Patent ID: 8549393

Claim:
A server processing system for generating an electronic form, wherein the server processing system is in communication with a client processing system as part of a distributed system, the server processing system comprising: a hardware component including at least one electronic communication module for communicating with the client processing system; a hardware storage component that stores data associated with an electronic form; and a processor configured generating an electronic form according to the communications with the client processing system, wherein the electronic form is generated by: receiving, from the client processing system, selection data indicative of a selected form template, wherein the form template is indicative of a form definition file including a reference to a style sheet, the style sheet being a distinct file that is separate to the form definition file which defines one or more property modifications to be applied when the server processing system generates the electronic form, transferring, to the client processing system, environment data indicative of a form composition environment including a plurality of components available for composing a form, receiving, from the client processing system, form composition data indicative of a user composing, within the form composition environment, a form composition including one or more components selected by the user, generating the electronic form wherein one or more default properties of the form composition are modified by the server processing system in accordance with the one or more property modifications defined by the style sheet to generate the electronic form, and transferring, to the client processing system, the generated electronic form, wherein the form definition file includes a reference to a descriptor file which defines one or more property modifications for a dedicated component type, wherein the server processing system applies a prioritised implementation of the one or more property modifications of the style sheet and the descriptor file when generating the electronic form in instances where at least some of the one or more property modifications conflict, wherein the file has a higher priority than the style sheet.