An output processor for transforming the output produced by a functional component into different forms that can be consumed and presented by different types of clients is disclosed. With this output processor, a functional component is allowed to produce a single set of output that is not targeted at any particular type of client. The output processor then determines which type of client is requesting the output, and transforms the output into a form that can be consumed and presented by that type of client. By performing this transformation, the output processor allows the implementation of the functional component to be decoupled from the client that is requesting output from the functional component. This decoupling in turn enables the amount of effort needed to develop and maintain functional components in a large scale program to be significantly reduced.