You can add a secondary submit data connection to your form template that allows users to send their form data in an e-mail message. You can use static values, values based on the data in the form, or a formula to specify the e-mail addresses that the form is sent to, the subject line of the e-mail message, and the name of the form. You can also specify if you want the form to appear in the body of the e-mail message or as an attachment to the message.
If you configure your form template to include the form as an attachment to the e-mail message, you can also attach the form template to the e-mail message. By including the form and form template as attachments to the e-mail message, you can help ensure that the e-mail recipients can open the form in Microsoft Office InfoPath, even if they do not have the form template cached on their computers. In order for the recipients to open the attachments, they must have InfoPath installed on their computers.
When users submit their form data in an e-mail message, InfoPath creates an e-mail message with the form data and sends the message to the e-mail recipients that you specified when you created the data connection. If the people who receive the completed forms use Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, they can add a folder to their Inbox to contain all of the InfoPath forms that they receive and configure that folder to display the data in the forms in columns in Outlook.
After you add the submit data connection, you configure your form template to allow users to submit their form data. As a result, when users open the form, InfoPath automatically adds a Submit button to the Standard toolbar and a Submit command to the File menu. You can also customize the submit options for your form template in the following ways:
- Change the text that appears on the Submit button on the Standard toolbar and the Submit command on the File menu.
- Change the keyboard shortcut for the Submit button on the Standard toolbar and the Submit command on the File menu.
- Create custom messages to display to your users when they submit their forms.
- Specify whether to leave the form open, close the form, or open another blank form after the user submits the form.
Add a submit data connection- On the Tools menu, click Submit Options.
- In the Submit Options dialog box, select the Allow users to submit this form check box.
- Click Send form data to a single destination, and then, in the list, click E-mail.
- Click Add.
- In the Data Connection Wizard, in the appropriate boxes, type the e-mail addresses of the recipients, the subject that you want to appear in the e-mail message, and any introductory text that you want, and then click Next. Tip You can also specify a field or use a formula to create the value for each box except the Introduction box.
 How?
- Click Insert Formula
 . - In the Insert Formula dialog box, do one of the following:
- To use a field in the formula, click Insert Field or Group, click the field that you want to use in the Select a Field or Group dialog box, and then click OK.
- To use a function in the formula, click Insert Function, select the function that you want to use in the Insert Function dialog box, and then click OK. Tip If the function requires parameters, select the function in the Insert Function dialog box, click OK, and then in the Formula box in the Insert Formula dialog box, double-click the function that you added, and click a field or group. Find links to more information about functions in the See Also section.
- To insert a value or mathematical operator into the formula, type the value or the symbol for the mathematical operation in the Formula box.
| Operation | Symbol |
|---|
| Add | + | | Subtract | - | | Multiply | * | | Divide | / |
Note If your formula uses the division (/) operator, make sure that there is a space before and after the division operator. If the division operator does not have a space before and after it, InfoPath may interpret "/" as a separator for XPath location steps rather than as a division operator.
- To check the formula for the correct syntax, in the Insert Formula dialog box, click Verify Formula. Find links to more information about formulas in the See Also section.
- On the next page of the wizard, do one of the following:
- To display the form in the body of the e-mail message, click Send only the active view of the form and no attachment.
- To send the form data as an attachment to the e-mail message, click Send the form data as an attachment, select the Attach the form template to ensure that users can open the form check box, and then type a name for the form in the Attachment Name box. You can also specify a field or use a formula to ensure that each form name is unique. How?
- Click Insert Formula .
- In the Insert Formula dialog box, do one of the following:
- To use a field in the formula, click Insert Field or Group, click the field that you want to use in the Select a Field or Group dialog box, and then click OK.
- To use a function in the formula, click Insert Function, select the function that you want to use in the Insert Function dialog box, and then click OK. Tip If the function requires parameters, select the function in the Insert Function dialog box, click OK, and then in the Formula box in the Insert Formula dialog box, double-click the function that you added, and click a field or group. Find links to more information about functions in the See Also section.
- To insert a value or mathematical operator into the formula, type the value or the symbol for the mathematical operation in the Formula box.
| Operation | Symbol |
|---|
| Add | + | | Subtract | - | | Multiply | * | | Divide | / |
Note If your formula uses the division (/) operator, make sure that there is a space before and after the division operator. If the division operator does not have a space before and after it, InfoPath may interpret "/" as a separator for XPath location steps rather than as a division operator.
- To check the formula for the correct syntax, in the Insert Formula dialog box, click Verify Formula. Find links to more information about formulas in the See Also section.
Note The people who receive the form data as an attachment in an e-mail message need InfoPath installed on their computers to open the attachment.
- Click Next.
- On the next page of the wizard, in the Enter a name for this data connection box, type a descriptive name for this submit data connection.
- Verify that the information is correct in the Summary section, and then click Finish.
- To change the name of the Submit button that appears on the Standard toolbar and the Submit command that appears on the File menu when users fill out the form, type the new name in the Caption box in the Submit Options dialog box. Tip If you want to assign a keyboard shortcut to this button and command, type an ampersand (&) before the character that you want to use as a keyboard shortcut. For example, to assign ALT+B as the keyboard shortcut for the Submit button and command, type Su&bmit.
- If you do not want people to use a Submit command or the Submit button on the Standard toolbar when they fill out your form, clear the Show the Submit menu item and the Submit toolbar button check box.
- By default, after users submit a form, InfoPath keeps the form open and displays a message to indicate if the form was successfully submitted. To change this default behavior, click Advanced, and then do one of the following:
- To close the form or create a new blank form after the user submits a completed form, click the option that you want in the After submit list.
- To create a custom message to indicate if the form was successfully submitted, select the Use custom messages check box, and then type your messages in the On success and On failure boxes. Tip Use a message in the On failure box to tell users what to do if they cannot submit their form. For example, you can suggest that users save their form and contact someone for further instructions.
- If you do not want to display a message after the user submits a form, clear the Show success and failure messages check box.
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