Patent ID: 7558799

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for discovering and connecting to a data source, comprising: receiving, by the computer, a request to connect to a data source, wherein the request to connect to a data source comprises a request to connect to a data source to obtain data for use in a report; in response to the request, transmitting, by the computer, a request to a centrally managed data connection repository for a list of available data sources; receiving, by the computer, the list of available data sources from the centrally managed data connection repository and displaying the list; receiving, by the computer, the selection of one of the available data sources from the displayed list; transmitting, by the computer, the identity of the selected data source to the centrally managed data connection repository; in response to transmitting the identity of the selected data source, receiving, by the computer, from the repository a data connection file having data stored therein for establishing a connection to the selected data source and metadata describing one or more properties for the data source, wherein the metadata comprises a credential field for describing credentials to access the data source, the credentials comprising a plurality of values indicating whether a user should be prompted for the credentials, whether no credentials are required to access the data source, whether the credentials are integrated, or whether the credentials are stored in another location; utilizing, by the computer, the data stored in the data connection file to establish a connection to the selected data source; storing, by the computer, a link in the report to the connection file stored in the centrally managed data connection repository; receiving, by the computer, a request to open the report; in response to the request, determining, by the computer, whether the connection file identified by the link is contained in the centrally managed data connection repository; in response to determining that the connection file identified by the link is not in the centrally managed data connection repository, loading, by the computer, the report without establishing a connection to the data source; and in response to determining, by the computer, that the connection file identified by the link is not in the centrally managed data connection repository and the data in the connection file is cached in the report, then utilizing, by the computer, the data in the connection file to establish a connection to the data source.