A palette of representations that can be generated by an application for database, spreadsheet, word processing, and the like, is provided in response to a request for a new object within the application. If the application already has one or more objects open at the time of the request, the representations are also determined based on the context of the data such as from any currently open object(s). The new object is then generated based on the selected representation from the palette, the context of the data, and a structure of data consumed by the application. The layout parameters for the new object are automatically set based on the current context, the structure of the data, and the selected representation.