Patent ID: 7007033

Claim:
A method of managing the application of one or more XML schema files and XML data mappings to a spreadsheet application workbook, comprising: obtaining the one or more XML schema files to associate with the spreadsheet application workbook; parsing each of the one or more obtained XML schema files to determine XML data definitions and structure required for valid XML data; combining the one or more obtained XML schema files to create a unified schema definition, wherein the unified schema definition comprises XML data definitions and structure applicable to each obtained XML schema files; selecting a root element from the unified schema definition for constructing a generalized instance structure; creating an XML map object to maintain information about the XML data mapping, wherein the information about the XML data mappings comprises schema definitions used, name of the map, and relationship of XML nodes to spreadsheet application workbook cell ranges; building the generalized instance structure from the unified schema definition, wherein the generalized instance structure represents available elements, attributes or simple data content of the unified schema definition that may be applied to the spreadsheet application workbook; and displaying a tree view of the generalized instance structure for providing a visual representation of a valid XML data file wherein the tree view contains hierarchically-structured nodes for visually representing elements, attributes and simple data content of the unified schema definition that may be validly applied to the spreadsheet application workbook.