XML presentation of general-purpose data sources

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 , wherein converting comprises generating an XML representation comprised of human-readable XML tags.

Claim 4

The method of claim 2 : wherein accessing comprises accessing structural information that describes a structure of database data in a relational database, the structural information including an indication of a table and an indication of a column; and wherein representing comprises representing the column with a folder; wherein modifying comprises modifying a name of the folder; and wherein converting comprises generating a tag based on the modified name.

Claim 5

The method of claim 2 , wherein accessing includes querying the data source to determine a plurality of data objects included in the data source.

Claim 6

The method of claim 2 , wherein representing further comprises: providing a folder to represent the data source; providing within the folder a plurality of folders to represent a plurality of data objects indicated by the structural information; and providing within at least one of the plurality of folders an additional plurality of folders to represent a substructure of a data object, the substructure indicated in the structural information.

Claim 7

The method of claim 2 : wherein representing comprises representing a column in the data source with a folder in the first hierarchical representation; and wherein converting comprises mapping the folder to an XML tag.

Claim 8

The method of claim 2 , wherein modifying includes modifying an order of the plurality of folders.

Claim 9

The method of claim 2 , wherein modifying comprises modifying a name of a folder of the plurality.

Claim 10

The method of claim 2 , wherein modifying comprises modifying by using a cursor control device to move a folder.

Claim 11

The method of claim 1 , wherein modifying comprises modifying by using an existing data structure comprising mapping information to map a folder in the first hierarchical representation to a pair of XML tags.

Claim 12

The method of claim 10 , wherein the existing stored data structure comprises an XML document type definition.

Claim 13

An XML data structure comprising data from the data source in machine-readable format created by the method of claim 1 .

Claim 14

A machine-readable medium having stored thereon data representing sequences of instructions that when executed cause a machine to: access first structural information that describes how database data is organized in a first application-accessible data source; represent the first structural information with a first hierarchical representation comprising a plurality of folders; modify the first hierarchical representation to create a second hierarchical representation; convert said second hierarchical representation to a first file containing a plurality of human readable data delimiters that correspond to the second hierarchical representation; access second structural information that describes how database data is organized in a second application-accessible data source, said second application-accessible data source being separate and distinct from said first application-accessible data source, represent the second structural information with a third hierarchical representation comprising a plurality of folders; modify the third hierarchical representation to create a fourth hierarchical representation; and convert said fourth hierarchical representation to a second file containing a plurality of human readable data delimiters that correspond to the fourth hierarchical representation.

Claim 15

A machine-readable medium having stored thereon data representing sequences of instructions that when executed cause a machine to: access first structural information that describes how database data is organized in a first application-accessible data source; represent the first structural information with a first hierarchical representation comprising a plurality of folders; modify the first hierarchical representation to create a second hierarchical representation; convert said second hierarchical representation to a first file containing a plurality of human readable data delimiters that correspond to the second hierarchical representation; access second structural information that describes how database data is organized in a second application-accessible data source, said second application-accessible data source being separate and distinct from said first application-accessible data source, represent the second structural information with a third hierarchical representation comprising a plurality of folders; modify the third hierarchical representation to create a fourth hierarchical representation; and convert said fourth hierarchical representation to a second file containing a plurality of human readable data delimiters that correspond to the fourth hierarchical representation.

Claim 16

The machine-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the instructions to convert_said second hierarchical representation further comprise instructions causing the machine to generate an XML representation comprising a pair of human-readable tags that describe a data element associated with the data source.

Claim 17

The machine-readable medium of claim 14 : wherein the instructions to access further comprise instructions causing the machine to access structural information that describes a structure of database data in a relational database, the structural information including an indication of a table and an indication of a column; and wherein the instructions to represent further comprise instructions causing the machine to wherein represent comprises representing the column with a folder; wherein the instructions to modify further comprise instructions causing the machine to wherein modify comprises modifying a name of the folder; and wherein the instructions to generate further comprise instructions causing the machine to wherein generate comprises generating a tag based on the modified name.

Claim 18

The machine-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions to represent further comprise instructions causing the machine to: provide a folder to represent the data source; provide within the folder a plurality of folders to represent a plurality of data objects indicated by the structural information; and provide within at least one of the plurality of folders an additional plurality of folders to represent a substructure of a data object, the substructure indicated in the structural information.

Claim 19

The machine-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the instructions to represent further comprise instructions causing the machine to represent a column in the data source with a folder in the first hierarchical representation; and wherein the instructions to generate further comprise instructions causing the machine to map the folder to an XML tag.

Claim 22

The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein means for converting comprises means for generating an XML representation comprised of human-readable XML tags.

Claim 23

The apparatus of claim 19 : wherein means for accessing comprises means for accessing structural information that describes a structure of database data in a relational database, the structural information including an indication of a table and an indication of a column; wherein means for representing comprises means for representing the column with a folder; wherein means for modifying comprises means for modifying a name of the folder; and wherein means for converting comprises means for generating a tag based on the modified name.

Claim 24

The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein means for accessing includes means for querying the data source to determine a plurality of data objects included in the data source.

Claim 25

The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein means for representing further comprises: means for providing a folder to represent the data source; means for providing within the folder a plurality of folders to represent a plurality of data objects indicated by the structural information; and means for providing within at least one of the plurality of folders an additional plurality of folders to represent a substructure of a data object, the substructure indicated in the structural information.

Claim 26

The apparatus of claim 19 : wherein means for representing comprises means for representing a column in the data source with a folder in the first hierarchical representation; and wherein means for converting comprises means for mapping the folder to an XML tag.

Claim 27

The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein means for modifying includes means for modifying an order of the plurality of folders.

Claim 28

The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein means for modifying comprises means for modifying a name of a folder of the plurality.

Claim 29

The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein means for modifying comprises means for modifying by using a cursor control device to move a folder.

Claim 30

The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein means for modifying comprises means for modifying by using an existing data structure comprising mapping information to map a folder in the first hierarchical representation to a pair of XML tags.

Claim 31

The apparatus of claim 27 , wherein the existing stored data structure comprises an XML document type definition.