Patent ID: 7080325

Claim:
A data input method comprising: in a mark-up language-based browser in a user's computer, generating and displaying on a display screen a graphical input device, the graphical input device being associated with an input parameter and having a displayed data entry field of a first display width; associating a current set of user-selectable choices with the graphical input device, each user-selectable choice having at least one pair of information fields separated by a delimiter and each information field comprising sequentially ordered characters; sensing user selection of the graphical input device; upon sensing user selection of the graphical input device, displaying on the screen a list of the user-selectable choices, the list having a second display width; by executing a script locally, within the user's computer, automatically and dynamically determining a minimum display width necessary to make visible a widest one of the user-selectable choices and automatically setting the second display width to be at least as great as the minimum display width, whereby the second display width is a function of the choices in the current set and is expandable relative to the first display width; associating with the graphical input device at least one acceptance action; sensing user entry of a character sequence comprising at least one character; sequentially and character-by-character searching of at least an initial information field for each of the user-selectable choices according to each user-entered character; for each character sequence of at least one user-entered character that matches a corresponding character sequence in the initial information field of at least one user-selectable choice, highlighting at least one of the matching choices for the user; if no initial information field of the user-selectable choices has a character sequence matching the user-entered character sequence, highlighting for the user at least One user-selectable choice in a different information field whose initial characters match the user-entered character sequence; and upon sensing any acceptance action by the user, setting the input parameter of the graphical input device to the currently highlighted user-selectable choice.