Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Eric W Patterson

Anupam Garg

Benjamin Edward Rampson

Justin Michael Maguire

Karen Xiaoxu Cheng

Marcella Rader

Michael J McCormack

Tuan Huynh

Kent Rogers Lowry

Su-Piao Bill Wu

Robert Wayne Coffen

Mariya Tikunova

Margaret G Hudson

John S Campbell

Kristin Michele Tolle

Carlos Augusto Otero

Richard Lee Dickinson

Alexandre Da Veiga

Uhl Albert

Sumit Chauhan

Micah James Myerscough

Alexander Martynov

Xiaohui Pan

Michael J Eatough

Keith Mears

May Novack

Larry Tseng

Paul A Hafner

Ian Patterson Wood

Samuel Chow Radakovitz

Karen X Cheng

A chart element representing a chart modification for a standard chart may be provided pictorially by a computing device. The standard chart may be modified using the chart element through the presentation of a first gallery representing a feature of the standard chart for possible modification. The feature may include a horizontal axis title and a vertical axis title. A selection of the vertical axis title for possible modification from the first gallery may be received. A set of visual representations of how the vertical axis title could be modified in a second gallery may then be presented. The visual representations may include options for not displaying an axis title and for displaying an axis title in a rotated orientation. One of the options may be selected to modify the standard chart. The modified chart may then be displayed by the computing device.

Modifying and formatting a chart using pictorially provided chart elements

Inserting a formula at a location on a content surface in a user interface is provided. A user interface showing a status bar which includes one or more predetermined calculations may be displayed on a computer. The computer may receive a selection of a predetermined calculation from the status bar in the user interface. The selected predetermined calculation may then be dragged from the status bar and inserted at a drop location on the content surface in the user interface. The computer may then automatically generate a formula corresponding to the selected predetermined calculation in the user interface.

Drag and drop always sum formulas

A spreadsheet storytelling engine is provided. The spreadsheet storytelling engine may run in the context of a spreadsheet application on any device, service, or general endpoint capable of running the spreadsheet application. The spreadsheet storytelling engine allows for the authoring and telling of a story. The story is a collection of operations that guide the consumer through a spreadsheet. The story allows the spreadsheet to be used to convey visualizations, data, calculations, or other objects in a spreadsheet in a way that may be simple, pleasant to look at, and/or visually engaging to help a consumer understand the information and internalize it in a way that is actionable without requiring the real time availability of the spreadsheet author. The spreadsheet storytelling engine is useful for purposes including, but not limited to, making presentations, creating tutorials, validating data, explaining how a model works, and generating interactive business intelligence dashboards.

Telling interactive, self-directed stories with spreadsheets

Concepts and technologies are described herein for providing a three-dimensional ('3D') annotation facing tool. In accordance with some concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the 3D annotation facing tool provides a way for a user to control the orientation of annotations associated with productivity data in a 3D environment. The 3D annotation facing tool can provide a user with the ability to lock the orientation of the annotation along one or more directional axes. The 3D annotation facing tool can also provide a user with the ability to maintain an orientation of the annotation in a camera facing view.

Three-dimensional annotation facing

An improved interactive user interface for presenting functionalities of an application is provided. An application functionality applied to a data element range may be represented by a selectable preview element that provides a preview of the application functionality applied to the data element range. Upon selection of a preview element, one or more drop zones may be displayed. The preview element may be dragged to a drop zone and may animate into a visualization of the application functionality applied to the data element. The type of visualization that is displayed may be dependent on the drop zone to which the preview element is dragged. After a preview element is dropped into a drop zone, the functionality may be applied to the data element range and be displayed. The interactive data visualizations may encourage a user to explore features of an application.

Location-dependent drag and drop UI

Methods and systems are provided for modifying a chart. Chart elements are provided to a user pictorially. Each picture represents a chart modification. The chart elements are used to modify the formatting of a standard chart according to user preferences. The modified chart document is then displayed to the user including user desired formatting.

