Importance

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Abstract

A method and apparatus for validating data entered into a data processing system. A plurality of windows is provided, each including at least one widget area into which data is entered by the user. A 'doda object' is associated with each widget and contains keys identifying where the data is to be stored in a database, as well as member functions which operate to format the entered data for storage and format information retrieved from the database for display in the widget. During the validation procedure, all of the data associated with each of the widgets in a window are first examined for errors in conjunction with its associated doda object. In addition, a second validation step is performed in which the data associated with certain widgets are compared to those of other widgets in the window, in accordance with an algorithm selected by the user, to detect the presence of errors resulting from data entered inconsistently between widgets. If any errors are detected, an error message is displayed within a validation window. The widget in which the error was detected may then be selected by the user by double-clicking on the error message.

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First Claim