Patent ID: 7277940

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for exchanging computer data between a first data processing system having a less restrictive data structure and a second data processing system having a more restrictive data structure, the method comprising: receiving, at a data exchange facility having a mapping data store and a mapping function, data values from the first data processing system, the data values being associated with a first data structure; identifying a second data structure associated with the second data processing system and corresponding to the first data structure; storing, on the data exchange facility, the data values received from the first data processing system for later transformation; determining whether the second data structure associated with the second data processing system is capable of storing the data values received from the first data processing system; transforming, at the data exchange facility, the received data values if the second data structure associated with the second data processing system is not capable of storing the received data values such that the second data structure is capable of storing the received data values; and only sending the data values received from the first data processing system to the second data processing system when the second data structure associated with the second data processing system is capable of storing the data values.