System and method for integrating spreadsheets and word processing tables

• US 7,506,243 B2
• Filed: 10/09/2004
• Issued: 03/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Fisher, Oliver G., Anantharaman, Vinod G., Kotler, Matthew J., Gounares, Alexander G., Franklin, Christopher Matthew, Wolf, Richard J., Morgan, Matthew D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong; Stephen
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ludwig; Matthew J
• Application Number:
  US10/962,251
• Publication Number:
  US 20050125377A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,620 Days
• Field of Search: 715/503, 715/504, 715/509, 715/510, 715/513, 715/220, 715/212, 715/217, 715/227, 707/1
• 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: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing

Abstract

An architecture integrates spreadsheet functionality into tables commonly used in word processing programs and HTML documents. The architecture presents a table user interface (UI) that resembles a table when not being edited and adds spreadsheet elements to the table when being edited. Underlying the table UI, the architecture separates data handling functions from presentation functions. The architecture includes a table appearance manager to manage how the table appears in a document including such characteristics as table resizing, selection, cut, copy, paste, split, merge, table formatting and so on. The architecture also has a spreadsheet functionality manager to manage the spreadsheet functions for the table, such as recalculation, formula handling, sorting, referencing, and the like. The bifurcated architecture supports cross-table referencing, reference editing, automatic universal recalculation throughout all tables in the document, and nested table structures in which one table is nested within a cell of another table.

Claims

1. A method implemented at least in part by a processor, the method comprising:

integrating text and tables within a document;

presenting first and second tables within the document, wherein the first table has a first cell with first contents and the second table has a second cell with second contents;

referencing the first cell in the first table from the second cell in the second table, wherein the referencing updates the second cell in the second table to reflect a modification for the first cell in the first table;

nesting the first table within a third cell of the second table using a grid object, a spreadsheet object, and a table object to independently manage one or more nested tables;

displaying the nested first table within the third cell of the second table; and

recalculating a value of the first table nested within the second table, wherein the second table reflects the recalculated value.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the referencing comprises using a pointer to reference the first cell in the first table.

3. The method of claim 1, additionally comprising:

configuring at least one of the first and second tables so that column headers and row headers are present in the at least one of the first and second tables when that table is being edited and are not present at other times.

4. The method of claim 1, additionally comprising:

providing automatic universal recalculation through all of the tables in the document in response to modification of contents of the first table, or the second table, or another single table.

5. The method of claim 1, additionally comprising:

providing column headers and row headers to at least one of the first and second tables during editing, and not providing such headers at other times; and

providing automatic universal recalculation in response to the editing.

6. One or more computer-readable media comprising computer-executable instructions for integrating spreadsheet functionality into tables, the computer-executable instructions comprising instructions for:

integrating text and tables into a document;

referencing a first cell located in a first of the tables from a second cell in a second of the tables, each of the first table and the second table supporting a plurality of spreadsheet functionalities;

providing column headers and row headers during editing of the first or the second table within the document, and not providing such headers at other times;

providing automatic universal recalculation of the tables in response to a modification of at least one of the tables;

nesting an inner table of the tables within a third cell of an outer table of the tables using a grid object, a spreadsheet object, and a table object to independently manage one or more nested tables;

displaying the nested inner table within the third cell of the outer table; and

recalculating a value of the inner table nested within the third cell of the outer table, wherein the third cell or another cell of the outer table reflects the recalculated value.

7. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 6, wherein the instructions for nesting maintain a non-calculation formula in the outer table to fetch a result of a calculation within the inner table.

8. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 6, wherein providing automatic universal recalculation comprises instructions for:

reevaluating normal formulas only when dependencies change;

reevaluating semi-calculation formulas every time a recalculation is performed; and

never evaluating non-calculation formulas.

9. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 6, wherein automatic universal recalculation updates nested cells using instructions for:

calculating a value of the inner table; and

fetching the value and locating the value within the third cell or the another cell of the outer table.

10. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 6, wherein automatic universal recalculation updates cells by running through a formula chain to recalculate any formula that is affected by a new data value.

11. One or more computer-readable media comprising computer-executable instructions for integrating spreadsheet functionality into tables used in word processing and markup language documents, the computer-executable instructions comprising instructions for:

integrating spreadsheet functionality into tables used in word processing and markup language documents;

creating a spreadsheet object, a grid object, and a table object to manage one or more tables in a document;

referencing content in a first of the tables from a second of the tables, the content of the first table being nested within a cell of the second table within the document and each of the first table and the second table supporting a plurality of spreadsheet functionalities;

independently managing one or more nested tables using each table'"'"'s own underlying set, at least one underlying set comprising the spreadsheet object, the grid object, and the table object;

displaying the nested first table as enclosed in the cell of the second table; and

providing automatic universal recalculation in response to a change in a value in one or more tables in the document.

12. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 11, additionally comprising instructions for providing column headers and row headers in one or more of the first and second tables while the one or more of the first and second tables within the document is being edited, and not providing such headers at other times.

13. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 11, wherein providing automatic universal recalculation comprises instructions for updating values in the second table by fetching a result of a calculation within the first table.

14. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 11, wherein providing automatic universal recalculation comprises instructions for:

reevaluating normal formulas only when dependencies change;

reevaluating semi-calculation formulas every time a recalculation is performed; and

never evaluating non-calculation formulas.

15. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 11, wherein automatic universal recalculation updates nested cells of the first table using instructions for:

calculating a value of the first table; and

fetching the value and locating the value within the cell of the second table.

16. A spreadsheet architecture embodied on one or more computer-readable media for providing spreadsheet functionality to tables, the spreadsheet architecture comprising:

a document renderer configured to integrate text and tables into a document;

a spreadsheet engine configured to reference content in a first of the tables from a second of the tables, wherein the first table is nested and displayed within a cell of the second table and each of the first table and the second table are configured to support a plurality of spreadsheet functionalities;

a set of objects to independently manage the first table and the second table, the set of objects comprising

a grid object, a spreadsheet object and a table object; and

a recalculation engine configured to provide automatic universal recalculation in response to a change to a value in one or more tables in the document.

17. The spreadsheet architecture as recited in claim 16, wherein the document renderer is additionally configured to provide column headers and row headers in the first table or second table while the first or second table within the document is being edited, and not providing such headers at other times.

18. The spreadsheet architecture as recited in claim 16, wherein the spreadsheet engine is additionally configured for updating values in the second table using a non-calculation formula in the second table to fetch a result of a calculation within the first table.

19. The spreadsheet architecture as recited in claim 16, wherein the recalculation engine provides automatic universal recalculation by:

reevaluating normal formulas only when dependencies change;

reevaluating semi-calculation formulas every time a recalculation is performed; and

never evaluating non-calculation formulas.

20. The spreadsheet architecture as recited in claim 16, wherein the recalculation engine updates nested cells of the first table during automatic universal recalculation by:

calculating a value of the first table; and

fetching the value and locating the value within the cell of the second table.