A user interface is provided for allowing a user to quickly and easily connect to data and other informational sources. A user can use a user interface to interact with a collection of connection files to quickly and easily connect to various data sources and other informational sources. The user interface is configured to make data sources available at a glance, providing a user with a convenient and comprehensive display of the data sources. The user interface is designed to be a simplified experience for data import that is helpful to both novice and more experienced users in that the data is presented simply without a lot of extraneous information.

Locating, viewing and interacting with information sources

An interactive tooltip provides access to help information and enhanced editing capabilities. The interactive tooltip may be useful for a user editing a function within a spreadsheet formula. The present invention may integrate HTML-like interactivity with a conventional tooltip to provide a new interface for working with the associated data. The interactivity of the tooltip may provide additional levels of help or documentation when requested and may provides additional editing navigation functionality within the associated data. Embodiments of the present invention may provide a tooltip in close proximity to the associated data, while the associated data is being edited. In the case of a spreadsheet, a tooltip may be provided when the user begins editing a function within a spreadsheet cell. The help facility may recognize that the user has begun entering a function.

Interactive tooltip

Methods and systems provide for bi-directional communication between a spreadsheet application worksheet and a database data source that allows modified data to be written from a spreadsheet application to source data in a database data source from which the original pre-modified data was obtained. Offline data changes in a spreadsheet application are cached by a data provider application and are published to a remote data source when the spreadsheet application is synchronized with the data source. Error conditions and data conflicts resulting from new or modified data published to a database data source from a spreadsheet application worksheet are reported to a user of the spreadsheet application worksheet through a data provider application to allow the user an opportunity to resolve error conditions and data conflicts between the user's data changes and other data changes made to the same source data contained in the database data source.

Data source write back and offline data editing and storage in a spreadsheet

An electronic spreadsheet is provided for automatically creating, expanding, and validating lists of cells. A list is created by receiving a user request for selecting a cell range, identifying a list range for the selected cell range, determining a header row for the list range, and generating a border for surrounding the list range. A list is expanded by determining that one or more cells are adjacent to the list and automatically expanding the list to include the new cells. A list is validated by determining a data type of data entered into the list and comparing the data type of the data entered into the list to a list data type. If, as a result of the comparison, the data type of the data entered into the list does not match the list data type, then the data type of the data entered into the list is invalid.

Creating and managing structured data in an electronic spreadsheet

An error checker identifies spreadsheet errors by traversing a spreadsheet cell-by-cell and comparing each cell's contents to a list of error rules. When a cell's contents satisfy an error rules, then the cell is identified as containing a potential spreadsheet error. The error checker identifies potential spreadsheet errors and marks the cells containing the potential errors with an error indicator. A drop-down menu is provided that includes an element identifying the error rule that was invoked by the cell's contents and may include one or more recommended actions to resolve the identified error.

Spreadsheet error checker

An interactive tooltip provides access to help information and enhanced editing capabilities. The interactive tooltip is especially useful for a user editing a function within a spreadsheet formula. The present invention integrates HTML-like interactivity with a conventional tooltip to provide a new interface for working with the associated data. The interactivity of the tooltip provides additional levels of help or documentation when requested and provides additional editing navigation functionality within the associated data. The present invention provides a tooltip in close proximity to the associated data, while the associated data is being edited. In the case of a spreadsheet, a tooltip will be provided when the user begins editing a function within a spreadsheet cell. The help facility of the present invention recognizes that the user has begun entering a function, when the user has entered an equals sign (identifying a formula), a known function name, and a parenthesis (indicating the beginning of an argument set). The help facility then references a function database and determines the required argument set. The help facility renders the function name and argument set in an HTML-like text, and provides an alternate method for selecting any argument. Finally, the help facility displays the HTML-like text to the user next to the point at which the user is editing the spreadsheet function.

Growing community of inventors

Sammamish, WA, United States of America

Eric W Patterson