Is infopath a form filler?

[peter]

Could someone describe what infopath is? I looked at the office web site and
it is very vague, something about collecting and manage information.

I read elsewhere that infopath can be used to fill forms. Word and publisher
can do that with mail merge. How does infopath differ?

I have a friend who is looking for a way to set up a form filler that allows
him to pick a form template (assuming it has already been created), pick a
client from an excel database, and have the form filled-in with the client's
info. I wonder if infopath can fit be useful.

 

[Franck Dauché]

Hi Peter,

Did you check this definition?:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InfoPath

Regards,

Franck Dauché

 

[Andrew Watt [MVP - InfoPath]]

Could someone describe what infopath is? I looked at the office web site and
it is very vague, something about collecting and manage information.

I read elsewhere that infopath can be used to fill forms. Word and publisher
can do that with mail merge. How does infopath differ?

I have a friend who is looking for a way to set up a form filler that allows
him to pick a form template (assuming it has already been created), pick a
client from an excel database, and have the form filled-in with the client's
info. I wonder if infopath can fit be useful.

Peter,

One of InfoPath's features is that data entered into an InfoPath form
is submitted as XML.

If your friend doesn't have some knowledge of how to process XML or
software which handles it then InfoPath may not be the appropriate
solution.

One advantage that InfoPath has over forms on a web site is that you
can fill them in offline (and save them to your hard disc) then submit
them to, say, a database or a SharePoint library once you have a
connection again. This is useful for, salespeople, for example.

Andrew Watt
MVP - InfoPath