A method and system for providing a graphical user interface with contextual views. In various embodiments, the present invention provides a graphical user interface that allows the changing contents of a global menu in the graphical display based upon the selected nodes that belong to a hierarchical chart. Only those actions applicable (contextual) to the selected nodes will be determined and displayed in the menu. Accordingly, the contents of the selectable options are updated based upon the selected nodes. When more than one node is selected, the displayed selectable actions are an intersection of the actions permitted for each selected node. In a specific embodiment, a comparison menu is provided to allow the user to be able to compare unique corresponding properties of selected nodes.