LOCATION AWARE SPREADSHEET ACTIONS

• US 20120151314A1
• Filed: 12/14/2010
• Published: 06/14/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Campbell, John, Waldman, Lawrence, Lin, Amy, Der, Sherman
• Granted Patent: US 9,811,516 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/212
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1698 the I/O peripheral being a sending/receiving arrangement to establish a cordless communication link, e.g. radio or infrared link, integrated cellular phone details of antennas disposed inside a computer H01Q1/2266
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/166 Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/18 of spreadsheets form-filling G06F40/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2757 by data transmission, e.g. downloading
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces

Abstract

Location information is integrated with spreadsheet formulas and operations. Location information may be used in filtering data, detecting data sources, performing calculations, and the like. The data may be filtered by location, individuals, places, and other location based information. The location information may be integrated into native spreadsheet formulas to perform calculations, trigger alerts, or drive other spreadsheet business logic. The location information may also be used to detect and use nearby data sources that are published near the spreadsheet user.

Claims

1. A method for using location information with a spreadsheet, comprising:

receiving location information;

performing an operation on data within the spreadsheet using the location information that creates updated information;

wherein the spreadsheet application interacting with the spreadsheet comprises native location based functionality; and

displaying the spreadsheet with the updated information.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a location of other spreadsheet users.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining when a data source is near the user.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein displaying the spreadsheet comprises automatically filtering the display of the spreadsheet based on the location information.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein displaying the spreadsheet comprises automatically sorting the display of information that is associated with the spreadsheet based on the location information.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising accessing the spreadsheet and examining the spreadsheet to determine at least one of:

a row and a column that are associated with a location and a spreadsheet object that is associated with a location.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein a different portion of the spreadsheet is automatically displayed as a result of the location information changing.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the native location based formulas comprise at least two of:

a formula to convert location data to different forms of location data, a formula to determine a location of a current user, a formula to determine locations of other users, a formulas to trigger actions within the spreadsheet based on the location data, a formula to detect data sources in a predetermined proximity to the spreadsheet and a formula to filter data within the spreadsheet based on the location data.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining when another user is within a predetermined proximity, determining when the user has data that is available for collaborating and beginning a collaboration session when the user is within the predetermined proximity.

10. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions for integrating location information with a spreadsheet, comprising:

receiving location information;

performing an operation on data within the spreadsheet using the location information;

wherein a spreadsheet application interacting with the spreadsheet comprises native location based functions;

displaying the spreadsheet; and

changing a display of the spreadsheet in response to a predetermined change in the location information.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, further comprising determining a location of other spreadsheet users.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, further comprising determining when a data source is near the user and surfacing the data source in a display.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein displaying the spreadsheet comprises automatically filtering the display of the spreadsheet based on the location information.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein displaying the spreadsheet comprises automatically sorting the display of the spreadsheet based on the location information.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, further comprising automatically examining the spreadsheet to determine at least one of:

a row and a column that are associated with a location.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the native location based formulas comprise at least one of:

a formula to convert location data to different forms of location data, a formula to determine a location of a current user, a formula to determine locations of other users, a formulas to trigger actions within the spreadsheet based on the location data, a formula to detect data sources in a predetermined proximity to the spreadsheet and a formula to filter data within the spreadsheet based on the location data.

17. A system for integrating location information with a spreadsheet, comprising:

a network connection that is configured to connect to a network;

a processor, memory, and a computer-readable storage medium;

a display;

an operating environment stored on the computer-readable storage medium and executing on the processor; and

a location manager operating under the control of the operating environment and operative to;

receive location information;

perform an operation on data within the spreadsheet using the location information;

wherein the spreadsheet comprises native location based functions;

display the spreadsheet; and

change a display of the spreadsheet in response to a predetermined change in the location information.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising determining when a data source is near the user and surfacing the data source in a display.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein displaying the spreadsheet comprises automatically filtering the display of the spreadsheet based on the location information.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein displaying the spreadsheet comprises automatically sorting the display of the spreadsheet based on the location information.