A utility is provided for generating applications for a variety of data conversion or handling application environments. A user can use a graphical user interface to purpose application adaptable modules to define a desired application. In one implementation, the user interface (1500) includes a node tree panel (1502) and a process assembly panel (1504). The node tree panel (1502) lists tool sets (1508) including transformations, maps and input-output tools. These tools can then be assembled together with identified data sources and then elements using the assembly panel (1504) to define an application. In this manner, an application is generated from a number of generic modules simply by linking the modules to perform a purpose of the desired application. In this manner, an application is generated from a number of generic modules simply by linking the modules to perform a purpose of the desired application.