Data analysis engine

A system and method of analyzing data receives a user-specified selection of a data source, a user-specified selection of a type of data representation, and a user-specified description of a view to be constructed in accordance with the user-specified selection of the type of data representation. An application program interface (API) function generates a multidimensional query based on the user-specified type of data representation and the user-specified description of the view to be constructed, and submits the multidimensional query to the an On-line Analytical Processing (OLAP) server. The application program interface (API) function receives a multidimensional response from the OLAP server containing results acquired by the multidimensional query of the data source, and generates the view based on the results contained in the multidimensional response and in accordance with the user-specified selection of the type of data representation and the user-specified description of the view.