Expanding the utility of spreadsheets through the integration of visual programming and user interface objects

Smedley, Trevor J.; Cox, Philip T.; Byrne, Shannon

doi:10.1145/948472.948473

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…As the user enters a formula it is evaluated, and the result is then displayed. The best-known examples of spreadsheet languages are found in commercial spreadsheet systems, but there are also many research systems (e.g., Burnett and Gottfried [1998], A Methodology for Testing Spreadsheets • Chi et al [1997], Leopold and Ambler [1997], Myers [1991], Smedley et al [1996], and Viehstaedt and Ambler [1992]) based on this paradigm.…”

Section: Spreadsheet Languagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A methodology for testing spreadsheets

Rothermel

Burnett

et al. 2001

ACM Trans. Softw. Eng. Methodol.

109

118

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Spreadsheet languages, which include commercial spreadsheets and various research systems, have had a substantial impact on end-user computing. Research shows, however, that spreadsheets often contain faults; thus, we would like to provide at least some of the benefits of formal testing methodologies to the creators of spreadsheets. This article presents a testing methodology that adapts data flow adequacy criteria and coverage monitoring to the task of testing spreadsheets. To accommodate the evaluation model used with spreadsheets, and the interactive process by which they are created, our methodology is incremental. To accommodate the users of spreadsheet languages, we provide an interface to our methodology that does not require an understanding of testing theory. We have implemented our testing methodology in the context of the Forms/3 visual spreadsheet language. We report on the methodology, its time and space costs, and the mapping from the testing strategy to the user interface. In an empirical study, we found that test suites created according to our methodology detected, on average, 81% of the faults in a set of faulty spreadsheets, significantly outperforming randomly generated test suites.

show abstract

Section: Spreadsheet Languagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A methodology for testing spreadsheets

Rothermel

Burnett

et al. 2001

ACM Trans. Softw. Eng. Methodol.

109

118

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…If a user wishes to switch from examining scenarios that differ with respect to some parameter A to scenarios that differ with respect to parameter B, then C,then perhaps return to A, the repeated redefinition of all the parallel calculations would be decidedly laborious. In discussing the use of what-if scenarios in spreadsheets, Smedley et al [1996] argued that "current spreadsheets provide little support for this type of interaction" (p. 148). The scenario-management facilities of Microsoft Excel can be seen as an attempt to work around this limitation, by letting the user define a batch of scenarios whose results are calculated and presented in a dynamically reconfigurable "pivot table".…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subjunctive interfaces

Lunzer

Hornbæk

2008

ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Many applications require exploration of alternative scenarios; most support it poorly. Subjunctive interfaces provide mechanisms for the parallel setup, viewing and control of scenarios, aiming to support users' thinking about and interaction with their choices. We illustrate how applications for information access, real-time simulation, and document design may be extended with these mechanisms. To investigate the usability of this form of extension, we compare a simple census browser against a version with a subjunctive interface. In the first of three studies, subjects reported higher satisfaction with the subjunctive interface, and relied less on interim marks on paper. No reduction in task completion time was found, however, mainly because some subjects encountered problems in setting up and controlling scenarios. At the end of a second, fivesession study, users of a redesigned interface completed tasks 27% more quickly than with the simple interface. In the third study we examined how subjects reasoned about multiple-scenario setups in pursuing complex, open-ended data explorations. Our main observation was that subjects treated scenarios as information holders, using them creatively in various ways to facilitate task completion.

show abstract

“…A spreadsheet language requires knowledge of the homogeneity of a grid region's formulas in order to take advantage of the approach described in this paper, but this knowledge is easily obtained. It is already present in those spreadsheet languages in which the user is allowed to explicitly share a single formula among several cells (e.g., Lotus TM , Forms/3 [3], [4], [5], Formulate [31], Prograph spreadsheets [29], and Chi et al's visualization spreadsheet language [7]). If not already present, it can easily be gathered ªbehind the scenesº by a spreadsheet system, such as by maintaining knowledge of the relationships among copied formulas, as in [10].…”

Section: Homogeneity Of Gridsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing homogeneous spreadsheet grids with the "what you see is what you test" methodology

Burnett

Sheretov

Ren

et al. 2002

IIEEE Trans. Software Eng.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ÐAlthough there has been recent research into ways to design environments that enable end users to create their own programs, little attention has been given to helping these end users systematically test their programs. To help address this need in spreadsheet systemsÐthe most widely used type of end-user programming languageÐwe previously introduced a visual approach to systematically testing individual cells in spreadsheet systems. However, the previous approach did not scale well in the presence of largely homogeneous grids, which introduce problems somewhat analogous to the array-testing problems of imperative programs. In this paper, we present two approaches to spreadsheet testing that explicitly support such grids. We present the algorithms, time complexities, and performance data comparing the two approaches. This is part of our continuing work to bring to end users at least some of the benefits of formalized notions of testing without requiring knowledge of testing beyond a naive level.

show abstract

Expanding the utility of spreadsheets through the integration of visual programming and user interface objects

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

A methodology for testing spreadsheets

A methodology for testing spreadsheets

Subjunctive interfaces

Testing homogeneous spreadsheet grids with the "what you see is what you test" methodology

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About