FACILITATING INTERACTION WITH A SPREADSHEET

• US 20170242837A1
• Filed: 02/23/2016
• Published: 08/24/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: BAUCHOT, Frederic, MOLL, Georges-Henri
• Granted Patent: US 10,387,558 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/18 of spreadsheets form-filling G06F40/174

Abstract

Facilitating interaction with a spreadsheet it provided. One or more input cells of a spreadsheet displayed on a display device of a computer system are automatically detected. One or more candidate cells of the spreadsheet are presented for selection, as candidates for inclusion in an interface for display on the display device in conjunction with the spreadsheet, the one or more candidate cells including the detected one or more input cells. Based on a selection of at least one cell, of the one or more candidate cells, for inclusion in the interface, the selected at least one cell is displayed in the interface, where the selected at least one cell includes at least one input cell of the one or more candidate input cells.

Claims

1. A computer program product comprising:

a computer readable storage medium readable by a processor and storing instructions for execution by the processor for performing a method comprising;

automatically detecting one or more input cells of a spreadsheet displayed on a display device of a computer system;

presenting for selection one or more candidate cells of the spreadsheet as candidates for inclusion in an interface for display on the display device in conjunction with the spreadsheet, the one or more candidate cells comprising the detected one or more input cells; and

based on a selection of at least one cell, of the one or more candidate cells, for inclusion in the interface, displaying the selected at least one cell in the interface, wherein the selected at least one cell comprises at least one input cell of the one or more candidate input cells.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the interface is configured to receive input for each input cell of the at least one input cell input cell to edit a respective value for the input cell in the spreadsheet.

3. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the automatically detecting the one or more input cells comprises ascertaining dependencies between cells of the spreadsheet and identifying the one or more input cells based on dependencies that other cells of the spreadsheet have on the one or more input cells, the dependencies specifying the one or more input cells by reference for one or more calculations.

4. The computer program product of claim 3, wherein the one or more input cells comprise self-contained constraints or formulas for the spreadsheet.

5. The computer program product of claim 3, wherein the ascertaining the dependencies comprises evaluating a dependency graph of the spreadsheet.

6. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises automatically detecting one or more context cells corresponding to the one or more input cells, the one or more context cells being automatically detected based on one or more of the following:

(i) proximity to a detected input cell in the spreadsheet, (ii) absence from a dependency graph of the spreadsheet, and (iii) containing only text data, wherein the one or more candidate cells presented for selection comprise the detected one or more context cells, and wherein the selected and displayed at least one cell comprises at least one context cell of the one or more context cells.

7. The computer program product of claim 6, wherein presenting the one or more candidate cells comprises presenting each detected input cell of the one or more input cells along with a corresponding at least one context cell, of the detected one or more context cells, that is proximate to the respective input cell to provide context for the respective input cell.

8. The computer program product of claim 6, wherein the method further comprises receiving a selection of one or more other cells of the spreadsheet for inclusion in the interface, the one or more other cells not included in the detected one or more input cells or detected one or more context cells, and displaying in the interface the selected one or more other cells along with the selected at least one cell.

9. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises automatically detecting one or more calculated cells of the spreadsheet, receiving a selection of at least one calculated cell, of the one or more calculated cells, for inclusion in the interface, and displaying in the interface the selected at least one calculated cell along with the selected at least one cell.

10. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

monitoring for an event indicating a change to one or more dependencies between cells of the spreadsheet in which a new input cell is added or an existing input cell is removed; and

modifying the interface to add the new input cell to the interface or remove the existing input cell from the interface.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the modifying adds the new input cell to the interface, wherein the modifying is performed based on a selection to add the new input cell to the interface together with a selection of one or more context cells to add to the interface for providing context for the added input cell.

12. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the interface comprises a movable floating window configured to float on top of at least a portion of the spreadsheet when the spreadsheet is displayed.

13. A computer-implemented method comprising:

automatically detecting one or more input cells of a spreadsheet displayed on a display device of a computer system;

presenting for selection one or more candidate cells of the spreadsheet as candidates for inclusion in an interface for display on the display device in conjunction with the spreadsheet, the one or more candidate cells comprising the detected one or more input cells; and

based on a selection of at least one cell, of the one or more candidate cells, for inclusion in the interface, displaying the selected at least one cell in the interface, wherein the selected at least one cell comprises at least one input cell of the one or more candidate input cells.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the interface is configured to receive input for each input cell of the at least one input cell input cell to edit a respective value for the input cell in the spreadsheet.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising automatically detecting one or more context cells corresponding to the one or more input cells, the one or more context cells being automatically detected based on one or more of the following:

(i) proximity to a detected input cell in the spreadsheet, (ii) absence from a dependency graph of the spreadsheet, and (iii) containing only text data, wherein the one or more candidate cells presented for selection comprise the detected one or more context cells, and wherein the selected and displayed at least one cell comprises at least one context cell of the one or more context cells.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising:

monitoring for an event indicating a change to one or more dependencies between cells of the spreadsheet in which a new input cell is added or an existing input cell is removed; and

modifying the interface to add the new input cell to the interface or remove the existing input cell from the interface.

17. A computer system comprising:

a memory; and

a processor in communications with the memory, wherein the computer system is configured to perform a method, the method comprising;

automatically detecting one or more input cells of a spreadsheet displayed on a display device of a system;

presenting for selection one or more candidate cells of the spreadsheet as candidates for inclusion in an interface for display on the display device in conjunction with the spreadsheet, the one or more candidate cells comprising the detected one or more input cells; and

based on a selection of at least one cell, of the one or more candidate cells, for inclusion in the interface, displaying the selected at least one cell in the interface, wherein the selected at least one cell comprises at least one input cell of the one or more candidate input cells.

18. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the interface is configured to receive input for each input cell of the at least one input cell input cell to edit a respective value for the input cell in the spreadsheet.

19. The computer system of claim 17, further comprising automatically detecting one or more context cells corresponding to the one or more input cells, the one or more context cells being automatically detected based on one or more of the following:

(i) proximity to a detected input cell in the spreadsheet, (ii) absence from a dependency graph of the spreadsheet, and (iii) containing only text data, wherein the one or more candidate cells presented for selection comprise the detected one or more context cells, and wherein the selected and displayed at least one cell comprises at least one context cell of the one or more context cells.

20. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

monitoring for an event indicating a change to one or more dependencies between cells of the spreadsheet in which a new input cell is added or an existing input cell is removed; and

modifying the interface to add the new input cell to the interface or remove the existing input cell from the interface.