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:
Apr. 17, 2012
Filed:
Dec. 09, 2005
Charles D. Ellis, Seattle, WA (US);
Matthew J. Androski, Bellevue, WA (US);
Robert G. Hawking, Seattle, WA (US);
Simon Peyton Jones, Cambridge, GB;
Charles D. Ellis, Seattle, WA (US);
Matthew J. Androski, Bellevue, WA (US);
Robert G. Hawking, Seattle, WA (US);
Simon Peyton Jones, Cambridge, GB;
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
Individual cells within a spreadsheet may contain an extensible value as defined by an extensible value type. The extensible value type is a user defined value type that is incorporated into the spreadsheet as a supported data type. Generally, the extensible data types provide support for types that are not internally defined by a spreadsheet. When the extensible value type is defined, an associated set of functions are developed to operate on the type. These functions are added to the set of base functions supported by the spreadsheet. The functions, therefore, behave in a substantially similar manner to the set of base spreadsheet functions. The extensible values that are contained within the cells may be acted upon in the same way that supported base types are acted upon.