Tools You Will Need

At the risk of stating the obvious, you will need a copy of InfoPath 2003. InfoPath provides a graphical user interface to allow you to design XML-based forms, and also provides the Microsoft Script Editor, so you can create JScript and VBScript code. At the time of this writing, a trial copy of InfoPath 2003 can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/office/infopath/prodinfo/trial.mspx.

However, to explore all aspects of InfoPath database- related functionality, you will need access to a full or evaluation copy of a relational database management system such as Microsoft Access and Microsoft SQL Server.

If you want to create your own XML Web services to connect to using InfoPath, you will need access to a copy of Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, or an equivalent code editor.

If you want to test the use of InfoPath form templates with Windows SharePoint Services, you will need a copy of Windows Server 2003 and either Windows SharePoint Services or SharePoint Portal Server 2003 (which uses Windows SharePoint Services). I will assume that Windows SharePoint Services is installed and that all necessary network connections to Windows SharePoint Services are working correctly.