Systems and methods for implementing formulas
First Claim
1. A method performed by a processor for building a formula, the formula including an operator and operands with associated dimensions, the method comprising:
- receiving a first operand of the formula;
identifying a first dimension associated with the first operand;
receiving an operator of the formula;
determining at least one compatible dimension for the first dimension associated with the first operand;
receiving a second operand of the formula;
identifying a second dimension associated with the second operand; and
flagging an error if the second dimension is not at least one of the compatible dimensions for the first dimension.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods are provided for building and implementing formulas. The systems and methods may treat operands in a formula as having a value and a unit type or dimension and may recognize the compatibility of unit types among operands. One embodiment performs automatic error checking of a formula based on the value and dimension of the operands and the expected result. The automatic error checking may be performed to assist a user in defining and building a formula. Another embodiment performs automatic unit conversion based on the value and unit type of the formula'"'"'s operands. The automatic unit conversion may be performed when applying data to the formula during runtime or execution of an application program.
-
Citations
43 Claims
-
1. A method performed by a processor for building a formula, the formula including an operator and operands with associated dimensions, the method comprising:
-
receiving a first operand of the formula;
identifying a first dimension associated with the first operand;
receiving an operator of the formula;
determining at least one compatible dimension for the first dimension associated with the first operand;
receiving a second operand of the formula;
identifying a second dimension associated with the second operand; and
flagging an error if the second dimension is not at least one of the compatible dimensions for the first dimension. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A system for building a formula, the formula including an operator and operands with associated dimensions, comprising:
-
means for receiving a first operand of the formula;
means for identifying a first dimension associated with the first operand;
means for receiving an operator of the formula;
means for determining at least one compatible dimension for the first dimension associated with the first operand;
means for receiving a second operand of the formula;
means for identifying a second dimension associated with the second operand; and
means for flagging an error if the second dimension is not at least one of the compatible dimensions for the first dimension. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A computer program product for building a formula, the formula including an operator and operands with associated dimensions, comprising code for causing a processor to perform the steps of:
-
receiving a first operand of the formula;
identifying a first dimension associated with the first operand;
receiving an operator of the formula;
determining at least one compatible dimension for the first dimension associated with the first operand;
receiving a second operand of the formula;
identifying a second dimension associated with the second operand; and
flagging an error if the second dimension is not at least one of the compatible dimensions for the first dimension. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. A method performed by a processor for executing a formula having operands and an operator in an application program, comprising:
-
retrieving data corresponding to a first operand for the operator of the formula;
identifying a first dimension associated with the first operand;
retrieving data corresponding to a second operand for the operator of the formula;
identifying a second unit type associated with the second operand;
determining whether the second unit type is compatible with the first unit type;
if the second unit type is not compatible with the first unit type, converting the data corresponding to the second operand into a compatible value in terms of the first unit type; and
producing a result of the formula using the converted data. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
-
-
29. A system for executing a formula having operands and an operator in an application program, comprising:
-
means for retrieving data corresponding to a first operand for the operator of the formula;
means for identifying a first unit type associated with the first operand;
means for retrieving data corresponding to a second operand for the operator of the formula;
means for identifying a second unit type associated with the second operand;
means for determining whether the second unit type is compatible with the first unit type;
means for converting the data corresponding to the second operand into a compatible value in terms of the first unit type, if the second unit type is not compatible with the first unit type; and
means for producing a result of the formula using the converted dat. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
-
-
36. A computer program product for executing a formula having operands and an operator in an application program, comprising code for causing a processor to perform the steps of:
-
retrieving data corresponding to a first operand for the operator of the formula;
identifying a first unit type associated with the first operand;
retrieving data corresponding to a second operand for the operator of the formula;
identifying a second unit type associated with the second operand;
determining whether the second unit type is compatible with the first unit type;
if the second unit type is not compatible with the first unit type, converting the data corresponding to the second operand into a compatible value in terms of the first unit type; and
producing a result of the formula using the converted data. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
-
-
43. A method for executing a formula including operands and an operator, the method comprising:
-
retrieving data corresponding to at least one operand for the operator of the formula;
identifying a unit type associated with the at least one operand;
determining whether the unit type of the at least one operand is consistent with an expected unit type to that operand; and
if the unit type is not consistent with the expected unit type, converting the data corresponding to the operand into a value having a unit type that is compatible with the expected unit type.
-
Specification