Patent ID: 7664776

Claim:
A computer implemented method in which at least one computer system accesses instructions from computer storage and executes the instructions to perform steps of: defining an electronic form comprising a field to populate with a data object; defining a schema associated to the form, the schema describing the data object; defining a variation rule for the electronic form, the variation rule describing a variation that may occur in the data object, and the variation rule representing variation processing to be dynamically applied to the electronic form in response to detecting the variation; defining a run-time instruction for redefining the electronic form according to the schema and the variation rule; defining a run-time command for rendering a graphical representation of the redefined electronic form; receiving the data object with a plurality of data attributes defined according to a second schema; executing the variation rule to determine whether the second schema differs from the schema associated with the electronic form, wherein executing the variation rule includes: (i) executing a variation test that can detect the variation; and (ii) executing the variation processing to be applied if the variation test detects the variation; upon determining the second schema differs from the schema associated with the electronic form, executing the run-time instruction to redefine the electronic form to include multiple new fields for display of the plurality of data attributes defined according to the second schema; binding each new field in the electronic form to a respective data attribute defined according to the second schema; and displaying each respective data attribute in a corresponding bound new field.