InfoPath Form Services allows Organisations to host InfoPath forms online within a web browser. This is mainly due to the licensing issues and deployment issues of InfoPath 2007 client.
InfoPath is an extremely quick way to build Business Forms and has out of the box integration with SharePoint Lists and therefore versioning, workflow, security etc.
In some circumstances it is not the best fit, a pros and cons against ASP.NET Forms is on InfoPath Forms vs ASP.NET Forms .
Deploying InfoPath Forms to SharePoint
There are two approaches to deploying InfoPath forms to SharePoint:
Pros
Cons
InfoPath Client | Publishing approach
Power Users can deploy form
Can only publish to ONE list at a time
Central Administration | Forms Services approach
Can deploy forms in an automated way (see Developing a InfoPath Solution using a Solution Package )
Creates Content Type with form attached to enable multiple Lists to associate with it
Manages versions of forms
Can centrally manage Data Connections (UDCX) across multiple Site Collections and InfoPath Forms
Can deploy InfoPath Form to Site Collections centrally
Can Quiesce InfoPath Form to stop any more instances from being created at Farm level
Requires Central Administration access or access to STSADM on server
Require MOSS license
[How to deploy InfoPath Form via InfoPath Client]
[How to deploy InfoPath Form via Central Administration]
Development Tutorials
InfoPath Development Gotchas
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