Use of temporary optimized settings to reduce cycle time of automatically created spreadsheets

• US 8,904,340 B2
• Filed: 02/13/2007
• Issued: 12/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hicks, Scott D., Martin, James A. Jr., Murray, Douglas G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Stephen
• Assistant Examiner(s): ROBINSON, MARSHON L
• Application Number:
  US11/674,268
• Publication Number:
  US 20080196001A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,849 Days
• Field of Search: 715/212, 715/209, 715/234, 717/114, 717/104
• US Class Current: 717/104
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/18 of spreadsheets form-filling G06F40/174

Abstract

Aspects of the present invention provide a solution for reducing cycle time of automatically created spreadsheets. Specifically, an embodiment of the present invention provides a way to create a spreadsheet from data that is in a native format more quickly and/or efficiently. To do so, the invention accesses a control file using optimized settings to create the spreadsheet. Then, after creation of the spreadsheet, the invention uses a second control file having the final settings to modify the spreadsheet in preparation for output. The invention may use agents to perform all or a portion of these activities.

Claims

1. A method for reducing cycle time of automatically created spreadsheets, comprising:

obtaining a first control document having optimized settings for the spreadsheet, wherein the optimized settings include disabling automatic saving, automatic calculation, and background error checking;

optimizing a spreadsheet application by applying the optimized settings to the spreadsheet application, the applying of the optimized settings including modifying default settings of the spreadsheet application based on the optimized settings to modify a set of behaviors of the spreadsheet application when processing spreadsheet data;

creating the spreadsheet by importing data from a source different from the control document in a natural format that is different from a format of the spreadsheet into the spreadsheet using the optimized settings in the spreadsheet application;

obtaining a second control document having final settings for the spreadsheet;

setting, in response to completion of the creating, the final settings in the spreadsheet application having the created spreadsheet, the setting of the final settings including remodifying the default settings of the spreadsheet application changed in the applying of the optimized settings; and

outputting the created spreadsheet using the final settings in the spreadsheet application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the control document is a pre-creation settings control document.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second control document is a post-creation settings control document.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the optimized settings are set via calls to an optimized settings class library.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the final settings are set via calls to an optimized settings class library and wherein the final settings are the default settings of the spreadsheet application prior to the setting of the optimized settings.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the processes are performed by an agent.

7. A system for automatically creating a spreadsheet, comprising:

an optimized settings obtainer for obtaining a first control document having optimized settings for the spreadsheet, wherein the optimized settings include disabling automatic saving, automatic calculation, and background error checking;

an optimized settings setter that optimizes a spreadsheet application by applying the optimized settings to the spreadsheet application, the applying of the optimized settings including modifying default settings of the spreadsheet application based on the optimized settings to modify a set of behaviors of the spreadsheet application when processing spreadsheet data;

a spreadsheet creator for creating the spreadsheet by importing data from a source different from the control document in a natural format that is different from a format of the spreadsheet into the spreadsheet using the optimized settings in the spreadsheet application;

a final settings obtainer for obtaining a second control document having final settings for the spreadsheet;

a final settings setter for setting, in response to completion of the creating, the final settings in the spreadsheet application having the created spreadsheet, the setting of the final settings including remodifying the default settings of the spreadsheet application changed in the applying of the optimized settings; and

an outputter for outputting the created spreadsheet using the final settings in the spreadsheet application.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the first control document is a pre-creation settings control document.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the second control document is a post-creation settings control document.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the optimized settings are set via calls to an optimized settings class library.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the final settings are set via calls to an optimized settings class library and wherein the final settings are the default settings of the spreadsheet application prior to the setting of the optimized settings.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the systems perform their tasks using at least one agent.

13. A program product stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium for automatically creating a spreadsheet, the computer readable medium comprising:

program code for obtaining a first control document having optimized settings for the spreadsheet, wherein the optimized settings include disabling automatic saving, automatic calculation, and background error checking;

program code for optimizing a spreadsheet application by applying the optimized settings to the spreadsheet application, the applying of the optimized settings including modifying default settings of the spreadsheet application based on the optimized settings to modify a set of behaviors of the spreadsheet application when processing spreadsheet data;

program code for creating the spreadsheet by importing data from a source different from the control document in a natural format that is different from a format of the spreadsheet into the spreadsheet using the optimized settings in the spreadsheet application;

program code for obtaining a second control document having final settings for the spreadsheet;

program code for setting, in response to completion of the creating, the final settings in the spreadsheet application having the created spreadsheet, the setting of the final settings including remodifying the spreadsheet application changed in the applying of the optimized settings; and

program code for outputting the created spreadsheet using the final settings in the spreadsheet application.

14. The program product of claim 13, wherein the control document is an pre-creation settings control document.

15. The program product of claim 13, wherein the second control document is a post-creation settings control document.

16. The program product of claim 13, wherein the optimized settings are set via calls to an optimized settings class library.

17. The program product of claim 13, wherein the final settings are set via calls to an optimized settings class library and wherein the final settings are the default settings of the spreadsheet application prior to the setting of the optimized settings.

18. The program product of claim 13, wherein the program code performs its tasks using at least one agent.

19. A method for deploying a system for automatically creating a spreadsheet, comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure being operable to;

obtain a first control document having optimized settings for the spreadsheet, wherein the optimized settings include disabling automatic saving, automatic calculation, and background error checking;

optimize a spreadsheet application by applying the optimized settings to the spreadsheet application, the applying of the optimized settings including modifying default settings of the spreadsheet application based on the optimized setting to modify a set of behaviors of the spreadsheet application when processing spreadsheet data,

create the spreadsheet by importing data from a source different from the control document in a natural format that is different from a format of the spreadsheet into the spreadsheet using the optimized settings in the spreadsheet application;

obtain a second control document having final settings for the spreadsheet;

set, in response to completion of the creating, the final settings in the spreadsheet application having the created spreadsheet, the setting of the final settings including remodifying the default settings of the spreadsheet application changed in the applying of the optimized settings; and

output the created spreadsheet using the final settings in the spreadsheet application.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the method performs its tasks by using at least one agent.