Abstract: An automated form generation service within a computer system dynamically creates form templates from a plurality of template documents. For each root node present in a first template document, the service determines whether a matching node is present in a second template and, if so, it merges node structure from corresponding locations within the first and second templates. The form generation service further renders the final electronic form based on available form formats and populates the form with dynamic content. The form generation service is a run-time service that may be called by another requesting application.