Patent ID: 7404140

Claim:
A system in communication with at least one remote portable processing device for providing forms for use in data collection by a portable processing device, comprising: a display generator for generating at least one display image enabling a user to enter configuration information for creating a desired form, said configuration information supporting, selecting for inclusion in a desired form, a data field and at least one attribute associated with said selected data field comprising a code separate from said selected data field enabling mapping of a data element entered in said selected data field by a user to a particular location in a database, and entering location information for locating said selected data field in said desired form; a form creator for creating an electronic form for use in collecting data, in response to user command; a repository of created electronic forms; a form version detector for detecting whether a newer version of a form currently stored in a portable processing device is available; and a communication processor for initiating communication of data representing a newer version form derived from said repository to said portable processing device in response to detection of availability of said newer version using information received from said portable processing device.