Spreadsheet fields in text

• US 7,523,390 B2
• Filed: 10/08/2004
• Issued: 04/21/2009
• 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., Kotler, Matthew J., Gounares, Alexander G., Franklin, Christopher Matthew, Morgan, Matthew D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hutton; Doug
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hillery; Nathan
• Application Number:
  US10/961,313
• Publication Number:
  US 20050044496A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,656 Days
• Field of Search: 715/503, 715/504, 715/509, 715/510, 715/515
• US Class Current: 715/212
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/103 Formatting, i.e. changing of presentation of documents automatic justification G06F40/189; automatic line break hyphenation G06F40/191
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/18 of spreadsheets form-filling G06F40/174

Abstract

A system architecture integrates spreadsheet functionality into text. The architecture allows insertion of discrete individual fields, referred to as “free floating fields”, inline with normal textual sentences. In an HTML document, for example, the free floating fields are elements constructed along with text elements and rendered together as an integrated document. Once rendered, the free floating fields present contents that resemble normal text consistent with the surrounding text. The free floating fields offer spreadsheet functionality, including the ability to handle complex formulas, reference values in a separate free floating field or table, and automatically recalculate the formulas when a source value changes.

Claims

1. A method, at least partially implemented on a computer, comprising:

displaying a first free floating field, a second free floating field, and text from a document written in eXtensible Markup Language (XML);

determining a type of content already in the first free floating field;

displaying a first user interface if the first type of content determined to already be in the first free floating field is a formula and displaying a second user interface if the first type of content determined to already be in the free floating field is text, wherein the first user interface is distinct from the second user interface, the first user interface being associated with formula entry and the second user interface being associated with text entry;

receiving first additional content entered into the first free floating field by a user;

interpreting the first additional content based upon the first type of content already in the first free floating field, as determined;

automatically recalculating any formulas within the document, as needed, upon receipt of the first additional content;

determining that a second type of content already in the second free floating field is a different type than the first type;

displaying the other of the first user interface and the second user interface not displayed in the second-mentioned act of displaying;

receiving second additional content entered into the second free floating field by the user;

interpreting the second additional content based on the second type of content already in the second free floating field, as determined; and

automatically recalculating any formulas within the document, as needed, upon receipt of the second additional content.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the first user interface comprises overlaying a formula edit box on the first free floating field to facilitate user entry of the formula into the first free floating field.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising resizing the formula edit box as the user enters the formula.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising extending the formula edit box horizontally and subsequently vertically as the user enters the formula.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a table containing multiple cells within the document, wherein upon modification of a data value residing in one cell of the table a formula in the first or second free floating fields is automatically recalculated.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein a first formula is in the first free floating field, the method further comprising:

displaying a third free floating field in the document;

enabling the user to enter a second formula into the third free floating field, the second formula referencing the first free floating field; and

upon modification of one of the first and third free floating fields, automatically recalculating the other of the first and third free floating fields.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

creating a cell structure in association with the first free floating field, the cell structure holding a formula; and

creating a format structure in association with the first free floating field, the format structure holding formatting information for the first free floating field.

8. A tangible computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions that, when executed on one or more processors, perform the method as recited in claim 1.

9. An apparatus comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions therein that are configured, when executed by the one or more processors, to;

display a first free floating field, a second free floating field, and text from a document written in eXtensible Markup Language (XML);

determine a type of content already in the first free floating field;

display a first user interface if the first type of content determined to already be in the first free floating field is a formula and display a second user interface if the first type of content determined to already be in the free floating field is text, wherein the first user interface is distinct from the second user interface, the first user interface being associated with formula entry and the second user interface being associated with text entry;

receive first additional content entered into the first free floating field by a user;

interpret the first additional content based upon the first type of content already in the first free floating field, as determined;

automatically recalculate any formulas within the document, as needed, upon receipt of the first additional content;

determine that a second type of content already in the second free floating field is a different type than the first type;

display the other of the first user interface and the second user interface not displayed;

receive second additional content entered into the second free floating field by the user;

interpret the second additional content based on the second type of content already in the second free floating field, as determined; and

automatically recalculate any formulas within the document, as needed, upon receipt of the second additional content.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the instructions configured to display the first user interface are configured to overlay a formula edit box on the first free floating field to facilitate user entry of the formula into the first free floating field.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising instructions configured to resize the formula edit box as the user enters the formula.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising instructions configured to display a table containing multiple cells within the document, wherein upon modification of a data value residing in one cell of the table a formula in the first or second free floating fields is automatically recalculated.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein a first formula is in the first free floating field, the apparatus further comprising instructions configured to:

display a third free floating field in the document;

enable the user to enter a second formula into the third free floating field, the second formula referencing the first free floating field; and

upon modification of one of the first and third free floating fields, automatically recalculate the other of the first and third free floating fields.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising instructions configured to:

create a cell structure in association with the first free floating field, the cell structure holding a formula; and

create a format structure in association with the first free floating field, the format structure holding formatting information for the first free floating field.

15. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, perform acts comprising:

displaying a first free floating field, a second free floating field, and text from a document written in eXtensible Markup Language (XML);

determining a type of content already in the first free floating field;

displaying a first user interface if the first type of content determined to already be in the first free floating field is a formula and displaying a second user interface if the first type of content determined to already be in the free floating field is text, wherein the first user interface is distinct from the second user interface, the first user interface being associated with formula entry and the second user interface being associated with text entry;

receiving first additional content entered into the first free floating field by a user;

interpreting the first additional content based upon the first type of content already in the first free floating field, as determined;

automatically recalculating any formulas within the document, as needed, upon receipt of the first additional content;

determining that a second type of content already in the second free floating field is a different type than the first type;

displaying the other of the first user interface and the second user interface not displayed in the second-mentioned act of displaying;

receiving second additional content entered into the second free floating field by the user;

interpreting the second additional content based on the second type of content already in the second free floating field, as determined; and

automatically recalculating any formulas within the document, as needed, upon receipt of the second additional content.

16. The media of claim 15, wherein displaying the first user interface comprises overlaying a formula edit box on the first free floating field to facilitate user entry of the formula into the first free floating field.

17. The media of claim 16, further comprising resizing the formula edit box as the user enters the formula.

18. The media of claim 15, further comprising displaying a table containing multiple cells within the document, wherein upon modification of a data value residing in one cell of the table a formula in the first or second free floating fields is automatically recalculated.

19. The media of claim 15, wherein a first formula is in the first free floating field, the media having instructions that, when executed, perform acts comprising:

displaying a third free floating field in the document;

enabling the user to enter a second formula into the third free floating field, the second formula referencing the first free floating field; and

upon modification of one of the first and third free floating fields, automatically recalculating the other of the first and third free floating fields.

20. The media of claim 15 having farther instructions that, when executed, perform acts comprising:

creating a cell structure in association with the first free floating field, the cell structure holding a formula; and

creating a format structure in association with the first free floating field, the format structure holding formatting information for the first free floating field.