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

A taxonomy manager for managing data organisation for computer programs, comprising:

• means for generating and storing a reference taxonomy, the reference taxonomy comprising information defining a data organisation;
• at least one adapter program for accessing storage associated with a respective computer program to obtain an application taxonomy, the application taxonomy comprising information defining the organisation of stored data items of the program;
• means for comparing the reference taxonomy with the application taxonomy to identify matching and non-matching features of the compared taxonomies;
• and
• means, responsive to a selection of a preferred s taxonomy based on a result of the comparison, for storing the preferred taxonomy as a replacement of at least one of the reference taxonomy and the application taxonomy, wherein the means for storing the preferred taxonomy responsive to a selection of the preferred taxonomy includes means for generating a modified application taxonomy which includes features of the compared reference taxonomy, and wherein the generated reference taxonomy includes nodes representing data structures and information representing relationships between data structures, and wherein the means for generating a modified application taxonomy includes means for repositioning data structures within the compared application taxonomy, such that the relationships between the data structures of the modified application taxonomy and nodes of the reference taxonomy are more consistent than the relationships between data structures of the compared application taxonomy and nodes of the reference taxonomy.

A computer program stored on a computer readable storage medium for managing data organisation, comprising:

• program code for generating and storing a reference taxonomy, the reference taxonomy comprising information defining a data organisation;
• program code for accessing storage associated with a first computer program to obtain an application taxonomy, the application taxonomy comprising information defining the organisation of stored data items of the first program;
• program code for comparing the reference taxonomy with the application taxonomy to identify matching and non-matching features of the compared taxonomies;
• and
• program code, responsive to a selection of a preferred taxonomy, based on a result of the camparison, for storing the preferred taxonomy as a replacement of at least one of the reference taxonomy and the application taxonomy, wherein the program code for storing the preferred taxonomy responsive to a selection of the preferred taxonomy includes program code for generating a modified application taxonomy which includes features of the compared reference taxonomy, and wherein the generated reference taxonomy includes nodes representing data structures and information representing relationships between data structures, and wherein the program code for generating a modified application taxonomy includes program code for repositioning data structures within the compared application taxonomy, such that the relationships between the data structures of the modified application taxonomy and nodes of the reference taxonomy are more consistent than the relationships between data structures of the compared application taxonomy and nodes of the reference taxonomy.

A data processing apparatus including:

• a data processor;
• data storage;
• one or more computer programs for controlling the operation of the data processor to perform operations on data items stored in the data storage;
• and a taxonomy manager for managing organisation of stored data in association with the one or more computer programs, the taxonomy manager including:
• means for generating and storing a reference taxonomy, the reference taxonomy comprising information defining a data organisation;
• an adapter for accessing storage associated with a computer program to obtain an application taxonomy, the application taxonomy comprising information defining the organisation of stored data items of the program;
• means for comparing the reference taxonomy with the application taxonomy to identify matching and non-matching features of the compared taxonomies;
• and
• means, responsive to a selection of a preferred taxonomy based on a result of the comparison, for storing the preferred taxonomy as a replacement of at least one of the reference taxonomy and the application taxonomy, wherein the means for storing the preferred taxonomy responsive to a selection of the preferred taxonomy includes means for generating a modified application taxonomy which includes features of the compared reference taxonomy, and wherein the generated reference taxonomy includes nodes representing data structures and information representing relationships between data structures, and wherein the means for generating a modified application taxonomy includes means for repositioning data structures within the compared application taxonomy, such that the relationships between the data structures of the modified application taxonomy and nodes of the reference taxonomy are more consistent than the relationships between data structures of the compared application taxonomy and nodes of the reference taxonomy.