What's the easiest way to convert a simple form to an exe file?
I have a paper based offline form. I need to convert it into software that people can use on their computers to fill out and submit information. Since the form (this is a tax return) takes a significant amount of time to complete, it is not convenient to have it online. I would really like to have a simple exe that collects information, applies validation rules, and then loads a structured data file (like an XML file) containing the filled information.
I mean I have a paper based offline form. I need to convert it into software that people can use on their computers to fill out and submit information. Since the form (this is a tax return) takes a significant amount of time to fill out, it is inconvenient if it is only available online. I would really like to have a simple exe that collects information, applies validation rules, and then loads a structured data file (like an XML file) containing the filled information.
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There are many Windows programs that can take paper forms and convert them into electronic forms that people can fill out, including Acrobat, Form Pilot, and OmniForm.
OmniForm can be useful to you as it allows things like calculated fields and can output data in structured formats like XML.
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What do you mean? When you create a project containing a form, it will already create an executable file if the project type is "Windows Forms Application".
If you have one project with multiple forms and you need one executable file for each form, you should split the project into one project per form. (You can make the display of another form of executable code based on the name - or to have multiple entry points and create the same code with different flags /main
, but it would be pretty unpleasant.)
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Why do you have an .exe? Acrobat can create PDF forms that can be filled out and requested offline. If your users are online, why not create a web interface that users populate and feed data directly to your database or something? There is no need to create executables, upload or download anything.
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True, you get the exe while compiling the Windows.Forms application, check only the bin folder of the project.
You can check the output at Project / Properties / Application / Output type in Visual Studio.
This is a bit offtopic: you build a native image, with NGen (Microsoft Utility) with some limitations. This means the code will be compiled for its own image, which will be cached directly and run from there, without using JIT every time. This may improve performance, but it is not a true native exe as John pointed out.
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