Patent ID: 7800613

Claim:
A method of forming a visual plot using a dataset having a plurality of fields, wherein the dataset contains data that comprises a plurality of tuples, the method comprising: at a computer having one or more processors and memory storing programs executed by the one or more processors: displaying a graphical user interface window including a schema display region and a data visualization region, wherein: the schema display region includes metadata corresponding to the plurality of fields of the dataset, and the data visualization region includes a first axis shelf and a second axis shelf; detecting user requests to associate a first field in the schema display region with the first axis shelf and associate a second field in the schema display region with the second axis shelf, respectively; in response to the user requests, generating a visual specification based on the first field and the second field; converting said visual specification into one or more queries, each query expressed in an algebraic expression of applying a predefined set of rules and operations to at least one of the first field and the second field; receiving field type information for the user-selected fields of the dataset; and generating a visual plot of at least a portion of the dataset in the data visualization region in accordance with the field type information and the visual specification, said generating including: retrieving one or more tuples from the dataset in accordance with the visual specification; organizing the visual plot into one or more panes, wherein each of said panes has at least a first axis and a second axis, wherein said first axis corresponds to the first field associated with the first axis shelf and said second axis corresponds to the second field associated with the second axis shelf; assigning a pane type to said one or more panes according to a first field type of said first field and a second field type of said second field; based on no additional user input, determining a mark type from among a plurality of mark types for said one or more panes based on the pane type; and populating the one or more panes with the one or more tuples using the determined mark type.