Force InfoPath browser-enabled form to open in the browser

Configure Forms Services and the Form Library to allow and force InfoPath forms to open in the browser.

Problem

You published a browser-enabled form to a SharePoint 2007 form library, but the InfoPath form does not open in the browser; it opens in the InfoPath client application instead and you would like for it to open in the browser.

Solution

Configure Forms Services and the Form Library to allow and force InfoPath forms to open in the browser.

Prerequisites

1. InfoPath Forms Services or Forms Server 2007 has been installed on the server.
2. InfoPath Forms Services has been activated on the site or site collection the SharePoint Form Library is in.
3. The InfoPath form template has been browser-enabled and published to the SharePoint Form Library.

Discussion

Two SharePoint settings determine whether a browser-enabled InfoPath form will open in a browser:

1. SharePoint Form Library setting: Display as a Web page.
2. InfoPath Forms Services setting: Render form templates that are browser-enabled by users.

SharePoint Form Library Setting

If the InfoPath client application has been installed on a PC, it will be used by default to open forms that have been stored in a SharePoint Form Library unless the setting Display as a Web page has been set on that SharePoint Form Library. This setting will force forms to open in a browser even if the InfoPath client has been installed on the PC from where the form is being opened.

Figure 1. "Display as a Web page" setting of a Form Library.

To enable this setting:

1. Go to the Form Library to which you published the InfoPath form template.
2. Click Settings on the Form Library menu bar and choose Form Library Settings from the drop-down menu.
3. On the Customize <Form Library Name> page under the General Settings category, click Advanced settings.
4. On the Form Library Advanced Settings: <Form Library Name> page under the Browser-enabled Documents category, choose Display as a Web page.

For more information, see

• Publish a form template to a server running InfoPath Forms Services
• Deploying InfoPath Form Templates to a SharePoint Library

InfoPath Forms Services Setting

Regardless whether an InfoPath form template has been forced to open in a browser through the SharePoint Form Library setting discussed in the previous section or not, if an administrator has disabled the setting to Render form templates that are browser-enabled by users from SharePoint Central Administration, users will not be able to open InfoPath forms in a browser.

Figure 2. "Render form templates that are browser-enabled by users" setting in SharePoint Central Administration

To enable this setting:

1. Open SharePoint Central Administration.
2. Click the Application Management tab.
3. On the Application Management page under the InfoPath Forms Services category, click Configure InfoPath Forms Services.
4. On the Configure InfoPath Forms Services page under the User Browser-enabled Form Templates category, check Render form templates that are browser-enabled by users.

Related InfoPath Articles:

• How to publish an InfoPath 2007 browser form to SharePoint
• InfoPath Warning: The form template could not be browser-enabled, but it was successfully published for use with Microsoft Office InfoPath
• "This form template is browser-compatible, but it cannot be browser-enabled on the selected site" message
• Video: How to create and deploy an InfoPath browser form template to SharePoint

Copyright: This article may not be used on web sites (whether personal or otherwise), copied, disseminated, altered, printed, published, broadcasted, or reproduced in any way without an expressed written consent of S.Y.M. Wong-A-Ton. Usage of techniques demonstrated in this article may be used within any Microsoft InfoPath project. This article is provided without any warranties. Copyright for this article is non-transferrable and remains with the author, S.Y.M. Wong-A-Ton.