The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 19, 2008
Filed:
Jul. 29, 2005
Kanchan Mitra, Woodinville, WA (US);
Anna V. Timasheva, Seattle, WA (US);
Dipan Dewan, Sammamish, WA (US);
Kenneth L. Crocker, Sammamish, WA (US);
Robert E. Corrington, Kirkland, WA (US);
David V. Gunter, Seattle, WA (US);
Kanchan Mitra, Woodinville, WA (US);
Anna V. Timasheva, Seattle, WA (US);
Dipan Dewan, Sammamish, WA (US);
Kenneth L. Crocker, Sammamish, WA (US);
Robert E. Corrington, Kirkland, WA (US);
David V. Gunter, Seattle, WA (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
A calculation engine processes user-definable formulas to generate calculation results. A calculation engine may use the following types of data structures: table, column, row, and field. A sub table may be embedded within a row. Operations may be performed at various levels, such as at: table, column, and field. A calculation engine may operate on a calculation table having columns, which may each have an ordered list of formulas. Formulas within such an ordered list may be evaluated in the order specified until one of the formulas is successfully evaluated. A hierarchy of formulas may be formed by a column's formula depending on another column or table. A graph of data dependencies may be prepared for determining an order in which operands and operations should be evaluated and performed.