Check your form template for problems

In Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007, you can design a form template that can be opened by using InfoPath or a Web browser. If the form template can be opened by using a browser, then it is called a browser-compatible form template. You can also design form templates that work in InfoPath 2003 in addition to Office InfoPath 2007, or convert forms created in Microsoft Office Word or other programs into Office InfoPath 2007 form templates.

When you do these things, however, you may encounter compatibility issues or other problems. For example, certain InfoPath features are not supported in browser-compatible form templates, and this can lead to problems during the publishing process. Likewise, some Office InfoPath 2007 features do not work in InfoPath 2003 form templates, and some Word features are not supported in InfoPath and are discarded when InfoPath imports the Word form.

The fastest way to identify these types of problems in your form template is by using the Design Checker task pane. You can then correct the problems before publishing your form template.

What do you want to do?

Check the form template for problems

Hide certain types of messages in the Design Checker task pane

Check the form template for problems

1. To open the Design Checker task pane, click Design Checker on the Tools menu.

   If there are any compatibility or design problems with the form template, you will see errors and messages in the Design Checker task pane.

   The following table describes the difference between errors and messages in the Design Checker task pane.

Icon	Type	Description
	Error	The form template will not function correctly. You should fix the errors before you publish the form template.
	Message	The form template may not function as expected. Messages are less serious than errors. You can choose whether to address the messages before you publish the form template.

1. In the Design Checker task pane, click the text of the error or message you want to review. When you do this, one of the following things generally happens:

   • If the problem results from an unsupported control or other object on the form template, InfoPath automatically selects that control or object for you. To get more detail about the problem, right-click the control or object on the form template, and then click More Details on the shortcut menu.

   • If the problem results from an unsupported setting — for example, if your form template includes user roles, which don't work in browser-compatible form templates — InfoPath displays a more descriptive alert that explains the problem.

2. Review the errors and fix them.

3. Review the messages and decide whether you need to fix them.

4. To update the list of errors and messages as you resolve them, click Refresh.

   Note: Clicking the Refresh button won't update messages that appear as a result of importing a Word document into InfoPath. If you want to remove import messages from the Design Checker task pane, you must open the Resource Files dialog box (Tools menu), and then remove the file named ImportErrors.xml. This file is created automatically when you import a Word document into InfoPath. After you remove the ImportErrors.xml file, click Refresh in the Design Checker task pane to permanently delete the import messages. The ImportErrors.xml file isn't required for the form template to function properly. In fact, for security reasons, it is good practice to remove this file before publishing your form template.

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Hide certain types of messages in the Design Checker task pane

Unlike errors, messages don't prevent you from sucessfully publishing your form template. For this reason, there may be times when you prefer to hide messages or specific categories of messages in the Design Checker task pane. This may be because you have reviewed the messages already, or because you want to ignore certain messages, such as ones about backward compatibility.

1. To open the Design Checker task pane, click Design Checker on the Tools menu.

2. In the Design Checker task pane, click Options, and then do one of the following:

   • • To hide messages about imported forms, click Show Import Messages.

     • To hide messages about offline data sources, click Show Offline Messages.

     • To hide messages about browser-compatible form templates, click Show Browser Compatibility Messages.

     • To hide messages about browser optimization, click Show Browser Optimization Messages.

       Note: This command appears only if the Verify on server check box is selected in the Design Checker task pane.

     • To hide messages about backwards compatibility with InfoPath 2003, click Show Backward Compatibility Messages.

       Note: This command appears only if the Show report on compatibility with InfoPath 2003 check box is selected in the Form Options dialog box.

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