U.S. patent application number 10/025126 was filed with the patent office on 2007-10-11 for data transfer method and system.
Invention is credited to Weide Ju, Durgesh Kotwal, Re Lai, Hichem Sellami, Antonius Adhi Wiryawan.
Application Number | 20070239709 10/025126 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38576735 |
Filed Date | 2007-10-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070239709 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wiryawan; Antonius Adhi ; et
al. |
October 11, 2007 |
DATA TRANSFER METHOD AND SYSTEM
Abstract
Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture for transferring
data from a defined source business component to a defined
destination business component and/or between user-specified fields
associated with the defined business components are disclosed
herein. Embodiments of the invention enable a user to populate data
fields of a first user interface display with data previously
entered in data fields of a second user interface display by
mapping the location of the data within a database, to the data
fields of the first user interface display.
Inventors: |
Wiryawan; Antonius Adhi;
(Hayward, CA) ; Lai; Re; (Belmont, CA) ;
Ju; Weide; (Cupertino, CA) ; Sellami; Hichem;
(Oakland, CA) ; Kotwal; Durgesh; (Fremont,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
CAMPBELL STEPHENSON LLP
11401 CENTURY OAKS TERRACE
BLDG. H, SUITE 250
AUSTIN
TX
78758
US
|
Family ID: |
38576735 |
Appl. No.: |
10/025126 |
Filed: |
December 18, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 ;
707/999.006; 707/E17.005 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 16/20 20190101;
Y10S 707/99952 20130101; Y10S 707/99944 20130101; Y10S 707/99945
20130101; Y10S 707/99942 20130101; Y10S 707/99943 20130101; Y10S
707/99953 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
707/006 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/30 20060101
G06F017/30 |
Claims
1. A computerized method comprising: defining a source element
associated with data, the data stored in a first location of a
structured environment and mapped to the source element to enable
retrieval thereof; defining a destination element, wherein the
source element comprises a source business object, a source
business component, and a first source field all pertaining to a
first user interface, the destination element comprises a
destination business object, a destination business component, and
a first destination field all pertaining to a second user
interface, and said defining the source element and defining the
destination element comprises identifying the source business
object, the source business component, the first source field, the
destination business object, the destination business component,
and the first destination field via a user interface display
comprising at least one form applet; and mapping the source element
to the destination element, wherein said mapping comprises mapping
the first source field to the first destination field, and
executing said mapping provides an unchanged image of data mapped
to the first source field to the first destination field for
display on the second user interface, maintains the state of the
data and the mapping of the data to the first source field, and
maintains the data only in the first location of the structured
environment.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the source business object and
the destination business object comprise different business
objects.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the source business component
comprises an active business component.
4. (canceled)
5. The method of claim 1, where mapping the source element to the
destination element comprises: incorporating data location
information from the first source field into the first destination
field.
6. A machine-readable medium comprising instructions, executable by
a processor, to cause said processor to perform operations
comprising: identifying data stored in a first location of a
structured environment and mapped to a user-specified source, the
user-specified source including a source business object, a source
business component, and a first source field pertaining to a first
user interface, wherein said identifying further comprises causing
generation of a user interface display, the user interface display
including a plurality of data fields corresponding to the source
business object, the source business component, and the first
source field, the plurality of data fields configured to receive a
user input to specify the source, and processing the user input to
identify the data corresponding to identifying data location
information associated with the first source field; mapping the
data to a user-specified destination, wherein the user-specified
destination comprises a destination business object, a destination
business component, and a first destination field pertaining to a
second user interface, the data remains mapped to the
user-specified source, and executing said mapping the data to the
user-specified destination provides an unchanged image of data
mapped to the first source field to the first destination field for
display on the second user interface, maintains the state of the
data and the mapping of the data to the first source field, and
maintains the data only in the first location of the structured
environment; and wherein the machine readable medium comprises any
medium configured to store data or information, or encoding a
sequence of instructions and operations for execution by the
processor, and is other than a carrier-wave signal.
7. (canceled)
8. The machine-readable medium of claim 6 further comprising
instructions for said mapping the data to the user-specified
destination, said instructions executable by the processor to cause
the processor to perform operations comprising: incorporating data
location information associated with the first source field into
the first destination field.
