Methods of counting the number of matching items (more generally finding objects) indirectly associated with each detail selector (more generally another object) available for selection in a database search system or generally useful in other applications are disclosed. In some embodiment the method uses a set of matching items and traverses to each indirectly associated detail selector via a traversal through each associated entity, and a traversal through each detail selector associated with that entity. The method is easily extendable to the case of multiple entity levels. In some embodiments the method first creates an association matrix directly associating items to selectors and allowing item determination or counting more simply.