You can have Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 automatically create the data source when you insert date pickers (as well as other controls) onto a form. If you do this, InfoPath creates a field in the data source that is bound to the date picker.

1. In design mode, place the insertion point where you want to insert the date picker.
2. If the Controls task pane is not visible, click More Controls on the Insert menu.
3. In the Controls task pane, select the Automatically create data source check box.

   Note  If the check box is unavailable, the form's design does not allow the data source to be automatically created. You must insert a date picker that is bound to an existing field or to a field that you create.

4. Under Insert controls, click Date Picker.
5. To specify the way that the date is displayed on the form, double-click the date picker that was inserted on the form, click Format in the Date Picker Properties dialog box, and then click the display format that you want in the Display the date like this list.

   Note  You can change the display format of the date only if the data type is text, date, or date and time.

1. In design mode, place the insertion point where you want to insert the date picker.

   Note  If you are binding the date picker to a repeating field, the date picker must be inside a repeating table or repeating section.

2. If the Data Source task pane is not visible, click Data Source on the View menu.
3. In the Data Source task pane, right-click the field that you want the date picker to be bound to, and then click Date Picker on the shortcut menu.

   Note  If Date Picker is not listed on the shortcut menu, make sure that the field has a date, or date and time data type. If the field has a text data type, you can still use a date picker by clicking More on the shortcut menu, and then clicking Date Picker in the Select a Control dialog box.

4. To specify the way that the date is displayed on the form, double-click the date picker that was inserted on the form, click Format in the Date Picker Properties dialog box, and then click the display format that you want in the Display the date like this list box.

   Note  You can change the display format of the date only if the data type is text, date, or date and time.