Patent ID: 7836104

Claim:
A method, comprising: loading, by a user, demonstration data into a front-end application executing at a user location; uploading the demonstration data from the front-end application to a remote back-end application associated with a business information enterprise system; interpreting the demonstration data at the back-end application in accordance with at least one rule to generate demonstration business data generically formatted in accordance with an architecture of the business information enterprise system, wherein the demonstration business data is associated with characteristics and key figures and includes at least one column of cells, and further wherein the at least one rule automatically determines (i) that a first cell is to be interpreted as a characteristic because the first cell includes a pre-determined symbol type and (ii) that a second cell is to be interpreted as a key figure because the cell does not include the pre-determined symbol type; receiving, from the user location, a query at the back-end application; and presenting, at the user location, at least a portion of the demonstration business data on a non-generic display in accordance with the query; wherein the demonstration data includes a table of cells that includes a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns; wherein the interpreting the demonstration data in accordance with the at least one rule is performed by a back-end apparatus and comprises: automatically determining hierarchy information associated with the demonstration data based on location of information within the table of cells that includes the plurality of rows and the plurality of columns; and wherein the automatically determining hierarchy information associated with the demonstration data based on location of information within the table of cells that includes the plurality of rows and the plurality of columns comprises: determining hierarchy information associated with the demonstration data based on location of information within the table of cells by interpreting a first two cells in one column of the plurality of columns as being subsets of a first cell in a column that immediately precedes the one column of the plurality of columns; and determining hierarchy information associated with the demonstration data based on location of information within the table of cells by interpreting a second two cells in the one column of the plurality of columns as being subsets of a second cell in the column that immediately precedes the one column of the plurality of columns.