Parser, code generator, and data calculation and transformation engine for spreadsheet calculations

• US 20070006139A1
• Filed: 12/12/2005
• Published: 01/04/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Knowledge Dynamics Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Knowledge Dynamics Incorporated
• Inventors: Rubin, Michael, Smialek, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 7,836,425 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/106
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/18 of spreadsheets form-filling G06F40/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/30 Creation or generation of source code

Abstract

A system including spreadsheet sheets, makes calculations and data transformations, which is available through a programming interface, and conforms to the grammar and syntax of a target software development language is presented. The system includes an Object Model with Data Structures representing entities involved in spreadsheets. The system includes a Parser and Code Generator that extracts data from a body of spreadsheet data, instantiates instances of Data Structures of the Object Model to represent the spreadsheet data, parses the data and formulas contained in the cells of the spreadsheets, iterates through the instantiated instances of the Data Structures, and generates source code that performs the calculations and data transformations embodied in the spreadsheet data. The system includes a Calculation Engine with software base classes that implement the common structural and data access features of spreadsheet data, and further implement the operations of common spreadsheet functions and operators.

Claims

1. A source code generator comprising:

an interface configured to receive a user-specification of spreadsheets that include spreadsheet data for which source code is to be generated, and a specification of spreadsheet cells for which no source code is to be generated where the cells are specified by setting cell attributes as markers for exclusion;

a data acquisition interface configured to receive the spreadsheet data;

a parser configured to extract information from the spreadsheet data received by the data acquisition interface excluding the spreadsheet cells for which the specification was received by the interface; and

an information processor configured to perform a data transformation of the information extracted by the parser into source code representative of the spreadsheet data.