9. The machine-readable medium of claim 6 further comprising
instructions for said mapping the data to the user-specified
destination, said instructions executable by the processor to cause
the processor to perform operations comprising: causing generation
of a user interface display, the user interface display including a
plurality of data fields corresponding to the destination business
object, the destination business component, and the first
destination field, the plurality of data fields configured to
receive a user input to specify the destination.
10. The machine-readable medium of claim 6 further comprising
instructions for said mapping the data to the user-specified
destination, said instructions executable by the processor to cause
the processor to perform operations comprising: mapping the data to
the destination business object, wherein the destination business
object comprises the source business object.
11. An apparatus, comprising: a processor; an input/output
interface, coupled to the processor, configured to communicate with
an input/output device; a communications interface, coupled to the
processor, configured to communicate with a database, wherein the
database includes data stored according to a schema and mapped to a
source to enable retrieval thereof, the source including a source
business object, a source business component, and at least one
source field pertaining to a first user interface; a memory,
coupled to the processor, configured to store a plurality of
instructions, wherein execution of the plurality of instructions by
the processor, in response to a user input of the source and a
destination via the input/output device, causes identification of
the data mapped to the source and incorporation of identifying data
location information associated with the first source field into a
first destination field, wherein the destination includes a
destination business object, a destination business component, and
the first destination field, all pertaining to a second user
interface, said incorporation provides an unchanged image of data
mapped to the first source field to the first destination field for
display on the second user interface, maintains the state of the
data and the mapping of the data to the first source field, and
maintains the data only in the first location of the structured
environment; and a display interface, coupled to the processor,
configured to communicate with a coupled display, wherein execution
of the plurality of instructions by the processor further causes
the display interface to cause generation of a user interface
display on the coupled display, the user interface display
including a plurality of data fields corresponding to the source
and destination business objects, the source and destination
business components, the first source field, and the first
destination field, the plurality of data fields configured to
receive the user input of the source and the destination.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the database comprises a
relational database management system database.
13. (canceled)
14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the user interface display
includes a plurality of form applets configured to enable a user to
input source and destination information.
15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the data field corresponding
to the first source field may be populated with a field identifier
defined in the source business component or a free-text calculated
expression.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This disclosure relates generally to data transfer
mechanisms, and more particularly, but not exclusively, to methods,
apparatus, and articles of manufacture for mapping data, stored in
a structured environment, from a source business component to a
destination business component.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
[0002] The electronic storage of information has vastly increased
the amount of data that may be maintained in relation to various
records, such as database records, and the like. In many cases,
organizations store data in a relational database management system
to enable the data to be accessible to users via requests
structured according to a database schema. For example, customer
profile data corresponding to a new customer of a bank may be input
by a bank representative into a series of data fields, for example,
provided via a user interface ("UI") display. The customer profile
data may then be stored in the database to enable the retrieval
thereof in the context of the original UI display.
[0003] However, no adequate mechanism exists for associating the
data (e.g., the customer profile data) with data fields in a
different UI display in the event that a user desires the same data
to correspond to the two UI displays. For example, assume that a
customer, whose customer profile data had previously been entered
into the original UI display and stored in the database, returned
to the bank to apply for an automobile loan. Because an auto loan
application will typically require at least a portion of the same
customer profile data previously entered by the bank
representative, re-entry of the data into the data fields of the
different UI, corresponding to the auto loan application, will be
necessitated. This not only decreases the productivity of the bank
representative, but increases the potential for the introduction of
errors associated with the data in the auto loan application.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIOUS VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0004] In the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like parts
throughout the various views of the non-limiting and non-exhaustive
embodiments of the present invention, and wherein:
[0005] FIG. 1 is an illustration of an embodiment of a multi-layer
data architecture in accordance with the teachings of the present
invention;
[0006] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a
logical structure of a business component in accordance with the
teachings of the present invention;
[0007] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a
flow of events in accordance with the teachings of the present
invention;
[0008] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a
computer system for implementing methodologies in accordance with
the teachings of the present invention;
[0009] FIG. 5 is an illustration of an example UI display for
defining data map elements in accordance with the teachings of the
present invention; and
[0010] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a
data transfer environment in accordance with the teachings of the
present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS
[0011] Embodiments of methods, apparatus, and articles of
manufacture for transferring data from a source business component
to a destination business component and/or between user-specified
fields within the business components are described in detail
herein. In the following description, numerous specific details are
provided, such as the identification of various system components,
to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the
invention. One skilled in the art will recognize, however, that the
invention can be practiced without one or more of the specific
details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In
still other instances, well-known structures, materials, or
operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring
aspects of various embodiments of the invention.
