Integrated change management unit

A system comprising:

• a server computer system;
• a first layer associated with the server computer system containing information about the unique aspects of a particular application;
• a second layer associated with the server computer system containing common information about the user interface and functions common to a variety of applications, a particular application being generated based on the data in both the first and second layers;
• a third layer associated with the server computer system that retrieves the data in the first and second layers in order to generate the functionality and user interface elements of the particular application;
• and
• a fourth layer associated with the server computer system that automatically detects changes external to the particular application in the unique aspects and the common information, and causes the functionality and user interface elements that affect the particular application to be modified accordingly.

A method for generating applications using a server computer system, the method comprising:

• storing in a first layer information about the unique aspects of a plurality of applications;
• storing in a second layer information about a user interface and functions common to the applications;
• using the data in the first and second layers to generate a functionality and a user interface for a particular one of the applications;
• automatically detecting changes external to the particular application in the data in the first layer and the data in the second layer that affect the particular application and causing the user interface and the functionality of the particular application to be dynamically re-generated each time a client establishes a connection with the server computer based upon the data in the first layer and the data in the second layer.

A server system for generating an application comprising:

• a first layer containing information about the unique aspects of a particular application;
• a second layer containing information about the user interface and functions common to a variety of applications;
• a third layer that retrieves the data in the first and second layers in order to generate functionality and user interface elements of the application;
• a change management layer for automatically detecting changes that affect an application which are external to the application;
• a first portion configured to generate a particular application based on the first and second layers upon connection by an authorized client computer;
• and
• a second portion configured to distribute the user interface and functionality of the particular application to the authorized client computer.