Patent ID: 7386566

Claim:
A method for preparing data flow information regarding a data flow using at least one external data file, each of said external data files comprising columns of information, said method comprising: storing in a first computer readable medium, a data flow model, said data flow model comprising use data describing, for each of said at least one external data file, a use of at least one column from said external data file; storing in a second computer readable medium, metadata comprising data describing at least one column of each of said at least one external data file; performing a disconnected validation when the first computer readable medium is inaccessible, the disconnected validation comprising: identifying a potential problem in said at least one external data file by comparing the stored metadata against said at least one external data file without reference to said data flow model; and performing a connected validation when both the first computer readable medium and the second computer readable medium are accessible, the connected validation comprising: using said stored metadata to determine whether said data flow model and said external data files are consistent.