METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DEVELOPING DATA INTEGRATION APPLICATIONS WITH REUSABLE SEMANTIC IDENTIFIERS TO REPRESENT APPLICATION DATA SOURCES AND VARIABLES

1 . A method of developing data integration applications utilizing semantic identifiers to represent application data fields and variables, the method comprising:

a. receiving a set of physical data identifiers, each physical data identifier specifying the name of a physical data field, the network location of the physical data field, and a method of accessing the physical data field;

b. storing in a persistent data store a set of semantic names for use in defining data integration applications, wherein each semantic name is associated in the persistent data store with a physical identifier, and wherein each semantic name indicates the meaning of the data contained in the data field specified by said physical identifier;

c. defining a data integration application comprising functional rules to extract, transform, and store data, wherein each functional rule is a sequence of programmatic expressions and wherein each programmatic expression comprises semantic names, which are stored in the persistent data store and represent input values, and functional operators to transform and combine said input values to create output values; and

d. executing said functional rules by replacing each of said semantic names with data from the data field specified by the physical identifier that is associated in the persistent data store with the semantic name;

e. such that a user may define a data integration application utilizing said semantic names and be ignorant of the information contained in the physical identifier.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising automatically converting the input values from one datatype to another as required by the functional operators.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a. analyzing the received physical data identifiers;

b. using the results of said analysis to provide a set of suggested semantic names for at least some of the physical data identifiers; and

c. responsive to user input, selecting a semantic name from the set of suggested semantic names and associating the selected semantic name with a physical identifier in the persistent data store.

4 . A system for developing data integration applications utilizing semantic identifiers to represent application data fields and variables, the system comprising:

a. a persistent data store that is operable to store computer-readable data and to store relations among said data;

b. logic for receiving a set of physical data identifiers, each data identifier specifying the name of a physical data field, the network location of the physical data field, and a method of accessing the physical data field;

c. logic for storing in the persistent data store a set of semantic names for use in defining data integration applications, wherein each semantic name is associated in the persistent data store with a physical identifier, and wherein the semantic name indicates the meaning of the data field specified by said physical identifier;

d. logic for defining a data integration application comprising functional rules to extract, transform, and store data, wherein each functional rule is a sequence of programmatic expressions, each programmatic expression comprising semantic names, which are stored in the persistent data store and represent input values, and functional operators to transform and combine said input values to create output values; and

e. logic for executing said functional rules by replacing each of said semantic names with data from the data field specified by the physical identifier that is associated with the semantic name in the persistent data store;

f. such that a user may define a data integration application utilizing said semantic names and be ignorant of the information contained in the physical identifier.

5 . The system according to claim 4 , further comprising logic for automatically converting the input values from one datatype to another as required by the functional operators.

6 . The system according to claim 4 , further comprising:

a. logic for analyzing the received physical data identifiers;

b. logic for using the results of said analysis to provide a set of suggested semantic names for at least some of the physical data identifiers; and

c. responsive to user input, selecting a semantic name from the set of suggested semantic names and associating the selected semantic name with a physical identifier in the persistent data store.