Triggered expressions : event driven manipulation of cell states in spreadsheets

Abstract

Spreadsheets have become the go-to end-user computing tool for non-technical users, enabling users to create mid to low-level complexity processes for purposes such as administrative tasks, storing data, and reports. In light of this success, spreadsheets developers have worked to expand functionality through a variety of mechanisms, including macros, data analysis and charting, and much more. However, the trend has been to extend functionality through alternative mechanisms that break with the tradition that first made spreadsheets popular. By creating a functional paradigm for event driven manipulation of cell states, and maintaining consistency with the original functional paradigm of the spreadsheet, users can express an expanded set of functionalities without defaulting to alternative programming languages. This thesis proposes triggered expressions, which supplement the spreadsheet paradigm that enables event driven manipulation of cell events. It also details a practical implementation within spreadsheets, and analyzes some potential use cases.