Patent ID: 8185914

Claim:
A method for managing user-configurable variables, the method comprising: defining a plurality of user-configurable variables in a computer program; providing an interface operable to be utilized in the computer program for each of the plurality of user-configurable variables, the interface comprising one or more methods; creating an instance of the interface in the computer program for each of the plurality of user-configurable variables; incorporating code for implementing each of the plurality of user-configurable variables into at least one of the one or more in the instance of the interface created for each of the plurality of user-configurable variables; and defining a function in the computer program, the function being operable to configure any of the plurality of user-configurable variables according to a provided user specification, the provided user specification specifying configuration information for one or more of the plurality of user-configurable variables, wherein, for each of the one or more user-configurable variables specified in the provided user specification, the function is operable to execute the instance of the interface created for each of the one or more specified user-configurable variables to implement the specified user configurable variable, wherein responsive to the provided user specification specifying configuration information for the specified a certain user-configurable variable, the function calling only one of the one or more methods of the interface for the specified user-configurable variable when the computer program is executed, wherein the one or more user-configurable variables specified in the provided user specification is less than all of the plurality of user-configurable variables defined in the computer program.