[0012] Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment"
or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or
characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is
included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus,
the appearance of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an
embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not
necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the
particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined
in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
[0013] As an overview, embodiments of the invention provide
methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture for transferring
data from a defined source business component to a defined
destination business component and/or between user-specified fields
associated with the defined business components to enable a user to
populate data fields of one UI display with data previously entered
in data fields of another UI display.
[0014] In one representative example in accordance with the
teachings of the present invention, a customer may approach an
organization seeking a particular product or service. In order to
maintain records corresponding to their customers, the organization
may collect customer profile data corresponding to the customer,
and store the data in a relational database, or other structured
environment, by entering the data into data fields of a form
applet, or the like, in an embodiment. If all or a portion of the
customer profile data also corresponds to a second set of data
fields associated with another UI display (e.g., a second form
applet), then instead of re-entering the pertinent customer profile
data into the second set of data fields, the user (e.g., an
organization representative) may map the data, entered in the form
applet and stored in the database, to the second set of data
fields. In one embodiment, mapping the data includes initiation of
a data transfer utility software application configured to enable
the user to define source and destination elements, such as
business objects, business components, and/or fields, to map the
transfer of data. Other features of the illustrated embodiments
will be apparent to the reader from the foregoing and the appended
claims, and as the detailed description and discussion is read in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
[0015] With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
FIG. 1, an embodiment of a multi-layer data architecture 101 is
illustrated in accordance with the teachings of the present
invention. The multi-layer data architecture 101 illustrates
logical relationships among a business object 103, business
components 105, 107, and 109, and database tables 111 and 113. The
logical relationship among these elements 103-113 is hierarchical
in nature, with the business object 103 occupying the upper-most
layer of the hierarchy, followed by an intermediate layer of one or
more business components 105-109, each of which may be associated
with one or more database tables 111 and 113, in an embodiment.
[0016] Each database table 111, 113 in turn may include a plurality
of database records 117 configured to reference data stored in a
database 115 pertaining to the business object 103. In one
embodiment, the database 115 may comprise a relational database
management system ("RDBMS") database with data organized in a
manner (see, e.g., reference numeral 119) similar to that
illustrated in FIG. 1. A repository file 121 may include data and
rules corresponding to a database schema, which, in conjunction
with logic associated with the business components 105-109, enables
a user to store and access data in the database 115, in an
embodiment.
[0017] The business object 103 may relate to any one of a number of
applications designed primarily for use in business, such as for
example, but not limited to, accounting, payroll, financial
planning, project management, record maintenance, customer
management, or the like. For example, in one embodiment, the
business object 103 may comprise a "Contact" object (i.e., customer
management), and business components 105-109 may be used to store
and access data in the database 115 corresponding to customer
profile information, such as names, addresses, and the like. Each
business component 105-109 may include, in an embodiment,
information for mapping the business component 105-109 to various
data stored in the database tables 111, 113. The business
components 105-109 may each represent a distinct portion of the
functions associated with the business object 103, in an
embodiment.
[0018] With reference now primarily to FIG. 2, an embodiment of a
logical structure of a business component 201 is shown in
accordance with the teachings of the present invention. In the
illustrated embodiment, the business component 201 (which may
comprise any one or more of the business components 105, 107, and
109 illustrated in FIG. 1) may include a set of properties 203 that
includes information specific to the respective business component
201. For example, the properties 203 may include information such
as a "Name" that specifies a logical name associated with the
business component 201, a "Table Name" that specifies a name
associated with an underlying database table (e.g., the database
tables 111, 113, FIG. 1), and the like.
