A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture is configured to define a structured view of data in a computer system. A relational database management system (RDBMS) stores information in the computer system. As part of a process and framework, a series of business rules and process workflows that manage data (that is hierarchical in nature) that resides in one or more RDBMS tables are maintained. User input is accepted that defines a hierarchical structure that is projected onto the data. The hierarchical structure is stored as metadata in the RDBMS. The hierarchical structure is utilized to graphically visualize, manage, and manipulate the data.