Abstract

Application code maintenance often imposes rebuilding and/or a patch kit update from a source code vendor. Users of such applications often find such conventional rebuilds and install efforts intrusive. An extensible object-relational (O-R) model operable for dynamic additions to an existing baseline of modeled data specifications mitigates interim patches and builds by employing a scripted modeling form and a corresponding relational form. The scripted modeling form, such as an XML file, is readily modifiable from existing data specifications, such as those driven by a recognized standard, while the relational form is seamlessly updated within an existing application environment without requiring rebuilding or patch kits to implement. The extensible O-R model defines data characteristics of data specifications, and the relational model is updated by instantiating an object or entry into the modeled relational specifications based on the extensible O-R model. In this manner, an incremental update to a set of relational specifications implements an addition or modification to a data specification rather than requiring a more global build, update, or install kit.