Publish the Template
Back in the Design Tasks task pane, one of the last tasks you can perform in creating the form template is to publish it to distribute it to form users. Click the Publish Form Template link at the bottom of the task pane to open the Publishing Wizard dialog box, shown in Figure 39-11. Follow the prompts to continue and publish the form. Two examples follow.
Figure 39-11. A wizard leads you through the steps for publishing the form template.
To a shared network location
If you click To a Network Location in the first Publishing Wizard dialog box and then click Next, the wizard prompts you to specify a shared network or Web server location to which to publish the file. Click the Browse button to open the Browse dialog box, in which you can brows to the desired shared network folder or other location, enter a filename in the File Name text box, and then click OK. The destination location appears in the Form Template and File Name text box, as shown in Figure 39-12.
Figure 39-12. Specifying the shared network location in which you want to publish the form.
Click Next. The Publishing Wizard asks you to specify any alternate path that users might follow to access the form at the specified location. Type the path or use the Browse button to find it; then click Next. Verify the path settings in the next Publishing Wizard dialog box and then click Publish.
The final Publishing Wizard dialog box informs you that the form template published correctly. If you want to e-mail the form as well or open it immediately, check the Send the Form to E-mail Recipients or the Open this Form Template from the Published Location checkboxes (or you can check both) and then click Close.
Via e-mail
If you click the To a List of E-mail Recipients choice from the first Publishing Wizard dialog box and then click Next, you can confirm or edit the template name shown in the next dialog box, and then click Next. The next Publishing Wizard dialog box is more crucial. In it, you specify the fields that the users can see when they deal with the form in folders in Microsoft Outlook 2007. To add a field, click the Add button to open the Select a Field or Group dialog box. Click the desired field and then click OK. Repeat the process until you’ve added all the fields you want, as in Figure 39-13, and then click Next.
Figure 39-13. Specifying the fields that will be visible to form users in Outlook.
Click Publish. InfoPath hooks up with Outlook and opens the form in an Outlook e-mail message. Specify the message recipients in the To: field (Figure 39-14), enter optional Introduction field information, and then click Send. If needed, open Outlook and manually send and receive messages to make sure that the form leaves your Outbox.
Note
InfoPath is automatically compatible with Outlook 2007 but is not compatible with other e-mail programs.