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NEXCEL, a deductive spreadsheet

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2007

ILIANO CERVESATO
ILIANO CERVESATO
Affiliation:
Deductive Solutions, 4903 Regina Drive, Annandale, VA 22003, USA; e-mail: iliano@deductivesolutions.com
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Abstract

Usability and usefulness have made the spreadsheet one of the most successful computing applications of all times: millions rely on it every day for anything from typing grocery lists to developing multimillion-dollar budgets. One thing spreadsheets are not very good at is manipulating the symbolic data and helping users make decisions based on them. By tapping into recent research in Logic Programming, Databases and Cognitive Psychology, we propose a deductive extension to the spreadsheet paradigm that precisely addresses this issue. The accompanying tool, which we call NEXCEL, is intended as an automated assistant for the daily reasoning and decision-making needs of computer users, in the same way as a spreadsheet application such as Microsoft Excel assists them every day with simple and complex calculations. Users without formal training in Logic or even Computer Science can interactively define logical rules in the same simple way as they define formulas in Excel. NEXCEL immediately evaluates these rules, thereby returning lists of values that satisfy them, again just like with numerical formulas. The deductive component is seamlessly integrated into the traditional spreadsheet so that a user not only still has access to the usual functionalities but is also able to use them as part of the logical inference and, dually, to embed deductive steps in a numerical calculation.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Knowledge Engineering Review , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , September 2007 , pp. 221 - 236
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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