<s>
Microsoft	O
InfoPath	O
is	O
a	O
software	B-Application
application	I-Application
for	O
designing	O
,	O
distributing	O
,	O
filling	O
and	O
submitting	O
electronic	O
forms	O
containing	O
structured	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
initially	O
released	O
InfoPath	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
Microsoft	B-General_Concept
Office	I-General_Concept
2003	I-General_Concept
family	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
product	O
features	O
a	O
WYSIWYG	B-Application
form	O
designer	O
in	O
which	O
the	O
various	O
controls	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
unlike	O
previous	O
versions	O
of	O
InfoPath	O
,	O
the	O
standalone	O
version	O
of	O
InfoPath	O
2013	O
requires	O
an	O
active	O
ProPlus	O
subscription	O
to	O
Office	B-Operating_System
365	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
current	O
version	O
of	O
InfoPath	O
2013	O
(	O
15.0.4733.1000	O
)	O
is	O
designed	O
to	O
be	O
an	O
optional	O
component	O
to	O
the	O
Office	O
suite	B-Application
of	I-Application
applications	I-Application
for	O
users	O
that	O
need	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
indirect	O
successor	O
is	O
Office	B-Operating_System
Forms	I-Operating_System
,	O
is	O
free	O
to	O
anyone	O
with	O
a	O
Microsoft	O
Account	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Jean	O
Paoli	O
,	O
one	O
of	O
its	O
developers	O
,	O
a	O
key	O
architectural	O
design	O
decision	O
was	O
"	O
to	O
adhere	O
to	O
the	O
XML	B-Protocol
paradigm	O
of	O
separating	O
the	O
data	O
in	O
a	O
document	O
from	O
the	O
formatting.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
patent	O
filed	O
in	O
2000	O
by	O
Adriana	O
Neagu	O
and	O
Jean	O
Paoli	O
describes	O
the	O
technology	O
as	O
"	O
authoring	O
XML	B-Protocol
using	O
DHTML	B-General_Concept
views	O
and	O
XSLT.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
the	O
data	O
stored	O
in	O
InfoPath	O
forms	O
are	O
stored	O
in	O
an	O
XML	B-Protocol
format	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
the	O
"	O
data	O
source	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Secondary	O
data	O
sources	O
can	O
be	O
built	O
into	O
the	O
form	O
or	O
they	O
can	O
be	O
accessed	O
through	O
an	O
external	O
data	O
connection	O
to	O
SharePoint	B-Protocol
or	O
a	O
Web	O
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Template	O
parts	O
and	O
ActiveX	B-Application
controls	I-Application
can	O
also	O
be	O
added	O
as	O
custom	O
controls	O
in	O
the	O
designer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
InfoPath	O
has	O
many	O
different	O
ActiveX	B-Application
Controls	I-Application
,	O
all	O
of	O
which	O
have	O
a	O
value	O
bound	O
to	O
a	O
field	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
's	O
data	O
source	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SQL	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
Access	O
,	O
and	O
SharePoint	B-Protocol
databases	O
can	O
be	O
connected	O
to	O
and	O
submitted	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
JScript	O
,	O
Visual	O
Basic	O
,	O
C#	O
,	O
and	O
other	O
languages	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
extend	O
InfoPath	O
's	O
capabilities	O
by	O
adding	O
custom	O
HTML	B-Language
taskpanes	O
,	O
iterating	O
through	O
data	O
,	O
using	O
Active	B-Protocol
Directory	I-Protocol
,	O
and	O
generally	O
accomplishing	O
tasks	O
that	O
are	O
impossible	O
in	O
the	O
InfoPath	O
design	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
language	O
support	O
is	O
facilitated	O
by	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
,	O
although	O
a	O
specific	O
version	O
of	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
is	O
required	O
to	O
use	O
with	O
each	O
version	O
of	O
InfoPath	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SharePoint	B-Protocol
integration	O
(	O
see	O
Integration	O
with	O
SharePoint	B-Protocol
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
InfoPath	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
create	O
forms	O
to	O
capture	O
information	O
and	O
save	O
the	O
contents	O
as	O
a	O
file	O
on	O
a	O
PC	O
or	O
on	O
a	O
web	O
server	O
when	O
hosted	O
on	O
SharePoint	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
InfoPath	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
access	O
and	O
display	O
data	O
from	O
divergent	O
sources	O
(	O
web	O
services	O
,	O
XML	B-Protocol
,	O
databases	O
,	O
other	O
forms	O
)	O
and	O
have	O
rich	O
interactive	O
behaviors	O
based	O
on	O
Rules	O
,	O
Conditions	O
and	O
Actions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
InfoPath	O
form	O
requires	O
the	O
client	O
to	O
have	O
InfoPath	O
Filler	O
or	O
InfoPath	O
Designer	O
installed	O
,	O
or	O
by	O
viewing	O
the	O
form	O
in	O
a	O
browser	B-Application
when	O
hosted	O
on	O
SharePoint	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
InfoPath	O
is	O
mostly	O
used	O
in	O
business	O
rather	O
than	O
by	O
individuals	O
,	O
as	O
it	O
is	O
a	O
collaboration	O
tool	O
used	O
to	O
gather	O
data	O
from	O
multiple	O
individuals	O
in	O
a	O
structured	O
method	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
deploy	O
requires	O
either	O
a	O
SharePoint	B-Protocol
host	O
and/or	O
individual	O
licensed	O
Filler	O
copies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
InfoPath	O
