a data processing method for automatically identifying the underlying syntaxes of unstructured data items , where unstructured data items are strings that include incomplete syntactical information but implicitly are characterized by a nontrivial syntax . the method comprises receiving input of unstructured data items into a processing machine memory ; and recognizing the underlying syntaxes of the data items by the processing machine by applying pattern recognition techniques , wherein this step comprises identifying potential syntax components ; and combining the components until the underlying syntaxes emerge .