INTERACTION BETWEEN WEB GADGETS AND SPREADSHEETS

• US 20130117651A1
• Filed: 11/04/2011
• Published: 05/09/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Waldman, Lawrence, Prish, Shahar, Battagin, Daniel, Burke, Eoin James, Patel, Keyur Rahul, Simmons, Jon Garrett
• Granted Patent: US 9,053,083 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/220
• 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: G06F 9/44526 Plug-ins; Add-ons

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 Out of date requests from the gadget are attempted to be detected and prevented from being processed such that the gadget is not acting on the latest data.

Claims

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. The method of claim 1, further comprising exposing the gadget as a named item within the spreadsheet such that the gadget can be displayed differently from other objects within the spreadsheet

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the interaction to the range of cells comprises determining 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.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the API further comprises a function for changing the display of one or more cells of the spreadsheet in response to an action occurring on the gadget.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising in response to an interaction with the range of cells in the spreadsheet automatically updating a display of the gadget.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the binding is automatically updated in response to a change made to the spreadsheet that changes a size of the range of cells.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the call from the gadget using the API comprises determining when the call is out of date;

and when the call is out of date preventing the call from being executed; and

informing the gadget of the out of date request.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the gadget in a task pane that is docked to a side of a display of the spreadsheet.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining when the gadget is not supported by the spreadsheet application and when not supported displaying a link to access a website that is associated with the gadget.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the API further comprises functions for 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.

11. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions 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;

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.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, further comprising exposing the gadget as a named item within the spreadsheet such that the gadget is publishable in a report.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the API further comprises a function for changing the display of one or more cells of the spreadsheet in response to an action occurring on the gadget.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, further comprising in response to an interaction with the range of cells in the spreadsheet automatically updating a display of the gadget.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the binding is automatically updated in response to a change made to the spreadsheet that changes a size of the range of cells.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein receiving the call from the gadget using the API comprises determining when the call is out of date;

and when the call is out of date preventing the call from being executed; and

informing the gadget of the out of date request.

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

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.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising in response to an interaction with the range of cells in the spreadsheet automatically updating a display of the gadget.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the binding is automatically updated in response to a change made to the spreadsheet that changes a size of the range of cells.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein receiving the call from the gadget using the API comprises determining when the call is out of date;

and when the call is out of date preventing the call from being executed; and

informing the gadget of the out of date request.