Systems and methods for generating a focused data. An original data set contains lines of data that are of interest to a user. The data set is filtered using inclusive filters, exclusive filters, and markers to identify the lines of interest to the user without losing the context of those lines with respect to other lines in the data set. The lines of interest are then displayed in a focused view, where only the lines of interest are displayed to the user, or in a contextual view, where additional lines of data that are related to the lines of interest are also displayed to the user. In the contextual view, the lines of interest are usually highlighted to distinguish them from the lines that provide context. Also, the other lines in the data set are usually not displayed, even though they may be included in the focused data set.