Abstract: A data exporter is advantageously equipped to detect presence of an application of interest, identify exportable data of the application, including the function/service affiliation of the exportable data, and export the data in a function/service based manner. In one embodiment, the application is provided with a descriptor describing at least its presence criteria, and data published by the application, including the data's function/service affiliations, through reference to data items/types of a cross application function/service based data classification model. In one embodiment, the data exporter is incorporated as part of a processor based computing device.

Abstract: A data importer/distributor is advantageously equipped to detect presence of applications, identify importable data of the applications, including the function/service affiliation of the importable data, and automatically import or distribute the data to the applications in a function/service based manner, subject to optional user overrides. In one embodiment, the applications are provided with descriptors describing at least their presence criteria, and data subscribed by the application, including the data's function/service affiliations, through reference to data items/types of a cross application function/service based data classification model. In one embodiment, the data importer/distributor is incorporated as part of a processor based computing device.