Method and system for cross-platform form creation and deployment
First Claim
1. A method for creating a form definition template for collecting information from a user on a browser platform using an electronic form, comprising the steps of:
- (a) receiving the characteristics of the electronic form being the electronic form characteristics;
(b) storing electronic form characteristics in the form definition template, the form definition template being in Extensible Markup Language (XML) and the form definition template adapted to be deployable on any one of a plurality of browser platforms.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is directed to systems and methods of creating and deploying electronic forms for collecting information from a user using a browser, where the browser may be one of a plurality of browser platforms. Characteristics of forms are entered by a human designer using a form designer by using drag-and-drop operations, and stored in XML template files. The form may be previewed by the designer. When a user on the Internet (or an intranet) requests a form by a browser, the characteristics of the browser are sensed and a form appropriate for the browser is deployed to the browser by a form server. Information is then captured from the user. The form may also be saved or printed.
355 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A method for creating a form definition template for collecting information from a user on a browser platform using an electronic form, comprising the steps of:
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(a) receiving the characteristics of the electronic form being the electronic form characteristics;
(b) storing electronic form characteristics in the form definition template, the form definition template being in Extensible Markup Language (XML) and the form definition template adapted to be deployable on any one of a plurality of browser platforms. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for collecting information from a user on a browser platform using an electronic form, the characteristics of the electronic form being electronic form characteristics stored in a form definition template, comprising the steps of:
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a) sensing the characteristics of the browser platform being browser platform characteristics;
b) retrieving the form definition template, the form definition template comprising an electronic document in Extensible Markup Language (XML), and the form definition template adapted to be deployable on a plurality of browser platforms;
c) generating the electronic form in a format suitable for presentation on the browser platform from the form definition template using browser platform characteristics; and
d) capturing information input from the user. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for creating a form definition template for collecting information from a user on a browser platform using an electronic form, the electronic form having electronic form characteristics, comprising:
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a user interface for collecting electronic form characteristics;
a computer processor in communication with the user interface executing software for collecting electronic form characteristics; and
a computer storage in communication with the computer processor for storing electronic form characteristics in a form definition template;
wherein the form definition template is in Extensible Markup Language (XML) and the form definition template is adapted to be deployable on any one of a plurality of browser platforms.
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20. A system for collecting information from a user using an electronic form having electronic form characteristics, comprising:
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a browser platform for capturing information from the user, the browser platform having browser platform characteristics;
a web server in communication with the browser platform;
a computer storage for storing electronic form characteristics in a form definition template; and
a form server in communication with the web server, for retrieving the form definition template from the computer storage, and for generating the electronic form in a format suitable for presentation on the browser platform from the form definition template using browser platform characteristics;
wherein the form definition template comprises an electronic document in Extensible Markup Language (XML), and the form definition template is adapted to be deployable on a plurality of browser platforms. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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26. A method for remotely collecting information from a user on a browser platform of a remote system using an electronic form, the electronic form having at least one page, comprising the steps of:
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sensing the characteristics of the browser platform being browser platform characteristics;
retrieving the characteristics of the electronic form being electronic form characteristics stored in a form definition template at a computer storage;
delivering a form package from a form server electronically connected to the computer storage to the remote system for capturing the information using the electronic form including data, if any data, in a format suitable for presentation on the browser platform using the browser platform characteristics;
generating browser code at the remote system from the form package;
saving the browser code at the remote system; and
capturing the information from the user on the browser platform using the electronic form including data, if any data.
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35. A system for remotely collecting information from a user on a browser platform of a remote system using an electronic form, the electronic form having at least one page, comprising:
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a web server in communication with the browser platform, the characteristics of the browser platform being browser platform characteristics;
a computer storage for storing the characteristics of the electronic form being electronic form characteristics in a form definition template; and
a form server in communication with the web server and the computer storage for;
retrieving the form definition template from the computer storage, producing a form package using browser platform characteristics for capturing the information at the remote system using the electronic form in a format suitable for presentation on the browser platform, including data, if any data; and
transmitting the form package to the remote system;
wherein the remote system performing the functions of;
receiving the form package from the form server;
generating browser code from the form package;
saving the browser code at the remote system; and
capturing the information from the user on the browser platform using the electronic form.
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Specification