Systems and methods for visualizing multi-dimensional data in spreadsheets and other data structures

A method for visually generating a query related to data on a multi-dimensional data structure having a plurality of dimensions and at least one measure, comprising:

• generating at least one perspective, each perspective having a dimensional view portion and a multi-dimensional view portion, the dimensional view portion having at least one dimensional view, each dimensional view displaying one of the at least one measure against one of the plurality of dimensions, the multi-dimensional view portion having a multi-dimensional view displaying at least one of the at least one measure against at least two of the plurality of dimensions;
• displaying one of the at least one generated perspective;
• displaying a multi-dimensional analysis toolbar, wherein the toolbar comprises:
• a replace selection mode button that causes a new selection data set to replace the previous selection data set;
• an intersect selection mode button that combines the previous and current data sets to form a new, intersecting, data set;
• and
• an add selection mode button that extends the previous selection data set by forming a new effective selection set as a union with the previous selection data set and the new selection data set;
• selecting a portion of the data being displayed by selecting a portion of one of the multi-dimensional view and the at least one dimensional view of the displayed perspective;
• querying the multi-dimensional data structure based on data items of the multi-dimensional data structure corresponding to the selected portion;
• and
• altering, using the multi-dimensional analysis toolbar, an appearance of the multi-dimensional view and the at least one dimensional view of each of the at least one perspective based on results of the query.

A visual analysis system for visually analyzing data of a multi-dimensional data structure having a plurality of dimensions and at least one measure, comprising:

• a memory that stores the data items of the multi-dimensional data structure;
• a rendering system capable of rendering at least one perspective, each perspective having a dimensional view portion and a multi-dimensional view portion, the dimensional view portion having at least one dimensional view, each dimensional view displaying one of the at least one measure against one of the plurality of dimensions, the multi-dimensional view portion having a multi-dimensional view displaying data items of the multi-dimensional data structure corresponding to at least one of the at least one measure an at least one of the plurality of dimensions;
• a display device capable of displaying the at least one perspective and a multi-dimensional analysis toolbar, wherein the toolbar comprises:
• replace selection mode button that causes a new selection data set to replace the previous selection data set;
• an intersect selection mode button that combines the previous and current data sets to form a new, intersecting, data set;
• and
• an add selection mode button that extends the previous selection data set by forming a new effective selection set as a union with the previous selection data set and the new selection data set;
• a selection device capable of selecting at least one selection mode button of the multi-dimensional analysis toolbar and a portion of the data being displayed by selecting a portion of one of the multi-dimensional view and the at least one dimensional view of the displayed perspective.

A graphical user interface for visually analyzing data of a multi-dimensional data structure having a plurality of dimensions and at least one measure, comprising:

• a perspectives portion, comprising:
• a dimensional views portion containing a plurality of dimensional views;
• and
• a multi-dimensional view portion,
• wherein an appearance of a portion of the data being displayed in at least one of the plurality of dimensional views and the multi-dimensional view portion is selected and altered, while original values of the data are preserved;
• and
• a multi-dimensional analysis toolbar, wherein the toolbar comprises:
• a replace selection mode button that causes a new selection data set to replace the previous selection data set;
• an intersect selection mode button that combines the previous and current data sets to form a new, intersecting, data set;
• and
• an add selection mode button that extends the previous selection data set by forming a new effective selection set as a union with the previous selection data set and the new selection data set.

A method for visually analyzing data of a multi-dimensional data structure having a plurality of dimensions and at least one measure, comprising:

• generating at least one perspective, each perspective having a dimensional view portion and a multi-dimensional view portion, the dimensional view portion having at least one dimensional view, each dimensional view displaying one of the at least one measure against one of the plurality of dimensions, the multi-dimensional view portion having a multi-dimensional view displaying data items of the multi-dimensional data structure corresponding to at least one of the at least one measure and at least two of the plurality of dimensions;
• displaying one of the at least one generated perspective;
• displaying a multi-dimensional analysis toolbar, wherein the toolbar comprises at least one of:
• a replace selection mode button that causes a new selection data set to replace the previous selection data set;
• an intersect selection mode button that combines the previous and current data sets to form a new, intersecting, data set;
• and
• an add selection mode button that extends the previous selection data set by forming a new effective selection set as a union with the previous selection data set and the new selection data set;
• selecting a portion of the data being displayed by selecting a portion of one of the multi-dimensional view and the at least one dimensional view of the displayed perspective;
• and
• altering, using the multi-dimensional analysis toolbar, the selected portion of the data being displayed;
• and
• simultaneously generating three perspectives, including a single measure perspective, a multiple measures perspective and an anchored measures perspective, each perspective having a dimensional view portion and a multi-dimensional view portion, the dimensional view portion having at least one dimensional view, each dimensional view displaying one of the at least one measure against one of the plurality of dimensions, the multi-dimensional view portion having a multi-dimensional view displaying data items of the multi-dimensional data structure corresponding to at least one of the at least one measure and at least two of the plurality of dimensions.