Automatic interface generation for an enterprise resource

A system and method are presented for automatically accessing stored data via an enterprise data resource, without actually altering the stored data. Rather, the present invention creates an interface (46) that enables the user to write and retrieve data via the enterprise resource. First, the enterprise resource is analyzed and decomposed into logical data units (14). Next, each logical data unit (14) is translated into an application component (24), comprising an object associated with methods and data. Next, each application component (24) is added to a hierarchical object-oriented data structure (38) according to the relationships between logical data units (14). The data structure (38) may be manually edited by the user. Finally, the data structure is translated into an application by an engine using a "factory" model, thereby efficiently coding the portions of the interface that are similar or identical for all enterprise data resources. The final application is preferably a group of objects having a user interface, data input, and data output.