Patent ID: 6985910

Claim:
A method for mapping n-dimensional array data (“source data”) initially represented in markup language to an n-dimension table (“target data”) suitable for use by business application programs, said method comprising the steps of: (a) establishing a searchable repository which contains metadata information about a result array structure and one or more result array data elements; (b) parsing said source data to find a first or next tag name; (c) if a found tag name corresponds to an array name, then performing the steps of: (i) setting a dimension counter to the new result array dimension; (ii) loading a mapping array with the array tag name, total length of all elements at this and higher dimensions (dimension group length), and maximum array elements; (iii) setting a dimension field count to 1; and (iv) calculating a dimension array offset by multiplying the dimension group length by the current dimension field count for each lower level dimension and summing the result; (d) if a found tag name corresponds to an array element, then performing the steps of: (i) setting a dimension counter to the corresponding dimension level; (ii) storing the corresponding tag value in a result slot indicated by the dimension field count plus the dimension array offset; (iii) incrementing said dimension field count by 1; and (iv) repeating said steps (d)(i), (d)(ii) and (d)(iii) for successive source data elements at the same dimension level until all elements at this dimension have been stored; (e) and repeating steps (b), (c) and (d) until all dimensions of said source data have been mapped.