Patent ID: 7984387

Claim:
A method for operating a user interface to ensure that specified data entered into a processing system will be processed as intended by a user, said method comprising the steps of: providing said user interface with a widget that includes a data format priority list; operating said widget to determine whether one or more of said formats on said list is valid, or whether all of said formats on said list are invalid, for said specified data; initially displaying said specified data using the format having first priority on said list, only if at least one of said formats is valid for said data; if a plurality of said formats are valid for said specified data, selecting one or more valid formats from said list, displaying said data using each selected format to determine the respective result thereof, and then designating one of said selected formats for use in processing said specified data; and if none of said formats on said list is valid for said specified data, said widget issues an error message, and said user is allowed to modify said data.