System and method for integrating spreadsheets and word processing tables

• US 20050125377A1
• Filed: 10/09/2004
• Published: 06/09/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Fisher, Oliver G., Kotler, Matthew J., Gounares, Alexander G., Franklin, Christopher Matthew, Wolf, Richard J., Anantharaman, Vinod, Morgan, Matthew D.
• Granted Patent: US 7,506,243 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/177 of tables; using ruled lines
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/18 of spreadsheets form-filling G06F40/174
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing

Abstract

An architecture integrates spreadsheet functionality into tables commonly used in word processing programs and HTML documents. The architecture presents a table user interface (UI) that resembles a table when not being edited and adds spreadsheet elements to the table when being edited. Underlying the table UI, the architecture separates data handling functions from presentation functions. The architecture includes a table appearance manager to manage how the table appears in a document including such characteristics as table resizing, selection, cut, copy, paste, split, merge, table formatting and so on. The architecture also has a spreadsheet functionality manager to manage the spreadsheet functions for the table, such as recalculation, formula handling, sorting, referencing, and the like. The bifurcated architecture supports cross-table referencing, reference editing, automatic universal recalculation throughout all tables in the document, and nested table structures in which one table is nested within a cell of another table.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

presenting first and second tables within a document, wherein the first table has a cell with contents; and

referencing the cell in the first table from a cell in the second table.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the presenting comprises nesting the first table within the second table.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the referencing comprises using a pointer to reference the cell in the first table.

4. A computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions that, when executed on one or more processors, perform the method as recited in claim 1.

5. The method of claim 1, additionally comprising:

configuring the tables so that column headers and row headers are present in a table when that table is being edited and are not present at other times.

6. The method of claim 1, additionally comprising:

providing automatic universal recalculation through all of the tables in the document in response to modification of contents of a single table.

7. The method of claim 1, additionally comprising:

providing column headers and row headers to a table during editing, and not providing such headers at other times; and

providing automatic universal recalculation in response to the editing.

8. One or more computer-readable media comprising computer-executable instructions for integrating spreadsheet functionality into tables, the computer-executable instructions comprising instructions for:

integrating text and tables into a document;

referencing a cell located in a first of the tables from a cell in a second of the tables;

providing column headers and row headers during editing of a table within the document, and not providing such headers at other times; and

providing automatic universal recalculation in response to the editing.

9. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 8, additionally comprising instructions for nesting an inner table within a cell of an outer table, wherein the inner table and the outer table are among the tables within the document.

10. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 9, wherein the instructions for nesting maintain a non-calculation formula in the outer table to fetch a result of a calculation within the inner table.

11. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 8, additionally comprising instructions to independently manage nested tables using each table'"'"'s own underlying set comprising a grid object, a spreadsheet object and a table object.

12. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 8, wherein providing automatic universal recalculation comprises instructions for:

reevaluating normal formulas only when dependencies change;

reevaluating semi-calculation formulas every time a recalculation is performed; and

never evaluating non-calculation formulas.

13. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 8, wherein automatic universal recalculation updates nested cells using instructions for:

calculating a value of an inner table, wherein the inner table is nested within a cell within an outer table, and wherein the inner and outer tables are within the document; and

fetching the value and locating the value within the cell of the outer table.

14. One or more computer-readable media comprising computer-executable instructions for integrating spreadsheet functionality into tables used in word processing and markup language documents, the computer-executable instructions comprising instructions for:

integrating text and tables into a document;

referencing content in a first of the tables from a second of the tables, wherein the first table is nested within the second table within the document; and

providing automatic universal recalculation in response to changes in the document.

15. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 14, additionally comprising instructions for providing column headers and row headers while a table within the document is being edited, and not providing such headers at other times.

16. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 14, wherein providing automatic universal recalculation comprises instructions for updating values in an outer table having a cell within which an inner table is nested by fetching a result of a calculation within the inner table.

17. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 14, wherein providing automatic universal recalculation comprises instructions for:

reevaluating normal formulas only when dependencies change;

reevaluating semi-calculation formulas every time a recalculation is performed; and

never evaluating non-calculation formulas.

18. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 14, additionally comprising instructions for independently managing nested tables using each table'"'"'s own underlying set comprising a grid object, a spreadsheet object and a table object.

19. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 14, wherein automatic universal recalculation updates nested cells using instructions for:

calculating a value of an inner table, wherein the inner table is nested within a cell within an outer table, and wherein the inner and outer tables are within the document; and

fetching the value and locating the value within the cell of the outer table.

20. A spreadsheet architecture for providing spreadsheet functionality to tables, comprising:

a document renderer configured to integrate text and tables into a document;

a spreadsheet engine configured to reference content in a first of the tables from a second of the tables, wherein the first table is nested within the second table; and

a recalculation engine configured to provide automatic universal recalculation in response to changes in the document.

21. The spreadsheet architecture as recited in claim 20, wherein the document renderer is additionally configured to provide column headers and row headers while a table within the document is being edited, and not providing such headers at other times.

22. The spreadsheet architecture as recited in claim 20, wherein the spreadsheet engine is additionally configured for updating values in an outer table having a cell within which an inner table is nested using a non-calculation formula in the outer table to fetch a result of a calculation within the inner table.

23. The spreadsheet architecture as recited in claim 20, additionally comprising a grid object, a spreadsheet object and a table object to independently manage each nested table.

24. The spreadsheet architecture as recited in claim 20, wherein the recalculation engine provides automatic universal recalculation by:

reevaluating normal formulas only when dependencies change;

reevaluating semi-calculation formulas every time a recalculation is performed; and

never evaluating non-calculation formulas.

25. The spreadsheet architecture as recited in claim 20, wherein the recalculation engine updates nested cells during automatic universal recalculation by:

calculating a value of an inner table, wherein the inner table is nested within a cell within an outer table, and wherein the inner and outer tables are within the document; and

fetching the value and locating the value within the cell of the outer table.