Patent ID: 8395624

Claim:
A machine-implemented method for generating a digital image that facilitates data analysis, comprising: upon receiving selection data that identifies one or more data sets and one or more columns of the one or more data sets, arranging values of the one or more data sets into an aggregate data table based on the selected one or more columns, wherein each cell of the aggregate data table comprises a set of values from the one or more data sets; applying one or more formulas to each cell of the aggregate data table to generate a post-analysis table, wherein each cell of the post-analysis table comprises a single value; mapping, for each cell of the post-analysis table, the value stored therein to a particular color; generating the digital image based on the mapping of values in each of the cells of the post-analysis table to color, wherein the digital image identifies the minimum value and the maximum value of the one or more data sets; and performing an analytical operation on the digital image by deriving values represented by the colors associated with the pixels of the digital image using the minimum value and the maximum value, wherein the analytical operation is performed without retrieving data from the one or more data sets.