You cannot use the TAB key to select controls that are set to read-only in InfoPath 2003

In Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003, you cannot use the TAB key to select controls that are set to read-only.

Note This problem occurs with the Text Box control and with the Rich Text Box control.

This issue occurs because a tab index is not set for controls that are set to read-only when you design the form.

To work around this issue, set the tab index of the read-only controls to zero. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the control that is set to read-only, and then click Control Type Properties.
2. In the Control Type Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab.
3. In the Tab index box, type 0 (zero), and then click OK.

This behavior is by design.

Steps to reproduce the behavior

1. Start Microsoft InfoPath.
2. In the left pane of the Fill Out a Form dialog box, click Design a Form.
3. In the right pane, click New Blank Form.
4. On the Insert menu, click More Controls.
5. In the Controls task pane, under Insert controls, click Text Box.
6. Right-click the text box, and then click Text Box Properties.
7. In the Text Box Properties dialog box, click the Display tab.
8. Under Options, click to select the Read-only check box, and then click OK.
9. Click outside the text box to position the insertion point in the design window.
10. In the Controls task pane, under Insert controls, click Text Box to insert a second text box.
11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 to insert a third text box.
12. On the standard toolbar, click Preview Form.
13. Press the TAB key three times.
    
    Notice that you can use the TAB key to select the second text box and the third text box, but you cannot use the TAB key to select the text box that is set to read-only.