Apparatus and method for automatically propagating a change made to at least one of a plurality of objects to at least one data structure containing data relating to the plurality of objects

A method for automatically propagating a change made to at least one of a plurality of objects to at least one data structure containing data relating to the plurality of objects, the method comprising the steps of:

• extending a user-extensible framework mechanism to define a desired change management environment;
• detecting when the at least one object is to be changed;
• notifying a change manager that the at least one object is to be changed by invoking at least one object method on the change manager before changing or deleting the at least one object and after creating or changing the at least one object;
• and
• the change manager updating the at least one data structure according to the desired change management environment.

A method for providing a change management environment in an object oriented system that automatically updates at least one data structure with changes to at least one of a plurality of objects, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing an object oriented change management framework that is extensible by a user to define the change management environment once extended by the user;
• a user extending the object oriented change management framework to define the change management environment;
• and
• the extended object oriented change management framework executing on a computer system, the object oriented change management framework including a change manager that includes at least one object method that is invoked before changing or deleting an object and after creating or changing an object.