ClassSheets - model-based, object-oriented design of spreadsheet applications.

Abstract

Using spreadsheets is the preferred method to calculate, display or store anything that fits into a table-like structure. They are often used by end users to create applications. But they have one critical drawback -they are very error-prone.To reduce the error-proneness, we purpose a new way of object-oriented modeling of spreadsheets prior to using them. These spreadsheet models, termed ClassSheets, are used to generate concrete spreadsheets on the instance level.By this approach sources of errors are reduced and spreadsheet applications are easier to understand.

Graphical Querying of Model-Driven Spreadsheets

“…This has been successfully applied to spreadsheets, making modeldriven spreadsheets [11,12] and a model-driven spreadsheet environment (MD-Sheet) possible [13]. One of such spreadsheet models is ClassSheets [3,4], a highlevel and object-oriented formalism, using the notion of classes and attributes, to express business logic spreadsheet data. ClassSheets allow us to define the business logic of a spreadsheet in a concise and abstract manner, resulting in users being able to understand, evolve, and maintain complex spreadsheets.…”

“…These chosen attributes are then displayed in a Preview Results panel, each attribute in its own column, showing the user how the result is to be returned, and allowing the user to drag the columns left or right to organize how he or she desires. In Figure 5 we see the various areas, identified by the red 4 made up of two combo-boxes (allowing the user to respectively choose which attributes and operations to be used per condition), a text box to state the value of the condition, and a remove button (displayed as a red minus sign) to remove the condition from the panel. VII Unique/Limit.…”

“…As a consequence, we can express the query based on those models, rather than on large and complex data. We use wellknown spreadsheet models, namely ClassSheets [3][4][5], where databases use the relational models. Our queries are then expressed on those models and not on the data, exactly as in databases.…”

Design and Implementation of Queries for Model-Driven Spreadsheets

“…One of these spreadsheet models is ClassSheets [11,12], a high-level and object-oriented formalism, using the notion of classes and attributes, to express business logic spreadsheet data. Using ClassSheets, we can define the business logic of a spreadsheet in a concise and abstract manner.…”

Batch Spreadsheet for C Programmers

“…It is well-known that spreadsheet design and use can be very error-prone [4], [5], and most of the problems stem from the interactive nature of modern spreadsheet features such as cut/paste, adding and removing rows and columns, etc. The batch approach eliminates many of the traditional problems, while enabling more powerful command-line types of options.…”