Patent ID: 8166002

Claim:
A method for reconciliating data comprising: detecting a reconciliation event for a conflicting database item; determining for the reconciliation event a controlling element of a database for the reconciliation event, wherein the controlling element comprises a preexisting database value for that element that is different from an update value for that element provided within update data from an update data source; configuring an abstract representation that provides a definition for the update data source; determining that the update data source is a data source that provided the update data utilizing the configured abstract representation; ascertaining that a plurality of abstract representations each associated with a defined data source match criteria for a data source that provided the update data; and utilizing a previously configured programmatic rule to determine which of the plurality of abstract definitions takes precedence over other ones of the abstract representations, wherein the update data source is a source associated with the abstract representation that takes precedence over the other ones in accordance with the programmatic rule; ascertaining a last data source that provided the preexisting database value; retrieving from a data store a priority array associated with the controlling element; adjusting the priority array stored in the data store in accordance with received user input; determining from the priority array whether the update data source has reconciliation priority over the last data source; when the update data source has reconciliation priority, changing a value of the controlling element in the database from the preexisting database value to the update value; and when the last data source has reconciliation priority, retaining the preexisting database value for the controlling element in the database.