Abstract: A system and method enable automatic importation of data from an external data source into an electronic workspace in the form of a visual hierarchy. To display data from a data source, data is retrieved from the external data source, and a visual presentation format for the data is created based on characteristics of the data (e.g., the field to which the data is assigned in the data source, the type of data, the value of the data, etc), where the visual presentation format is hierarchical. The data is then displayed in an electronic workspace in the form of visual hierarchy that is accordance with such visual presentation format. In the electronic workspace, a user can manipulate and supplement the data without affecting the data source, unless there is a trigger event that causes modifications to the data to be written back to the data source.