Patent ID: 8099422

Claim:
A method, executed on a suitably programmed computing device comprising a processor for manipulating data from one or more datasets, at least one of the one or more datasets represented by an iconic value, the method executed by the processor, comprising: retrieving at least a first portion of data from a first dataset, the retrieved first portion represented by a first icon; retrieving at least a second portion of data from a second dataset, the retrieved second portion represented by a second icon; forming a third data set comprising: receiving the first icon dragged over the second icon such that the first and second icons intersect, providing operations to be executed on the intersected icons, wherein the operations are provided in a menu that appears when the icons intersect, receiving an operation to be executed on the intersected first and second icons, wherein the operation is selected from the menu; producing the third dataset by executing the operation on the intersected first and second icons; forming and displaying a third icon representing the third dataset; and storing the retrieved first and second portions, the first and second icons, and the third dataset and the third icon.