Methods, apparatus and computer programs for visualization and management of data organisation within a data processing system

Abstract

Provided are methods, apparatus and computer programs for managing data organisation for computer programs. The method includes generating a reference taxonomy (information defining a first data organisation), accessing storage to obtain an application taxonomy (a second data organisation) for a computer program, and comparing the reference and application taxonomies to identify matching and non-matching features within the taxonomies. The results of the comparison can then be used to generate, in response to selection of a preferred taxonomy, a modified taxonomy to replace either the reference taxonomy or the application taxonomy. A GUI is provided to display the taxonomies and to facilitate user selections. A set of adapters provide access to the data storage of different programs and obtain taxonomy information for the different programs. A taxonomy engine compares taxonomies to identify differences and similarities, and can be used to generate an aggregate taxonomy. The method can be used to synchronize the organisation of stored data between a set of different computer programs, each of which may have different data structures and formats.