Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Simon Peyton-Jones

Charles David Ellis

Eran Megiddo

Robert G Hawking

Robert C Collie

Juha P Niemisto

Andrew James Becker

Liviu Asnash

Matthew John Androski

Joseph M Chirilov

Ira Levin

Dan Y Khen

John R Douceur

Jonathan Ryan Howell

Weide Zhong

Tim Harris

Margaret Myers Burnett

Alan Frank Blackwell

A method, system, and apparatus are provided for exposing and calling workbook models via remote function calls. According to the system, a client computer executes a spreadsheet program for creating a workbook model. The workbook model may be published to a server computer along with data defining a function name and the cells that should be used as inputs and outputs to the model. The system also includes a server computer that receives and responds to remote function calls directed toward workbook functions. When a function call is received at the server computer for a workbook function, the server computer populates the cells in the workbook identified as inputs with input parameters received with the function call and recalculates the workbook. The data contained in the output cells is then returned as a reply to the remote function call.

Method, system, and apparatus for providing access to workbook models through remote function calls

Method, system, and apparatus for providing access to workbook models through remote function cells

The described implementations relate to efficient scheduling of transactions and tasks. A memory location, address, or variable previously accessed by a blocked entity is observed periodically to determine an appropriate time to wake and retry the blocked entity. If the previous accessed memory location, address or variable changes state, a scheduler wakes the blocked entity and the blocked entity retries processing. A doubly-indexed data structure of blocked entities and memory locations associated with the blocked entities may be used to efficiently determine when a retrying execution would be profitable.

Transaction and task scheduler

The present invention provides several database formulas that can manipulate large sets of data. Each database formula is customizable and repeatable without user intervention. Thus, users may enter numerous options that can cover the user's desire for data output in certain forms or formats, select a set of input data, and consistently receive a set of output data. In some embodiments, the user may refer to the set of data semantically instead of specifying a range of cells to use in the database formula. Referring to the data semantically allows the database formulas to adjust to changes in the range of cells new data may occupy.

Design of spreadsheet functions for working with tables of data

The present invention relates to a new type of structured name within a spreadsheet program that allows users to refer to tables, columns of data within tables, headers of tables, totals from tables, PivotTables&#xae;, and portions of PivotTable&#xae; data by the data's headers. Embodiments of the present invention comprise a method for referring to a set of data that comprises receiving one or more semantic designations, wherein the one or more semantic designations name a set of context information that describes one or more items of data in a data structure, automatically creating a structural reference, and associating the context information with the structural reference. Other embodiments of the present invention relate to an interaction with a user interface for displaying on a display device a structural reference to data in a spreadsheet that comprises receiving one or more semantic designations from the user that refer to one or more elements of the data structure, creating a structural reference to the elements of the data structure, and displaying the structural reference as a collection of the one or more semantic designations.

Method and implementation for referencing of dynamic data within spreadsheet formulas

A method of creating a user-defined function in a spreadsheet application is provided. The user-defined function is callable by a calling label in the spreadsheet application. A formula is received in the spreadsheet application. The formula is transferred to a function sheet of the spreadsheet application to define at least a portion of a function body. An interface is defined by identifying the calling label, an input parameter and a result parameter of the user-defined function. The function body operates on an argument corresponding to the input parameter and generates a result corresponding to the result parameter. The interface is stored in association with the function body to create the user-defined function.

User defined spreadsheet functions

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Cambridge, United Kingdom

Simon Peyton-Jones