Spreadsheet Fragmentation for Output-Based Partial Processing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Spreadsheets with multiple interdependent worksheets are difficult to interpret and computationally intensive, often requiring excessive resources and failing to function properly without all input and/or transient worksheets being available.
Innovation Solution
Fragmenting spreadsheets into smaller units called fragments, each comprising an output worksheet and the necessary input and transient worksheets, allowing for temporal and physical decoupling and improved computational performance by routing fragments to appropriate resources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If all worksheets are processed together as a complete spreadsheet, then data completeness and dependency resolution are maintained, but computational resources are excessively consumed and processing time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the spreadsheet into independent fragments, where each fragment contains an output worksheet along with its required input and transient worksheets. This segmentation allows the system to process only the necessary portions of the spreadsheet independently, eliminating the need to load and process the entire spreadsheet at once, thereby significantly reducing computational resource consumption while maintaining data completeness for each fragment.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables partial processing by allowing users to select and process only specific fragments rather than the complete spreadsheet. This partial action approach permits computational operations to be performed on individual output worksheets and their dependencies, reducing the overall computational burden while still achieving the necessary processing objectives.
2Reliability
If all input and transient worksheets are required to be available, then computational operations can function properly, but the system becomes complex and difficult to interpret
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the spreadsheet into fragments with explicit dependency tracking, the system maintains reliability by ensuring that each fragment includes all necessary input and transient worksheets for its computational operations to function properly. This segmentation makes the complexity manageable, as users only need to understand the dependencies within each fragment rather than the entire spreadsheet structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary layer that tracks and manages dependencies between worksheets. This intermediary mechanism automatically determines which input and transient worksheets are required for each output worksheet, simplifying the user interface and making the system easier to interpret while ensuring that all necessary components are available for reliable computational processing.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the entire spreadsheet is processed at once, then all data is available, but temporal and physical coupling prevents flexible editing and interchange of worksheets
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the spreadsheet into independent fragments that can be edited, moved, and processed independently of each other. This segmentation provides temporal and physical decoupling, allowing users to edit or interchange worksheets within one fragment without affecting other fragments, thereby enhancing editing flexibility while maintaining the overall structural integrity of the spreadsheet through proper dependency management.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces dynamic dependency tracking that allows the spreadsheet structure to adapt to user actions. When a user edits or moves a worksheet, the system dynamically updates the dependency relationships, enabling flexible modifications while maintaining stability through automatic dependency resolution. This dynamic approach allows the spreadsheet to remain stable during normal operation but become adaptable when users need to modify specific fragments.
Data Source
AI summary
The present teachings include techniques and systems for processing spreadsheets at the level of a worksheet or another collection of cells, including the fragmenting of spreadsheets. For example, a spreadsheet may include one or more input worksheets, output worksheets, and/or transient worksheets, where transient worksheets utilize input data in input worksheets to facilitate creation of output data in output worksheets. In particular, fragmenting a spreadsheet may include determining, for each output worksheet, what input and transient worksheets are needed to create output data in the output worksheet, and then creating a plurality of fragments therefrom. Thus, fragmenting a spreadsheet may include a temporal and/or physical decoupling of the spreadsheet's worksheets. This can be useful for, inter alia, understanding the relationships between a plurality of worksheets, isolating certain processing tasks, editing or interchanging worksheets, and/or for improving computational performance, e.g., by routing particular fragments to appropriate computational resources for processing thereof.