Patent ID: 8572563

Claim:
A method comprising: capturing user interface data from business documents by a processor; mapping user interface elements to said business documents by said processor; forming a data model for said business documents by said processor, wherein said business documents are represented by business objects, wherein said business documents from which said user interface data is acquired are represented by interface business objects, and wherein said business objects comprise data segments and said interface business objects comprise said user interface elements; providing a set of business rules for each business component including one or more business objects of said data model by said processor, wherein said set of business rules provides a business logic used in each business component, and wherein said set of business rules includes a sequence of business rules associated with each action performed by an end user; scanning said sequence of business rules associated with each action in said data model by said processor; forming a first pattern signature associated with an action that uniquely identifies each of said sequence of business rules based on said scanning by said processor; determining if said first pattern signature is present in other actions in said data model by said processor; if present, including said first pattern signature in a set of pattern signatures of said data model by said processor; and if not present, repeating the step of determining for a second pattern signature that is a subset of said first pattern signature by said processor; repeating said steps of forming and determining for a pattern signature for each action in said data model by said processor; analyzing said set of pattern signatures by said processor; identifying similarities in said set of pattern signatures by said processor; and identifying said set of pattern signatures that can be reused in one or more data models based on said similarities in said set of pattern signatures by said processor.