INTERFACE DEFINED VIRTUAL DATA FIELDS

1 . A method comprising:

receiving a virtual data field definition stored in a user interface model, wherein the user interface model defines, at least in part, an appearance and a behavior of a user interface of an application, wherein the virtual data field includes a data field that does not have a counterpart in a database of actual data fields;

dynamically generating the virtual data field based upon the virtual data field definition; and

responding to a data request from the user interface with a plurality of data fields, wherein the plurality of data fields include both the virtual data field and an actual data field included by the database.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein dynamically generating includes injecting the virtual data field into a service data structure.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising providing data fields from the service data structure such that, from a perspective of a receiver of the data fields, there is no difference between a virtual data field and an actual data field.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein dynamically generating includes generating each virtual data field once per runtime session.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein responding to the data request includes: sorting the plurality of data fields based, at least in part, upon the virtual data field, and providing, at least a portion of, the plurality of data fields to the user interface.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein dynamically generating includes generating, according to the virtual data field definition, the virtual data field based upon at least one actual data field.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the actual data field from which the virtual data field is generated, includes an attribute indicating that the actual data field is not to be provided to the user interface.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving a virtual data field definition includes receiving the virtual data field definition on an occurrence of an event associated with the virtual data field definition.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving a virtual data field definition includes receiving the virtual data field definition when the user interface is launched by a client device.

10 . An apparatus comprising:

a network interface configured to receive a virtual data field definition stored in a user interface model, wherein the user interface model defines, at least in part, an appearance and a behavior of a user interface of an application, wherein the virtual data field includes a data field that does not have a counterpart in a database of actual data fields; and

a processor configured to:

dynamically generate the virtual data field based upon the virtual data field definition, and

respond to a data request from the user interface with a plurality of data fields, wherein the plurality of data fields include both the virtual data field and an actual data field included by the database.

11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to inject the virtual data field into a service data structure included by the apparatus.

12 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to provide data fields from the service data structure such that there is no difference between a virtual data field and an actual data field.

13 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to generate a virtual data field from a static proxy during a user interface runtime activation.

14 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to:

sort the plurality of data fields based, at least in part, upon the virtual data field, and provide, at least a portion of, the sorted plurality of data fields to the user interface.

15 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to generate the virtual data field, according to the virtual data field definition, the virtual data field based upon at least one actual data field.

16 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the actual data field from which the virtual data field is generated, includes an attribute indicating that the actual data field is not to be provided to the user interface.

17 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the network interface is configured to receive the virtual data field definition on an occurrence of an event associated with the virtual data field definition.

18 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the network interface is configured to receive the virtual data field definition in response to the user interface being launched by a client device.

19 . A computer program product for providing information, the computer program product being tangibly and non-transitorily embodied on a computer-readable medium and including executable code that, when executed, is configured to cause a data processing apparatus to:

receive a virtual data field definition stored in a user interface model, wherein the user interface model defines, at least in part, an appearance and a behavior of a user interface of an application, wherein the virtual data field includes a data field that does not have a counterpart in a database of actual data fields;

dynamically generate the virtual data field based upon the virtual data field definition; and

respond to a data request from the user interface with a plurality of data fields, wherein the plurality of data fields include both the virtual data field and an actual data field included by the database.

20 . The computer program product of claim 19 wherein the executable code that, when executed, is configured to cause a data processing apparatus to:

provide data fields from a service data structure such that, from a perspective of a receiver of the data fields, there is no difference between a virtual data field and an actual data field.