1. A computer-implemented method for defining a structure for items to be identified in loosely-structured data, comprising: defining a layout for a composite data definition, where the layout indicates at least one of positional relationship of data items to each other and positional information for data items in the loosely-structured data; arranging data items in the layout, where each data item in the layout has a common meaning for applications that use the data item; creating an identification order list for the composite data definition, where the identification order list includes the data items in the layout and specifies an order in which the data items comprising the composite data definition are to be identified within the loosely-structured data; receiving loosely-structured input data; and parsing the input data to identify data 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 and the method is implemented by computer-executable instructions executed by a computer processor.
1. A computer-implemented method for defining a structure for items to be identified in loosely-structured data, comprising: defining a layout for a composite data definition, where the layout indicates at least one of positional relationship of data items to each other and positional information for data items in the loosely-structured data; arranging data items in the layout, where each data item in the layout has a common meaning for applications that use the data item; creating an identification order list for the composite data definition, where the identification order list includes the data items in the layout and specifies an order in which the data items comprising the composite data definition are to be identified within the loosely-structured data; receiving loosely-structured input data; and parsing the input data to identify data 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 and the method is implemented by computer-executable instructions executed by a computer processor. 3. The method of claim 1 further comprises assigning an identification property to a given data item in the layout after the given data item has been arranged in the layout.