VLR Stands for Value List Repository and it is a Centralized Database to avoid applications having to hardcode the values and relationships as well as end users can query the same data in a normalized representation.
Xerox VLR came as a particular project need but then wrapped as an OpenXerox service only available to Xerox Employees.
https://open.xerox.com/Services/XeroxCTVLR
It basically allows:
- Keep Configurion fields in a hierarchical way for any (n) system (Datatbases, ERPs, CRMs, Workflows,...)
- Maintain values in several languages per each field
- Setup the relationship (links) between these fields at a metadata level (e.g how a field from a system "A" (e.g PeopleSoft) would map to a target system "B" (e.g Siebel CRM) in a given integration process
- Setup the relationship (links) between the values of these fields
Consumers then of this Values and relationship information can be end users or system applications.
When querying data (from a system or user interface), relationships of the value links must be considered bi-directional (commutative property): the values are considered linked no matter how the link was created by the administrator (linking from left to right or right to left) and therefore relationships of value links are considered bi-directional.
Real End users?
VLR was initially needed as an normalization process for an EAI project (ie how values and fields from system 'A' map to system 'B' and viceversa is often needed for system integration projects) but it was also exposed thru a WebInterface so that data could also be consumed by business as needed.
