US Patent 7757177 Virtual forms

A technology enabling a developer to configure a graphical user interface (GUI) such that only a subset of the inputs contained in the GUI will be processed, depending on the user's interaction with the GUI. The configuration identifies one or more logical units known as virtual forms, with each virtual form identifying zero or more input components from the GUI that are said to participate in the virtual form, and one or more submission components from the GUI that are said to submit the virtual form, such that when a user interacts in some particular way with (e.g., clicks) a component that submits a virtual form, only the inputs that participate in that virtual form are processed while other inputs in the GUI are not processed.