An example method of displaying a data visualization includes displaying a plurality of selectable fields and receiving user selections of two different fields from the plurality of selectable fields. The method also includes generating, in accordance with the received user selections, data marks to be displayed in a data visualization, each data mark corresponding to a respective retrieved tuple of data from a multidimensional database, where (i) each data mark has an x-position defined according to data for a first field in the respective tuple and (ii) each data mark has a y-position defined according to data for a second field in the respective tuple. The method also includes displaying the data visualization that includes the generated data marks.

Performing a user initiated search query is disclosed and comprises receiving user input comprising description details of at least one desired object, retrieving a plurality of objects from a database sharing one or more of the description details of the user input, constructing a tree data structure based on the description details of the plurality of objects, the tree data structure comprising one or more attributes related to each of the plurality of objects retrieved, displaying visual images associated with the retrieved plurality of objects, the visual images matching at least one of the attributes related to the plurality of objects, and receiving a user selection of one or more of the visual images.

An example method of displaying a data visualization includes displaying a graphical user interface that includes three distinct regions, and receiving user actions to associate two different fields with two different shelves. The method also includes generating, in accordance with the received user actions, data marks to be displayed in a data visualization, each data mark corresponding to a respective retrieved tuple of data from a multidimensional database, where (i) each data mark has an x-position defined according to data for a first field in the respective tuple and (ii) each data mark has a y-position defined according to data for a second field in the respective tuple. The method also includes displaying a data visualization that includes the generated data marks.

Methods and Systems for searching a database for objects, comprising: assigning a plurality of attributes to each of a plurality of objects in a collection; assigning each of the attributes to a kind; receiving a search query including at least one attribute specified by user; displaying a list of kinds associated with attributes specified by the user.

An exemplary method of displaying a data visualization includes retrieving a dataset that includes a plurality of fields and displaying a graphical user interface with a plurality of shelves. The method further includes receiving user actions to: (i) associate a first field with a first shelf, and (ii) associate a second field with a second shelf; displaying, in accordance with the received user actions, a data visualization, where each data mark has a first size defined according to a default position of a displayed slidable affordance; and receiving an additional user action that moves the slidable affordance from the default position to a user-defined position. In response to receiving the additional user action, the method further includes updating the data visualization, where each data mark included in the updated data visualization has a second size, different from the first size, defined according to the user-defined position of the slidable affordance.

An exemplary method of displaying a data visualization includes displaying a graphical user interface that includes three distinct regions, and receiving user actions to associate three different fields with three different shelves, including a shelf that defines colors of data marks. The method also includes generating, in accordance with the received user actions, data marks to be displayed in a data visualization, each data mark corresponding to a respective retrieved tuple of data from a multidimensional database, where (i) each data mark has an x-position defined according to data for a first field in the respective tuple, (ii) each data mark has a y-position defined according to data for a second field in the respective tuple, and (iii) each data mark has a color assigned according to data for a third field in the respective tuple. The method also includes displaying a data visualization that includes the generated data marks.

A method is performed at a computer. The computer retrieves a dataset having a plurality of fields, including a first field and a second field. The computer displays a graphical user interface, including a first region displaying the plurality of fields from the dataset, a second region having a plurality of shelves determined according to a user-selected data visualization type, and a third region for displaying one or more data visualizations. The computer receives user actions to drop the first field on a first shelf and to drop the second field on a second shelf. The first and second shelves define positional attributes of data marks. The computer displays a data visualization in the third region. Each data mark has a position in the data visualization determined according to the first shelf, a data value for the first field, the second shelf, and a data value for the second field.

An example method of displaying a data visualization includes displaying a graphical user interface that includes three distinct regions, and receiving user actions to associate two different fields with two different shelves. The method also includes generating, in accordance with the received user actions, data marks to be displayed in a data visualization, each data mark corresponding to a respective retrieved tuple of data from a multidimensional database, where (i) each data mark has an x-position defined according to data for a first field in the respective tuple and (ii) each data mark has a y-position defined according to data for a second field in the respective tuple. The method also includes displaying a data visualization that includes the generated data marks.

Methods and systems for searching for objects. A plurality of Attributes can be assigned to each of a plurality of objects in a collection. Each of the Attributes can be assigned to a Kind. A search query can be received including at least one Attribute specified by a user. A list of Kinds can be displayed. The Attributes can be grouped into Kinds such that searching the objects to determine if the objects have a particular Attribute is not performed if the objects do not have Attributes of that Kind associated with an object to be searched. Grouped Attributes can be subdivided into smaller groupings and resulting subdivisions can be given a numerical score indicating how far a subdivision is from all or none.

Performing a user initiated search query is disclosed and comprises receiving user input comprising description details of at least one desired object, retrieving a plurality of objects from a database sharing one or more of the description details of the user input, constructing a tree data structure based on the description details of the plurality of objects, the tree data structure comprising one or more attributes related to each of the plurality of objects retrieved, displaying visual images associated with the retrieved plurality of objects, the visual images matching at least one of the attributes related to the plurality of objects, and receiving a user selection of one or more of the visual images.