Patent ID: 7293074

Claim:
A method of operating a server machine to perform server actions, the method comprising: storing, at said server machine, a template having pre-defined user data for use in performing server actions, wherein the template includes a plurality of fields, attribute data associated with each of the fields, and previously entered user data associated with at least one field of said plurality, wherein the attribute data indicates whether it is necessary to obtain information to complete a corresponding field from users of the template; receiving a request from a client machine for performance of a server action using the template; and in response to the request, performing a server action using the template wherein the step of performing the server action includes, for each of the fields of said plurality: determining from the attribute data whether it is necessary to obtain information to complete the field; if it is not necessary to obtain information to complete the field, then performing the server action without obtaining information from the client machine to complete the field, said performing the server action without obtaining information from the client machine includes, for the at least one field, using the previously entered user data to complete the at least one field; and if it is necessary to obtain information to complete the field, then obtaining information from the client machine to complete the field prior to performing the server action.