INTERACTION BETWEEN WEB GADGETS AND SPREADSHEETS
First Claim
1. A method for integrating a gadget with a spreadsheet, comprising:
- providing an Application Programming Interface (API) for the gadget to communicate with the spreadsheet that comprises functions for;
obtaining content from one or more cells of the spreadsheet; and
placing content into one or more cells of the spreadsheet;
determining a range of cells of the spreadsheet to bind to the gadget, wherein the range of cells comprises one or more cells of the spreadsheet;
establishing a binding between the range of cells of the spreadsheet and the gadget;
storing the binding within the spreadsheet;
determining an interaction with the range of cells;
automatically providing a notification to the gadget in response to the interaction;
receiving a call from the gadget using the API; and
performing an operation involving the spreadsheet that relates to the received call.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Gadgets integrate with spreadsheets and the spreadsheet calculation engine. A gadget is bound to a range of cells (one or more) within a sheet. When one or more of the cells of the bound range is accessed (e.g. selected, hovered over, edited, deleted, added), the gadget is notified. The gadget may use this information for updating a display rendered by the gadget and/or performing some other action. The gadget uses an Application Programming Interface (API) to create the binding, communicate with the spreadsheet, and perform actions in the spreadsheet. The gadget is a Named Item object within the spreadsheet such that the gadget may be viewed/displayed differently from other objects. Out of date requests from the gadget are attempted to be detected and prevented from being processed such that the gadget is not acting on the latest data.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for integrating a gadget with a spreadsheet, comprising:
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providing an Application Programming Interface (API) for the gadget to communicate with the spreadsheet that comprises functions for;
obtaining content from one or more cells of the spreadsheet; and
placing content into one or more cells of the spreadsheet;determining a range of cells of the spreadsheet to bind to the gadget, wherein the range of cells comprises one or more cells of the spreadsheet; establishing a binding between the range of cells of the spreadsheet and the gadget; storing the binding within the spreadsheet; determining an interaction with the range of cells; automatically providing a notification to the gadget in response to the interaction; receiving a call from the gadget using the API; and performing an operation involving the spreadsheet that relates to the received call. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for integrating a gadget with a spreadsheet, comprising:
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providing an Application Programming Interface (API) for the gadget to communicate with the spreadsheet that comprises functions for;
obtaining content from one or more cells of the spreadsheet;
placing content into one or more cells of the spreadsheet;
creating a binding; and
displaying a selection user interface for selecting at least one of;
content from the sheet;
a location within the sheet; and
a type of content;determining a range of cells of the spreadsheet to bind to the gadget, wherein the range of cells comprises one or more cells of the spreadsheet; establishing a binding between the range of cells of the spreadsheet and the gadget; storing the binding within the spreadsheet; determining an interaction with the range of cells that is at least one of;
when a cell within the range of cells is deleted;
when a cell within the range of cells is added;
when a cell within the range of cells is edited;
when a cell within the range of cells is hovered over;
when a cell within the range of cells is changed indirectly;
when a cell within the range is bound to another cell that changes;
when the cell within the range of cells that includes a calculation that is updated; and
when a cell within the range of cells is selected;automatically providing a notification to the gadget in response to the interaction; receiving a call from the gadget using the API; and performing an operation involving the spreadsheet that relates to the received call. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A system for integrating a gadget with a spreadsheet, comprising:
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a display; a processor and a computer-readable medium; an operating environment stored on the computer-readable medium and executing on the processor; and a process configured to perform actions, comprising; providing an Application Programming Interface (API) for the gadget to communicate with the spreadsheet that comprises functions for;
obtaining content from one or more cells of the spreadsheet;
placing content into one or more cells of the spreadsheet;
creating a binding; and
displaying a selection user interface for selecting at least one of;
content from the sheet;
a location within the sheet; and
a type of content;determining a range of cells of the spreadsheet to bind to the gadget, wherein the range of cells comprises one or more cells of the spreadsheet; establishing a binding between the range of cells of the spreadsheet and the gadget; storing the binding within the spreadsheet; exposing the gadget as a named item within the spreadsheet such that the gadget is publishable in a report; determining an interaction with the range of cells that is at least one of;
when a cell within the range of cells is deleted;
when a cell within the range of cells is added;
when a cell within the range of cells is edited;
when a cell within the range of cells is hovered over; and
when a cell within the range of cells is selected;automatically providing a notification to the gadget in response to the interaction; receiving a call from the gadget using the API; and performing an operation involving the spreadsheet that relates to the received call. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification