1. A method comprising: generating, by use of a data processor, a single, shared, generic data transfer object (GDTO) at a GDAO layer, wherein the GDTO is a data structure having a format that is capable of having stored therein any of multiple data types, the GDTO including content of a first content type and one or more access methods defining procedures to access the first content type: receiving a request for service from a browser at the generic data access object (GDAO) layer; calling through to a database tier to retrieve a database record responsive to the request for service, the database tier providing database metadata; adding content of a second content type from the database record to the GDTO; creating one or more access methods defining procedures to access the second content type based on the database metadata; storing in the GDTO the one or more access methods defining procedures to access the second content type based on the database metadata, thus resulting in the content of a first content type, the one or more access methods defining procedures to access the first content type, the content of a second content type, and the one or more access methods defining procedures to access the second content type all being stored in the same data structure; and returning the GDTO, including the content of a first content type, the one or more access methods defining procedures to access the first content type, the content of a second content type, and the one or more access procedures defining procedures to access the second content type, to the browser in response to the request, allowing the browser to access a selected one of any of the content of a first content type and content of a second content type using the one or more access methods defining procedures to access the content type of the selected content from the GDTO, and thus converting the content type of the selected content into a content type readable by the browser.