Meta-data driven data access system

A meta-data driven data access system provides a calling application access to a plurality of data sources. The system includes a client API and a broker server. The client API receives a request for attribute data from the calling application. The client API accesses attribute structures in a local meta-data bank corresponding to the requested attribute data. The client API retrieves the attribute data from local adapters where available. If the attribute structure is not contained within the local meta-data bank, the client API requests the attribute data from the broker server. The broker server also includes a local meta-data bank and local source adapters. Accordingly, the broker server accesses the local meta-data bank to identify the adapters associated with each requested piece of attribute data. The broker server then retrieves the attribute data from the adapters associated with each attribute structure.