In-application example library
AssigneeMicrosoft Technology Licensing, LLC
InventorsDavid Boyd LUDWIG, IV, Aldo Raul TORRES, Patrick William VOLUM, Tong JIANG, Christopher Blanton SMITH
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An electronic system and method of operating electronic software applications such as spreadsheets provides help with formulas and other software functions. The system provides the user with a list of model examples upon request, and responds to a user selection of a model by creating both a model formula or control and model data upon which the formula or control is calculated or may act. The model is editable by the user, so that they may better understand the function being illustrated and use it with their own data.
Claims20
An electronic spreadsheet system for storing and manipulating information, the electronic spreadsheet system comprising:
- a processor;
- and
- machine-readable media including instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
- display on a display device a spreadsheet application including a tool bar and a worksheet window configured to display a plurality of worksheet pages including a first worksheet page having a first page identifier, each worksheet page including data arranged in rows and columns of a grid and configured to be manipulated and used in calculations;
- receive within the spreadsheet application a request from a user for a model;
- responsive to the received request, present a list of model types to the user within the spreadsheet application in a dialog box including the list and a description of a use case for each model type;
- receive a selection of a model type from the presented list from the user within the spreadsheet application;
- generate a second worksheet page responsive to the selected model type including a second worksheet page identifier appearing adjacent to the first worksheet page identifier;
- and
- display at least a portion of a model of the selected model type on the second worksheet page to the user within the spreadsheet application, wherein the model includes:
- model data;
- and
- a model formula using the model data, the model formula being editable by the user.
(canceled)
A method of operating an electronic spreadsheet application including a window configured to display a plurality of worksheet pages including a first worksheet page having a first page identifier, each worksheet page including data arranged in rows and columns of a grid and configured to be manipulated and used in calculations, the method comprising:
- receiving a user request for a model within the spreadsheet application;
- responsive to the received request, presenting a list of model types to the user within the spreadsheet application in a dialog box including the list and a description of a use case for each model type;
- receiving a user selection of a model type from the presented list within the spreadsheet application;
- generating a second worksheet page responsive to the selected model type including a second worksheet page identifier appearing adjacent to the first worksheet page identifier;
- and
- displaying at least a portion of a model of the selected model type on the second worksheet page to the user within the spreadsheet application, wherein the model includes:
- model data;
- and
- a model formula using the model data, the model formula being editable by the user.
(canceled)
An electronic system for storing and manipulating electronic documents, the electronic system comprising:
- a processor;
- and
- machine-readable media including instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
- display on a display device a software application including an application window;
- receive within the software application a request from a user for a model;
- responsive to the received request, present a list of model types to the user within the software application in a dialog box including the list and a description of a use case for each model type;
- receive a selection of a model type from the presented list from the user within the software application;
- and
- display at least a portion of a model of the selected model type to the user within the software application, wherein the model includes:
- model data;
- and
- a model control using the model data, the model control being editable by the user.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.