Dynamically Merging Columns Within a Table

• US 20080104498A1
• Filed: 10/25/2006
• Published: 05/01/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Jania, Frank L., Molander, Mark E.
• Application Number:
  US11/552,692
• Publication Number:
  US 20080104498A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/212
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/18 of spreadsheets form-filling G06F40/174

Abstract

In a computer system having a graphical user interface including a display and a selection device, a method of selecting and merging columns on a spreadsheet includes displaying a first data set residing in cells in a first column; displaying a second data set residing in cells in a second column; displaying a set of menu options for merging the first data set and the second data set; receiving a menu entry selection signal indicative of the selection device pointing at a selected menu option from the set of menu options; and merging the first data set and second data set into a third column in response to the selection signal.

Claims

1. In a computer system having a graphical user interface including a display and a selection device, a method of selecting and merging columns on a spreadsheet, the method comprising:

displaying a first data set residing in cells in a first column;

displaying a second data set residing in cells in a second column;

displaying a set of menu options for merging the first data set and the second data set;

receiving a menu entry selection signal indicative of the selection device pointing at a selected menu option from the set of menu options; and

merging the first data set and second data set into a third, meta-column in response to the selection signal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each cell in the first column is associated with a cell in a same row of the second column.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein a datum in each of the cells in the first column is merged with a datum in each of the cells in the second column.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the merging of the first and second columns is performed through a predefined function relating the datum in each of the cells in the first column and each of the cells in the second column.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of menu options comprises a graphical icon residing on an uppermost cell of each of the columns, the graphical icon being selectable by the selection device to mark the columns for the merging.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein selecting the graphical icon with the selection device generates the selection signal.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising displaying a graphical icon representing the merged columns in the third, meta-column.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of menu options comprises a pull-down menu launchable upon the generation of a selection signal by the selection device on a location on the display.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the pull-down menu comprises merge instructions for the merging of the columns upon selection by the selection device.

10. An article of manufacture, comprising:

a computer readable medium having stored thereon a data structure;

a first field set containing data for merging with data residing in a second field set; and

a third field containing data resulting from a merger of the data in the first field and the second field, the data in the third field having been merged by a predefined function, the merger being performed in response to a merger instruction.

11. A computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing a method comprising:

maintaining a first column of cells having data;

maintaining a second column of cells having data, wherein individual cells in the first column share a common row with individual cells in the second column;

defining a function to merge the first column with the second column in a meta-column, wherein the function merges datum in individual cells of the first and second columns that share a common row, into a cell in the meta-column that shares a row with the cells of the first and second columns; and

merging the first and second columns into the meta-column.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11 further comprising instruction to perform:

generating a menu option on a display to select a merge function.

13. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 11 further comprising instructions to perform:

sorting the meta-column such that a desired datum residing in a particular row is brought to the uppermost row of the meta-column.