2. The method of claim 1 further comprises defining a set of core attributes which may be associated with data items, where the attributes are selected from a group comprised of length of data item, minimum length of data item, maximum length of data item, list of values for the data item, pattern of characters which comprise a data item, case-sensitivity of characters which comprise a data item and a reference to a layout.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprises defining a set of core attributes which may be associated with data items, where the attributes are selected from a group comprised of length of data item, minimum length of data item, maximum length of data item, list of values for the data item, pattern of characters which comprise a data item, case-sensitivity of characters which comprise a data item and a reference to a layout. 8. The method of claim 2 further comprises specifying a given data item in the layout as being either a prefix or a suffix such that data identified as the given data item is associated with a data item that follows or precedes the given data item, respectively.