Managing data component with harmonization indicator

A computer program product tangibly embodied in an information carrier, the computer program product including instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to perform operations comprising:

• creating a data type that includes several data elements, the data type to be used in creating data components for specific contexts;
• and
• associating each of the several data elements with a harmonization indicator that, when set, causes the associated data element to be included in the data components for any of the specific contexts unless explicitly excluded, and that, when not set, causes the associated data element not to be included in the data components for any of the specific contexts unless explicitly included.

A method of performing a predefined operation on a data component for a specific context, the method comprising:

• receiving a user input specifying at least one context value, the user input being made for performing a predefined operation on a data component for a specific context characterized by the at least one context value, the data component being a context specific representation of a context independent data type;
• and
• reading data elements of the data type in response to the user input, each of the data elements being associated with a harmonization indicator that, when set, causes the associated data element to be included in performing the predefined operation unless the data type explicitly excludes the associated data element for the specific context, and that, when not set, causes the associated data element not to be included in performing the predefined operation unless the data type explicitly includes the associated data element for the specific context.

A computer program product tangibly embodied in an information carrier, the computer program product including instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to perform operations comprising:

• receiving a user input specifying at least one context value, the user input being made to obtain a data component for a specific context characterized by the at least one context value;
• and
• creating the data component from a data type including several data elements, the data type having associated with each of the several data elements a harmonization indicator that, when set, causes the associated data element to be included in the data component unless the data type explicitly excludes the associated data element for the specific context, and that, when not set, causes the associated data element not to be included in the data component unless the data type explicitly includes the associated data element for the specific context.