[0019] In one embodiment, the business component 201 may also
include a set of fields 205 and 207, each of which may have a set
of associated attributes and/or properties 209 and 211,
respectively. The fields 205 and 207 may correspond to data fields
associated with a UI display, such as a form applet, or the like,
in an embodiment. The attributes and/or properties 209, 211
associated with each field 205 and 207, respectively, may include
an array of information (see, e.g., reference numeral 213) such as
for example, an identifying "Name" associated with the field 205,
207 (e.g., "LAST_NAME"). In addition, the attributes/properties
209, 211 may also include information related to a data type
associated with the field 205, 207 (e.g., text, numeric,
calculated), and identifying data location information (e.g.,
rows/columns within the database) to which the field 205, 207 may
be mapped within the database 115 (see, e.g., FIG. 1). In one
embodiment, a primary key (see, e.g., "PK," reference numeral 119,
FIG. 1) may serve as a unique identifier of a specific tuple (row)
in the database table (e.g., the database tables 111 and 113, FIG.
1) to which the field is mapped.
[0020] It will be appreciated that the business component 201 may
span data corresponding to one or more physical database tables
(e.g., the database tables 111 and 113, FIG. 1), in an embodiment.
The data may also include values, for example, calculated by
referencing a base table, and by explicitly joining and linking
other tables, including intersection tables, each of which may
include a plurality of records (e.g., the records 117) as will be
familiar to one skilled in the art.
[0021] Having observed the logical relationships among the various
elements of the multi-layer data architecture illustrated in FIG.
1, and the logical structure of the business component element
illustrated in FIG. 2, attention may now be directed to details of
data transfer mechanisms in accordance with the teachings of the
present invention.
[0022] With reference primarily to FIG. 3, a flow diagram,
illustrating an embodiment of a flow of events, is shown in
accordance with the teachings of the present invention. As the
following discussion proceeds with regard to FIG. 3, reference is
made to FIGS. 4-6 to illustrate various aspects of the present
invention.
[0023] In one embodiment, a user (e.g. the organization
representative from the example given above) initiates a data
transfer utility application (see, e.g., process block 301) in
order to populate data fields in a UI display (e.g., an electronic
automobile loan application) with data (e.g., customer profile
information) previously provided (e.g., by the loan applicant), and
stored in a database (e.g., a database maintained by the
organization). Initiation of the data transfer utility may be
facilitated by user-actuation of a menu option, or the like,
provided via a UI display, in an embodiment. It will be appreciated
that the storage of data in, and retrieval of data from, the
database may be facilitated via a computer, server hardware, or
other device. Furthermore, the data transfer utility application,
the UI display(s) associated with the auto loan application, and
the like, may comprise software applications, in an embodiment,
capable of being executed by the computer, or other device, such as
that illustrated in FIG. 4.
[0024] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustration of an embodiment of a
computer system for implementing methodologies in accordance with
the teachings of the present invention. In the illustrated
embodiment, a computer (also "machine" or "computer system") 401
includes a processor 403 coupled to a bus 407. A memory 405, a
storage 411, a display interface 409, a communications interface
413, and an input/output interface 415 are also coupled to the bus
407, in the illustrated embodiment.
[0025] In one embodiment, the machine 401 is capable of interfacing
with external systems through the communications interface 413. The
communications interface 413 may include a radio transceiver
compatible with various modulated signals, wireless telephone
signals, or the like. The communications interface 413 may also
include an Ethernet adapter, an analog modem, Integrated Services
Digital Network ("ISDN") modem, cable modem, Digital Subscriber
Line ("DSL") modem, a T-1 line interface, a T-3 line interface, an
optical carrier interface (e.g., OC-3), token ring interface,
satellite transmission interface, a wireless interface, or other
interfaces for coupling a device to other devices.
[0026] In one embodiment, a carrier wave signal 421 is
received/transmitted between the communications interface 413 and a
network 423. The communications signal 421 may be used to interface
the machine 401 with another computer system, a network hub, a
router, or the like, in various embodiments. In one embodiment, the
carrier wave signal 421 is considered to be machine-readable media,
which may be transmitted through wires, cables, optical fibers, or
through the atmosphere, or the like. The network 423 may comprise
the Internet, a wide area network ("WAN"), a local area network
("LAN"), an intranet, or the like, or a combination of one or more
of the foregoing.
