When you design a new, blank form template, the Automatically create data source check box in the Controls task pane is selected by default. Insert a text box on a new, blank form template In the following example, the Last Name text box on the form is bound to the LastName field in the Data Source task pane. The data source for the form template consists of fields and groups that appear in a hierarchical view in the Data Source task pane.

If there's something wrong with the binding, you'll see a blue or red icon instead. When the binding is correct, a green icon appears. The icon indicates whether the control is correctly bound to that group or field. The text indicates the group or field to which the control is bound in the data source. When you select or move your pointer over a control, text and a binding icon appear in the upper-right corner of the control. When a control is unbound, it is not connected to a field or group, and data entered into the control is not saved. When a control is bound, it is connected to a field or group in the data source so that data entered into the control is saved in the underlying form (.xml) file. The following illustration shows how a text box looks when it is selected in design mode.Ĭontrols can be bound or unbound. The procedure for inserting a text box differs slightly depending on whether you are designing a new, blank form template or basing the design of your form template on a database or other external data source. When you design a browser-compatible form template, some features, such as the spelling checker, are unavailable for use in InfoPath because they do not work in a Web browser. Note: When you design a form template in InfoPath, you can choose to design a browser-compatible form template. The data appears in the form as plain text. Users place their cursor inside the text box and then type the required information. For example, text boxes often appear inside the cells in a repeating table.Įntering data into a text box is easy. You can use text boxes by themselves or add them to repeating tables, sections, or other layout-related controls. Therefore, you should use an expression box only if you don't want to save its value or reference it in another formula. Unlike a text box, an expression box does not store or save data. The formatted data in a rich text box is stored as XHTML, which may not be compatible with data sources that expect short sequences of plain text.Įxpression box An expression box is generally used to display read-only text, to display the value of another control on the form, or to create formulas that are based on XPath expressions. Users can also add formatting elements to a rich text box, such as bold or italic text, pictures, and tables. Unlike a text box, a rich text box displays multiple lines of text by default. Rich text box Like a regular text box, a rich text box allows users to type, edit, or view text. To decide which of these controls works best on your form template, refer to the following list: InfoPath includes controls that are similar to text boxes but that serve different purposes. Alternatively, you can use a rich text box. If you want the text box to display multiple lines of text instead, you can enable paragraph breaks or text wrapping for the text box after you insert it. In the following illustration, text boxes are used to collect contact information from users.īy default, when you insert a text box on your form template, InfoPath adds a single-line text box. In this articleĮnable users to type any amount of plain text into a form.ĭisplay information, such as the result of a formula or the current date. In a Microsoft Office InfoPath form template, you can use a text box to collect information from users or to display data from a database or other external data source.