An apparatus, method and system for accessing database attributes stored in a first database are disclosed. The database attributes may be stored in a proprietary manner. The invention includes a data access layer having a second database, which maps visible attributes to the database attributes. The second database includes one or more artificial attributes, stored in meta data. The invention also includes an attribute pre-processing module for scanning a user request to see if the request includes the artificial attribute. The attribute pre-processing module creates an artificial attribute post processor, which can build a real attribute from a combination of the artificial attribute received from the attribute pre-processing module and a visible attribute received from the first database via the data access layer.