Generating data visualizations according to an object model of selected data sources

A computer system for generating data visualizations, comprising:

• a display;
• one or more processors;
• and
• memory;
• wherein the memory stores one or more programs configured for execution by the one or more processors, and the one or more programs comprising instructions for:
• building a visual specification according to one or more data sources source, a plurality of visual variables, and a plurality of data fields from the one or more data sources source, wherein:
• each of the visual variables is associated with a respective one or more of the data fields from the one or more data sources source;
• and
• the data fields associated with the visual variables form a set of dimension data fields D and a set of measure data fields;
• executing a first query against a plurality of tables of the one or more data sources source to form dimension tuples that comprise unique ordered combinations of data values for the set of dimension data fields D, each of the dimension tuples forming a distinct data row in a data table for generating a data visualization;
• for each measure data field in the set of measure data fields:
• forming a respective set S of dimensions consisting of the set of dimension data fields D and dimensions from a primary key for a table in the one or more data sources source containing the respective measure data field;
• executing a respective query against the one or more data sources source to retrieve intermediate tuples comprising the data fields in S and the respective measure data field, without aggregation;
• and
• aggregating the intermediate tuples according to the set of dimension data fields D to compute aggregate values for the respective measure data field;
• for each measure data field in the set of measure data fields, extending the dimension tuples by inserting an additional column in the data table, the additional column containing aggregated data values corresponding to the respective measure data field;
• and
• building and displaying a data visualization according to the data fields in the extended dimension tuples and according to the visual variables to which each of the data fields is associated.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured for execution by a computer system having a display, one or more processors, and memory, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:

• building a visual specification according to one or more data sources source, a plurality of visual variables, and a plurality of data fields from the one or more data sources source, wherein:
• each of the visual variables is associated with a respective one or more of the data fields from the one or more data sources source;
• and
• the data fields associated with the visual variables form a set of dimension data fields D and a set of measure data fields;
• executing a first query against a plurality of tables of the one or more data sources source to form dimension tuples that comprise unique ordered combinations of data values for the set of dimension data fields D, each of the dimension tuples forming a distinct data row in a data table for generating a data visualization;
• for each measure data field in the set of measure data fields:
• forming a respective set S of dimensions consisting of the set of dimension data fields D and dimensions from a primary key for a table in the one or more data sources source containing the respective measure data field;
• executing a respective query against the one or more data sources source to retrieve intermediate tuples comprising the data fields in S and the respective measure data field, without aggregation;
• and
• aggregating the intermediate tuples according to the set of dimension data fields D to compute aggregate values for the respective measure data field;
• for each measure data field in the set of measure data fields, extending the dimension tuples by inserting an additional column in the data table, the additional column containing aggregated data values corresponding to the respective measure data field;
• and
• building and displaying a data visualization according to the data fields in the extended dimension tuples and according to the visual variables to which each of the data fields is associated.