US Patent 7689569 Systems and methods for managing large data environments

A data management system includes a plurality of data environments. Each data environment includes data relating to items. In the system, a method of managing the data includes identifying a plurality of rules. Each rule represents a unique combination of the possible values of the variable in each of the plurality of data environments. The method also includes creating a record for each item. The record for each item includes an item field that identifies the item and a rule field that associates the item with one of the plurality of rules. The method also includes storing the records and receiving a request at the data management system to display the particular value of an item in one of the data environments.