Constraint-based spreadsheet system capable of displaying a process of execution of programs
First Claim
1. A computer program product for controlling a computer to execute a spreadsheet program using tables including a plurality of cells, the computer program product comprising:
- first calculating means for obtaining a calculation flow among the plurality of cells based on an input value and a formula which serve as constraint conditions for each cell of the plurality of cells;
second calculating means for obtaining cell dependency information by using at least one of
1) formulas within a table including the plurality of cells and
2) formulas between a plurality of tables including the plurality of cells, according to the calculation flow obtained by the first calculating means;
generating means for generating information related to an execution flow within the table or between the plurality of tables based on the cell dependency information obtained by the second calculating means; and
displaying means for displaying the information related to the execution flow generated by the generating means,wherein the second calculating means includesan inference engine which executes the constraint conditions as substitutions when the first calculating means succeeds in obtaining the calculation flow among the cells, andconstraint processing means for solving the constraint conditions as simultaneous equations when the first calculating means fails to obtain the calculation flow.
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Abstract
A constraint-based spreadsheet system includes a direction discrimination section, a dependence information generating section, a program execution process information generating section, and a display section. The direction discrimination section discriminates whether constraint information, which corresponds to a formula which is a basic structural element of a program, has direction of calculation. The dependence information generating section generates dependence information between tables and within a table based on the direction of calculation discriminated by the direction discrimination section. The program execution process information generating section generates program execution process information using the dependence information. The display section displays the program execution process information.
34 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A computer program product for controlling a computer to execute a spreadsheet program using tables including a plurality of cells, the computer program product comprising:
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first calculating means for obtaining a calculation flow among the plurality of cells based on an input value and a formula which serve as constraint conditions for each cell of the plurality of cells; second calculating means for obtaining cell dependency information by using at least one of
1) formulas within a table including the plurality of cells and
2) formulas between a plurality of tables including the plurality of cells, according to the calculation flow obtained by the first calculating means;generating means for generating information related to an execution flow within the table or between the plurality of tables based on the cell dependency information obtained by the second calculating means; and displaying means for displaying the information related to the execution flow generated by the generating means, wherein the second calculating means includes an inference engine which executes the constraint conditions as substitutions when the first calculating means succeeds in obtaining the calculation flow among the cells, and constraint processing means for solving the constraint conditions as simultaneous equations when the first calculating means fails to obtain the calculation flow. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A computer program product for controlling a computer to execute a spreadsheet program using tables including a plurality of cells, the computer program product comprising:
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first calculating means for obtaining a calculation flow among the plurality of cells based on an input value and a formula which serve as constraint conditions for each cell of the plurality of cells; second calculating means for obtaining cell dependency information by using at least one of
1) formulas within a table including the plurality of cells and
2) formulas between a plurality of tables including the plurality of cells, according to the calculation flow obtained by the first calculating means;generating means for generating information related to an execution flow within the table or between the plurality of tables based on the cell dependency information obtained by the second calculating means; third calculating means for obtaining insufficient/excess information of the constraint conditions determined within the table or between the plurality of tables based on the necessary input/output information obtained by the first calculating means and the cell dependency information obtained by the second calculating means; and displaying means for displaying the insufficient/excess information of the constraint conditions obtained by the third calculating means and the information related to the execution flow generated by the generating means, wherein the second calculating means includes an inference engine which executes the constraint conditions as substitutions when the first calculating means succeeds in obtaining the calculation flow among the cells, and constraint processing means for solving the constraint conditions as simultaneous equations when the first calculating means fails to obtain the calculation flow. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A computer-implemented method of controlling a computer to execute a spreadsheet program using tables including a plurality of cells, the method comprising the steps of:
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a) obtaining a calculation flow among the plurality of cells based on an input value and a formula which serve as constraint conditions for each cell of the plurality of cells; b) obtaining cell dependency information by using at least one of
1) formulas within a table including the plurality of cells and
2) formulas between a plurality of tables including the plurality of cells, according to the calculation flow obtained by the step a) of obtaining;c) generating information related to an execution flow within the table or between the plurality of tables based on the cell dependency information obtained by the step b) of obtaining; and d) displaying the information related to the execution flow generated by the step c) of generating, wherein the step b) of obtaining includes the sub-steps of b1) executing the constraint conditions as substitutions when the step a) of calculating succeeds in obtaining the calculation flow among the cells, and b2) solving the constraint conditions as simultaneous equations when the step a) of calculating fails to obtain the calculation flow. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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Specification