A method of sorting large quantities of data is implemented on a computer based system. The method comprises defining a plurality of sort statements, determining the relevance of each of the sort statements to each data file in the database, defining a site on a display for each of the sort statements, representing the data files as elements on the display, and causing the elements to move from an initial position towards the sites according to the relevance of the respective sort parameters to the respective data files and the position of the sites relative to the respective elements.