forms	O
can	O
be	O
viewed	O
on	O
mobile	O
devices	O
if	O
viewed	O
from	O
a	O
browser	B-Application
(	O
hosted	O
on	O
SharePoint	B-Protocol
)	O
or	O
by	O
using	O
a	O
third-party	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
run	O
as	O
a	O
Web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
form	O
,	O
the	O
file	O
needs	O
to	O
be	O
uploaded	O
to	O
a	O
server	O
running	O
InfoPath	B-Operating_System
Forms	I-Operating_System
Services	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
advantage	O
of	O
this	O
is	O
the	O
client	O
does	O
n't	O
need	O
InfoPath	O
,	O
just	O
a	O
Web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
form	O
can	O
then	O
be	O
set	O
up	O
to	O
be	O
e-mailed	O
when	O
completed	O
or	O
its	O
fields	O
can	O
be	O
added	O
directly	O
to	O
a	O
SharePoint	B-Protocol
list	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
common	O
use	O
of	O
InfoPath	O
is	O
to	O
integrate	O
it	O
with	O
Microsoft	B-Protocol
SharePoint	I-Protocol
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
InfoPath	O
forms	O
can	O
submit	O
to	O
SharePoint	B-Protocol
lists	O
and	O
libraries	O
,	O
and	O
submitted	O
instances	O
can	O
be	O
opened	O
from	O
SharePoint	B-Protocol
using	O
InfoPath	O
Filler	O
or	O
third-party	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Alternatively	O
InfoPath	B-Operating_System
Forms	I-Operating_System
Services	I-Operating_System
enables	O
a	O
browser-enabled	O
InfoPath	O
form	O
to	O
be	O
hosted	O
on	O
a	O
SharePoint	B-Protocol
installation	O
and	O
rendered	O
as	O
an	O
HTML	B-Language
page	O
with	O
client-side	O
script	O
and	O
post	O
back	O
behaviors	O
similar	O
to	O
an	O
ASP.NET	O
page	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
SharePoint	B-Protocol
,	O
a	O
"	O
Form	O
Library	O
"	O
is	O
a	O
document	O
library	O
having	O
an	O
InfoPath	O
template	O
as	O
the	O
designated	O
document	O
type	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
InfoPath	O
fields	O
can	O
be	O
promoted	O
when	O
publishing	O
to	O
SharePoint	B-Protocol
so	O
they	O
can	O
be	O
read	O
and	O
displayed	O
as	O
a	O
"	O
Column	O
"	O
data	O
in	O
a	O
library	O
View	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
with	O
other	O
SharePoint	B-Protocol
documents	O
,	O
InfoPath	O
forms	O
can	O
have	O
workflows	O
associated	O
with	O
them	O
that	O
can	O
access	O
the	O
promoted	O
fields	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
specifies	O
that	O
"	O
InfoPath	B-Operating_System
Forms	I-Operating_System
Services	I-Operating_System
is	O
included	O
in	O
the	O
on-premises	O
release	O
of	O
SharePoint	B-Protocol
Server	I-Protocol
2016	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
being	O
fully	O
supported	O
in	O
Office	B-Operating_System
365	I-Operating_System
until	O
further	O
notice.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
MVP	O
Roger	O
Haueter	O
states	O
that	O
InfoPath	O
is	O
still	O
expected	O
to	O
be	O
supported	O
in	O
SharePoint	B-Protocol
Server	I-Protocol
2019	O
On-Premises	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Forms	O
Server	O
2007	O
is	O
a	O
discontinued	O
product	O
that	O
converts	O
InfoPath	O
client	O
forms	O
into	O
Ajax	B-General_Concept
HTML	B-Language
forms	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
accessed	O
and	O
filled	O
out	O
using	O
any	O
browser	B-Application
,	O
including	O
mobile	O
phone	O
browsers	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
requires	O
Microsoft	B-Protocol
Windows	I-Protocol
SharePoint	I-Protocol
Services	I-Protocol
3.0	O
and	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
version	O
2.0	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
InfoPath	B-Operating_System
Forms	I-Operating_System
Services	I-Operating_System
(	O
or	O
Office	B-Operating_System
Forms	I-Operating_System
Services	O
)	O
takes	O
over	O
the	O
features	O
of	O
Form	O
Server	O
2007	O
,	O
allowing	O
InfoPath	O
forms	O
to	O
be	O
hosted	O
in	O
a	O
SharePoint	B-Protocol
web	O
site	O
and	O
served	O
via	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
a	O
component	O
of	O
Microsoft	B-Protocol
Office	I-Protocol
SharePoint	I-Protocol
Server	I-Protocol
2007	I-Protocol
Enterprise	O
edition	O
,	O
in	O
2013	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
made	O
available	O
with	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
January	O
31	O
,	O
2014	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
said	O
they	O
are	O
discontinuing	O
InfoPath	B-Operating_System
Forms	I-Operating_System
Services	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
in	O
an	O
undated	O
update	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
post	O
Microsoft	O
changed	O
the	O
plan	O
and	O
announced	O
that	O
InfoPath	B-Operating_System
Forms	I-Operating_System
Services	I-Operating_System
would	O
be	O
included	O
in	O
SharePoint	B-Protocol
2016	O
after	O
all	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
InfoPath	B-Operating_System
Forms	I-Operating_System
Services	I-Operating_System
is	O
available	O
to	O
Office	B-Operating_System
365	I-Operating_System
Education	O
subscribers	O
(	O
Office	B-Operating_System
365	I-Operating_System
A1	O
,	O
Office	B-Operating_System
365	I-Operating_System
A3	O
and	O
Office	B-Operating_System
365	I-Operating_System
A5	O
plans	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
