So... InfoPath IS useful....

One of the unfortunate realities of being a busy consultant and developer is that your exposure to technologies and tools are often limited to what you have to have to use to get your job done, or what your client needs and/or is interested in.  Obviously, you work hard to keep yourself exposed to as much and varied technology as possible, however some things invariably slip through the cracks.

Once such technology for me, as been Microsoft Office InfoPath.  I've played with it a few times, spent 30 minutes here and there, and never had much success... so I basically wrote it off as not applicable to me... a sentiment that is rapidly changing...

I'm currently on a business trip in the UK so I spent the weekend reviewing our company's client-facing Extranet (WSS based) and the various features we either offer or are planning to offer.  After doing a bit of digging, and a little experimentation, I now have our extranet site extended with a InfoPath driven status report form library... I still have a number of additional thinks I'd like to do (i.e. basic workflow, approval, etc.) but I'm pretty impressed with the ease with which it all came together. 

My next task is to get InfoPath working as a quick and dirty tool for testing XML Web Services as part of client projects... should be easy enough...

I'd be happier with the product if it didn't always require the client, but the richness of the client experience sort of explains those requirements.