Patent ID: 8280896

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for generating reports from data in an enterprise resource program, the computer-implemented method comprising: defining at least one focus area in the data comprising: displaying a list of available dimensions in the data relating to different data topics in the enterprise resource program; receiving user input selecting one or more of the displayed available dimensions in the data corresponding to one or more selected data topics in the enterprise resource program; and defining the at least one focus area as a composite of data elements based on the selected one or more of the displayed available dimensions in the data; after the at least one focus area has been defined, generating a multilevel row definition provided in a multilevel view within a user interface display, wherein the generating the multilevel row definition comprises: receiving user input that defines a user defined group within the defined at least one focus area; receiving user input that defines a sub-group within the user defined group, the defined sub-group comprising an intermediate level branch in the multilevel row definition; and receiving user input that defines an element type row comprising the intermediate level branch under the defined sub-group, the defined element type row including filter criteria for generating output values; and generating a report using a processor of a computer based upon the generated multilevel row definition.