InfoPath Dev

I have looked through the forums and haven't found anything covering my problem....

Ok, here's the scenario.

We have 4 sites across the globe, running 4 distinct domain.  2 are currently running MOSS 2007, the others not.

I started working on infopath form for use across the group, aiming to use the MOSS portal for local forms and email to the rest of the group.  All are using outlook 2007 or above.

Ok, the forms work great on our portal, but sending them via email does not.  Each recipient basically gets a bastardised version of the form and an xml attachment.  Apart from not being able to use the check boxes they can select the text boxes and delete them. Any help would be HUGELY appreciated.

Explain how you configured/built the form and how it's getting sent.  It sounds like you are sending the template instead of an XML file based on the template.

The form should be published to a set of email recipients using the publishing wizard.

Hey, thanks for the quick reply... The form was built from scratch using office infopath 2007, but based on an old word form.

Not sure how much build detail you want but its a fairly standard layout, using tables for tidiness, a number of check box controls etc etc.

It was first published to out sharepoint site for local use only but then became a group wide document. When I open the file through sharepoint i see the form as it should be without any editable options except the text boxes and check boxes.  I select the 'mail to recipient' option from the top menu, outlook opens a new mail box and i see the form perfectly, just as it should be.  However the recipients see an altered form and the xml attachment.

I have also tried the publish to email option in deisgn view with the same result except with the addition of an xns file.

that's where I need more clarification.  What "mail to recipient" option on what top menu?  You can't send interactive forms that way if you're referring to the Windows option on a file (Send To > Mail Recipient). 

The publish to email should work, so I'll need to know what's going on there.  It should work if they have Outlook 2007.

Also, why would SharePoint be used for local use instead of global use?  SharePoint integration IS for global use, not just local use.  That seemed to be opposite the norm the way you mentioned it.

The 'mail to recipient' option is available when i open the form from sharepoint.  <formname> - Microsoft Office Infopath then standard menu options including fill out form/open/save/permissions/send to mail recipient etc etc

I have also tried the publish to email option, but the recipient gets the bastardised form, the xml file and an xsn file as well.

As for the sharepoint bit, unfortunately our head office went for a different intranet option which didnt fit the bill we needed for functionality (understatement of 09 so far :p) so I went ahead and built something more akin to our needs.  Problems with that include separate domains with no trust relationships therefore no direct control over access etc.  My evil plan was to make ours functionally what everyone else needs and hope they move all of our offices to MOSS in the medium term (which is working!) but the downside being access issues etc until the global domain is set up quarter 03/09.

Noted, re: SharePoint.

I don't know why you're getting that wierd behavior when publishing to email, but the "sent to mail recipient" from within the form is definitely not how you want to do it.  Have you tried publishing to a network location?

ok, well now your chance to sigh, maybe bang your desk a little... just read through your replies properly and I think your first response was the correct one.  It seems im sending the template and not the form, the giveaway?? well me selecting the 'publish form template' option....

So without incurring a huge amount of wrath (feel free to laugh though :p) where did i go wrong and what should i be doing?

Nah, don't sweat it - I don't think you're off in this regard.  No matter what, for your people to fill out the "form," it has to be associated with the template.  The result of filling out a form is that you get an XML file, but that XML file is just a bunch of text unless it's associated with the XSN template.  So, users still have to "have" it so to speak, but it should not be attached.  It should just be embedded within their email, which only works in Outlook 2007.  Why your result is sending attachments, I'm not sure. 

To be clear, I only ever do SharePoint-based forms, so my experience with non-SharePoint situations is limitated mainly to book knowledge.  I will run my own test of this publishing method to make sure there is nothing funky I'm missing.

awesome, i'll hang back and wait for your reply, thanks for the help so far.