[0027] The processor 403 may be a suitable commercially available
processor. The memory 405 may be a machine-readable medium such as
dynamic random access memory ("DRAM"), and may include static
random access memory ("SRAM"). The display interface 409 controls a
coupled display 419, which in one embodiment may be a cathode ray
tube ("CRT"), a liquid crystal display ("LCD"), an active matrix
display, or the like. An input/output device 417, coupled to the
input/output interface 415 may be a keyboard, a disk drive, a
printer, a scanner, or other input/output device, including a
mouse, a trackpad, or the like.
[0028] The storage 411, in one embodiment, may include
machine-readable media such as for example, but not limited to, a
magnetic hard disk, a floppy disk, an optical disk, a read-only
memory component ("ROM"), a smart card, or another form of storage
for data. In one embodiment, the storage 411 may include removable
media, read-only memory, readable/writable memory, or the like.
Some of the data may be written by a direct memory access process
into the memory 405 during execution of software in the computer
system 401. It will be appreciated that software may reside in the
storage 411, the memory 405, or may be transmitted or received via
a modem or a communications interface 413. For the purpose of the
specification, the term "machine-readable medium" shall be taken to
include any medium that is capable of storing data, information, or
encoding a sequence of instructions or operations for execution by
the processor 403 to cause the processor 403 to perform the
methodologies of the present invention. The term "machine-readable
medium" shall be understood to include, for example, solid-state
memories; ROM; random access memory ("RAM"); magnetic disk storage
media; optical storage media; flash memory devices; electrical,
optical, acoustical or other form of propagated signals (e.g.,
carrier tones, infrared signals, and digital signals); and the
like.
[0029] With continued reference to FIG. 3, initiation of the data
transfer utility application (see, e.g., block 301) may cause
generation of a data transfer mapping UI display, such as that
illustrated in FIG. 5. In order to transfer data from one location
to another, both a source and destination for the data may need to
be defined, in an embodiment. It will be appreciated that the
transfer of data from one location to another comprises mapping
data field(s) of a destination business component/destination
business object with the location of the data in the database 115
(see, e.g., FIG. 1), as it exists with regard to data field(s) of a
source business component/source business object. So, although data
may automatically populate data fields in the destination business
component/destination business object following the transfer of
data, the physical storage location of the data in the database 115
is not altered, in an embodiment.
[0030] The methodologies of the present invention enable a flexible
business service that allows the user to map data so that
information/data entered in a data field in one UI display, for
example, may appear in a data field in another UI display without
the necessity of re-entering the information/data. Moreover, a data
model supported by the RDBMS (see, e.g., FIG. 1) need not be
modified to accomplish the methodologies in accordance with the
teachings of the present invention.
[0031] In order to facilitate the data transfer, the user may,
after initiating the data transfer utility, define a source
business object associated with the data to be transferred, and a
destination business object to which the data will be transferred
(see, e.g., process block 303). FIG. 6 is a block diagram,
illustrating an embodiment of a data transfer environment in
accordance with the teachings of the present invention, showing a
source business object 601 and a destination business object 603.
In various embodiments, the source business object 601 and the
destination business object 603 may be the same or different
business objects. In one embodiment, the source business object 601
and the destination business object 603 may be defined by the user,
via a data map object applet 501 (see, e.g., FIG. 5), by manual
entry of applicable information, or by selection of desired
information from a pull-down menu, or the like, for example.
[0032] In one embodiment, the user may provide a unique name 507 to
identify a data map object. The user may then select or identify
the source business object 509 (e.g., the source business object
601, FIG. 6) and the destination business object 511 (e.g., the
destination business object 603, FIG. 6). In one embodiment, the
specified source and destination business objects will correspond
to objects defined in the repository files (e.g., the repository
file 121, FIG. 1) associated with the database 115 (see, e.g., FIG.
1). The user may inactivate the defined data map object by
selecting an inactive field 513, and may provide additional
comments 515 related to the data map object if desired, in an
embodiment.
[0033] The user may next define a source business component
associated with the data to be transferred, and a destination
business component to which the data will be transferred (see,
e.g., process block 305). As mentioned above, a business object
(e.g., the source business object 601 and/or the destination
business object 603, FIG. 6) may include a plurality of business
components, such as those illustrated in FIG. 6. In the embodiment
illustrated in FIG. 6, the source destination object includes a
business component 605, an active business component 607, and a
source business component 609. Similarly, the destination business
object 603 includes a destination business component 613, and two
additional business components 615 and 617.
