Patent ID: 7757177

Claim:
A method for an input processing framework system to conditionally process a subset of values available to the system depending on an object initiating processing, the method comprising: providing virtual form configuration metadata about an overall set of objects, where each object in the overall set can be a value holder, an initiator, or both a value holder and an initiator, the value holder holding a value that can be processed by the system, the initiator triggering the processing; wherein the metadata comprises a plurality of virtual forms, with each virtual form optionally identifying a name, and with each virtual form identifying zero or more of the value holders from the overall set as participants in that virtual form, and with each virtual form identifying one or more initiators from the overall set as submitters of that virtual form, such that each value holder from the overall set can be identified as a participant in zero or more virtual forms, and such that each initiator from the overall set can be identified as a submitter of zero or one virtual form, and each value holder from the overall set can be identified as a participant in two or more virtual forms, such that when an initiator that is identified as a submitter of a virtual form triggers processing by the system, the system processes only the values held by the value holders that are identified as participants in that virtual form, and the system does not process the values held by value holders that are not identified as participants in that virtual form, and, wherein processing includes the input processing framework system itself performing operations on the held values, the operating including performing all configured conversions on the held values, invoking all configured validation checks on the held values, evaluating all bindings configured on the value holders holding the held values, and storing each held value in a location determined by the evaluating; and displaying, on a display, two or more virtual forms at the same time.