Methods and systems for automatically determining a default hierarchy from data

A system for determining a natural hierarchy for a data set, the system comprising:

• a storage device configured to store a database comprising a data set;
• and
• a computer system coupled with the storage device, the computer system configured to execute the following commands:
• receiving the data set from the database,
• analyzing the data set to determine a plurality of categories and a plurality of quantities included within the data set,
• based on the determined plurality of categories and quantities, determining one or more pair-wise combinations within the data set, wherein the one or more pair-wise combinations each include a first field and a second field from the database,
• determining a distinct count for each entry in the first field grouped by the second field of the one or more pair-wise combinations,
• determining that the distinct counts for each entry has a value equal to one,
• based on the determination that the distinct counts for each entry have a value equal to one, setting the first field in the pair-wise combination as the parent and the second field in the pair-wise combination as the child in a default hierarchy for the data set, wherein the natural hierarchy is the most appropriate hierarchy for the data set based on the data within the data set,
• determining a visual representation most suited for the natural hierarchy, based on structural aspects of the natural hierarchy, and
• mapping features of the visual representation to the structural aspects of the natural hierarchy.

A non-transitory machine-readable medium having sets of instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:

• receive a data set, wherein the data set being stored in a database;
• analyze the data set to determine a plurality of categories and a plurality of quantities included within the data set;
• based on the determined plurality of categories and quantities, determine one or more pair-wise combinations within the data set, wherein the one or more pair-wise combinations each include a first field and a second field from the database;
• determine a distinct count for each entry in the first field grouped by the second field of the one or more pair-wise combinations;
• determine that the distinct counts for each entry has a value equal to one;
• and
• based on the determination that the distinct counts for each entry have a value equal to one, set the first field in the pair-wise combination as the parent and the second field in the pair-wise combination as the child in a default hierarchy for the data set, wherein the natural hierarchy is the most appropriate hierarchy for the data set based on the data within the data set;
• determine a visual representation most suited for the natural hierarchy, based on structural aspects of the natural hierarchy;
• and
• map features of the visual representation to the structural aspects of the natural hierarchy.