18. A computer-implemented method for defining a structure for items to be identified in loosely-structured data, comprising: assigning a name to a composite data definition using a visual editor, where the visual editor is implemented by computer-executable instructions executed by a computer processor; selecting, via the visual editor, a first data item from a listing of data items, where the first data item has a common meaning for applications that use the first data item and includes one or more properties associated therewith; arranging, via the visual editor, the first data item in a layout for the composite data definition; creating an identification order list for the composite data definition, where the identification order list includes the first data item and specifies an order in which data items comprising the composite data definition are to be identified within the loosely-structured data; selecting, via the visual editor, a second data item from the listing of data items; arranging, via the visual editor, the second data item in relation to the first data item within the layout; adding the second data item to the identification order list, where the order of the data items in the identification order list is in accordance with the arrangement of the first data time in relation to the second data item in the layout; receiving input data; and parsing the input data to identify items therein using the layout and the identification order list of the composite data definition, where the data items in the layout are searched for in the order specified by the identification order list and the order specified in the identification order list differs from the arrangement of the data items in the layout of the composite data definition.
18. A computer-implemented method for defining a structure for items to be identified in loosely-structured data, comprising: assigning a name to a composite data definition using a visual editor, where the visual editor is implemented by computer-executable instructions executed by a computer processor; selecting, via the visual editor, a first data item from a listing of data items, where the first data item has a common meaning for applications that use the first data item and includes one or more properties associated therewith; arranging, via the visual editor, the first data item in a layout for the composite data definition; creating an identification order list for the composite data definition, where the identification order list includes the first data item and specifies an order in which data items comprising the composite data definition are to be identified within the loosely-structured data; selecting, via the visual editor, a second data item from the listing of data items; arranging, via the visual editor, the second data item in relation to the first data item within the layout; adding the second data item to the identification order list, where the order of the data items in the identification order list is in accordance with the arrangement of the first data time in relation to the second data item in the layout; receiving input data; and parsing the input data to identify items therein using the layout and the identification order list of the composite data definition, where the data items in the layout are searched for in the order specified by the identification order list and the order specified in the identification order list differs from the arrangement of the data items in the layout of the composite data definition. 20. The method of claim 18 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.