need a
copy.

Landyn
 
A

Andrew Watt [MVP - InfoPath]

Hi,

So what you are saying is that Microsoft does not and will not in the future
have a filling-out application for InfoPath?

If so, I think that was a poor choice on Microsoft's behalf and if it cannot
be arranged to get the application I described I am saddened to report that I
will not even request that the school buy this software for student use, due
to cost. We have about 700 computers in the school, and each would need a
copy.

Landyn
Click to expand...

Hi Landyn,

No that's not what I am saying. I was talking about a decision that
Micorosoft took for InfoPath 2003. They have been inundated with
requests like your own for reasons similar to those you describe.

MVPs don't work for Microsoft, by the way. I am just describing the
situation. :)

Ping me offlist, if you like. One other possibility occurs to me that
might work for you.

Andrew Watt
MVP - InfoPath
 
A

Anthony Martin

Whilst the two products are possibilities - Microsoft should still bring out
the viewer for this product - i do not think it would be fair to charge for
such a program either.

We have been rolling out Office 2003, for the most part not the enterprise
edition, simply because of cost - Buying a full retail version of the package
can work out much much much more cost effective than buying Enterprise on
MOLP (Makes no sense) - It would have been nice to see infopath included in
all versions of office 2003 pro and not just the enterprise edition.

Microsoft have created a powerpoint viewer (available as a free download)
which can be used in much the same way that everyone else in this post would
like to use infopath, i.e 1 Developer licence and a viewer to fill in the
forms and submit to a database (in my case Sharepoint services).

I am a big supporter of microsoft products and would very much like to see
the effort put into making this available to the masses.
 
D

David

Hi,
InfoJet Service is a Java class library to publish InfoPath Forms to the
Web. InfoJet Service can be deployed as Web Services. J2EE and .Net Web
application with integration of InfoJet Service support the users to edit
InfoPath Forms in Internet Explorer and FireFox.
www.infojetsoft.com
Thansk.
 
A

Anthony Martin

Hi David,

I Will take a look at this one, thanks. Because i am using sharepoint, i am
trying to integrate the forms with that, so suspect i will need some sort of
application on the users computer that is associated with the XML templates,
as infopath would, else all the functions of the sharepoint site will not
work.

Regards
Anthony
 
D

David

Hi Anthony,

You only need IE or FireFox on the users computer.
We are developing a product that integrates InfoJet Service with SharePoint.
This product has a webpart that could read InfoPath Form templates published
on SharePoint,
then register templates to InfoJet Service.

Thierry, please try again.

http://www.infojetsoft.com

thanks
 
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