Automated electronic form generation

A method of creating an electronic form, the method comprising:

• causing, by a server component of an electronic form generation system, a text entry area to be displayed within a user interface (UI) of a client component of the electronic form generation system with which an authoring user interacts;
• receiving, by the server component, from the client component a text-based description of an electronic form to be generated, wherein the text-based description is represented in a natural language;
• providing, by the server component, a real-time or near real-time response to the authoring user regarding results of automated electronic form generation based on the received text-based description by:
• generating, by the server component, structural data representing the electronic form, including representations of one or more types of data collecting elements by parsing and processing the natural language;
• and
• facilitating, by the server component, visual evaluation regarding whether the electronic form matches an intent of the authoring user by causing a preview of the electronic form to be displayed within the UI of the client component;
• and
• enabling, by the server component, the authoring user to interactively refine the electronic form by repeating said receiving and said providing.

A method comprising:

• causing, by a server component of an electronic form generation system, a text entry area to be displayed within a user interface (UI) of a client component of the electronic form generation system with which an authoring user interacts;
• receiving, by the server component, from the client component a text-based description of an electronic form to be generated in a form of a natural language;
• creating, by the server component, a form model containing structural data representing the electronic form and associated form elements, contextual information for processing of the text-based description and logic relating to one or more of the associated form elements by:
• gathering the contextual information from one or more of the text-based description and supplemental information;
• and
• generating the structural data by parsing and processing the natural language including identifying the associated form elements specified by the text-based description and applying the contextual information to the associated form elements;
• and
• providing, by the server component, a preview of the electronic form to be displayed within the UI of the client component in order to provide an opportunity for the authoring user to evaluate whether the electronic form matches the intent of the authoring user.