Data records containing one or more fields, which can be considered keys
and/or values, are received, and processed such that data values of
records that contain key values of interest are aggregated together. The
keys of the resultant aggregations or "resultant keys" are created under
the control of simple parameters to an aggregation framework. Similarly,
the particular aggregations performed are also under the control of a
similar set of simple parameters to the aggregation framework. Mapping of
keys to reduce originality is one of the important features of resultant
key creation. Finally, the structure of the parameters used to control
aggregation is simple, flexible, and powerful.