Patent ID: 8799796

Claim:
A method for creating a custom dashboard with drill down navigation, comprising: selecting, by a processor, a type of dashboard from a plurality of dashboard templates; presenting, by the processor, the selected dashboard for population with data retrieved from a data location; creating data links, by the processor, to the data location related to the data shown in the selected dashboard, wherein the data link directs a processor to the data location; in response to a selection of the data link in the selected dashboard: generating a query to access the data in near real-time, wherein the generated query, based on the data location, includes one of attributes to query a specific file and attributes to query a specific area of a data source; navigating to the data location; and opening, by the processor, another screen over the dashboard for displaying data retrieved from the data location; in response to user input, manipulating the data at the data location; and presenting the user-manipulated data in the selected dashboard, wherein selection of a user control device causes the processor to provide a menu for selection of a specific data set from a plurality of data sets presented in a specific portion of the dashboard and the data address of the user control device for following the data link corresponds to the specific data set selected from the menu.