[0034] The active business component 607 comprises the business
component that is currently active at the moment at which the data
transfer utility application is initiated. In a representative
scenario, an event (e.g., user actuation of a data transfer utility
menu option) may signal an event manager 611 (see, e.g., FIG. 6) to
call the data transfer utility application to perform the data
transfer operation. It will be appreciated however, that the user
may wish to transfer data from a business component (e.g., the
source business component 609) other than the active business
component 607, in an embodiment, and in fact, any one or more of
the illustrated business components 605, 607, and/or 609 may
function as the source business component (e.g., the source
business component 609) in accordance with the teachings of the
present invention. Similarly, any one or more of the business
components 613, 615, and/or 617 may function as the destination
business component (e.g., the destination business component 613),
in an embodiment.
[0035] In one embodiment, the source business component 609, and
the destination business component 613, may be defined by the user,
via a data map component applet 503 (see, e.g., FIG. 5), by manual
entry of applicable information or by selection of desired
information from a pull-down menu, or the like, for example. The
user may provide a unique name 517 to identify a data map component
within the data map object, in an embodiment. The user may then
select or identify the source business component 519 (e.g., the
source business component 609, FIG. 6) and the destination business
component 521 (e.g., the destination business component 613, FIG.
6). In addition to the foregoing information, the user may specify
a name of a parent data map component 523, in an embodiment. This
allows the user to define a hierarchical structure of the data map
components. As discussed above, the user may also indicate an
inactive status 525 for the data map component, and provide
additional comments 527 related to the data map component if
desired, in an embodiment.
[0036] The user may next define a source field associated with the
data to be transferred, and a destination field to which the data
will be transferred (see, e.g., process block 307). Defining source
and destination fields enables field-to-field mapping to be
performed by the data transfer utility application, in an
embodiment. In one embodiment, the source field(s) and the
destination field(s) may be defined by the user, via a data map
field applet 505 (see, e.g., FIG. 5), by manual entry of
information, or by selection of desired information from a menu or
the like, for example.
[0037] The source field 529 of the data map field applet 505 may be
populated, in an embodiment, with two types of data: Field
identifiers defined in the source business component (e.g., the
source business component 609, FIG. 6) in the repository file 121
(see, e.g., FIG. 1); or a free-text calculated expression. In one
embodiment, the data transfer utility application may recognize a
calculated expression by looking for specific characters, such as
brackets, quotation marks, or the like. If the string in the source
field 529 contains any of the specified characters, the data
transfer utility application will treat the entry as a calculated
expression and evaluate the result at run-time to serve as the
source for a data transfer.
[0038] The destination field 533 of the data map field applet 505
may also be populated by either the field identifier or the
calculated expression, described above, in a manner similar to that
for the source field 529. The source multi-value link field 531 and
the destination multi-value link field 535 of the data map field
applet 505 enable the user to indicate whether the source field 529
and/or the destination field 533 is a multi-value field. Data
transfer from a multi-value field to a single-value field is
generally not permitted.
[0039] In one embodiment, a key field 539 of the data map field
applet 505 provides a mechanism to match a destination record with
a source record (e.g., the database records 117). For instance, in
a data transfer operation, the data transfer utility application
will need to find an appropriate record in the destination business
component (e.g., the destination business component 613, FIG. 6) to
update. To accomplish this, the data transfer utility application
locates the appropriate record by matching "keys" with those of the
corresponding source fields, in an embodiment. This also enables
the data transfer utility application to determine whether a
duplicate record with the same "keys" already exists. As described
above, the user may also indicate an inactive status 537 of the
data map field, and provide additional comments 541 related to the
data map field if desired, in an embodiment.
[0040] Having completely defined the source and destination
elements to enable data transfer, the user next activates the data
transfer utility application to cause the data transfer/mapping to
occur (see, e.g., process block 309).
[0041] While the invention is described and illustrated here in the
context of a limited number of embodiments, the invention may be
embodied in many forms without departing from the spirit of the
essential characteristics of the invention. The illustrated and
described embodiments, including what is described in the abstract
of the disclosure, are therefore to be considered in all respects
as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is
indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing
description, and all changes which come within the meaning and
range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced
therein.
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