About form libraries

Microsoft Office InfoPath

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About form libraries

Form libraries provide a simple way for you to use and share your Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 forms. Form libraries are located on Windows SharePoint Services sites and act as a file server, where users can fill out and store forms based on the same form template. One form template is associated with each form library, so that every form created from the library will have the same structure and appearance. For example, you could create a form library that provides a single location for your team members to quickly fill out, save, and view their status report forms.

Other advantages of using a form library to store your forms are the ability to use form library columns and merge forms. Form library columns are directly populated with data from the forms stored in the form library. This not only allows users to view important information without having to open and view each form, but also provides a simple way to sort and group forms according to their content. For example, if you stored your team's expense reports in a form library, the form library columns could display the employee's name, the business purpose, and the total expenses claimed. This would be displayed for each form in the form library. Since form library columns allow you to easily view and sort forms based on their content, you can easily create a summary report by merging several forms into a single form.