Electronic spreadsheet system and methods for compiling a formula stored in a spreadsheet into native machine code for execution by a floating-point unit upon spreadsheet recalculation

In an electronic spreadsheet system having a spreadsheet comprising a plurality of information cells for storing user-supplied data and formulas operative on said data, a computer-implemented method for compiling a formula into native machine code for execution by a floating-point unit of a computer, the computer-implemented method comprising:

• (a) loading a spreadsheet of said information cells into a main memory of the computer, said spreadsheet storing at least one formula as a sequence of operand and operator tokens;
• and
• (b) scanning said sequence of tokens for:
• (i) creating a reference list which stores a pointer for each of said operand tokens which references a value of an information cell and which stores a literal value for each of said operand tokens which comprises a constant, and
• (ii) generating a sequence of machine code instructions which invokes operations of the floating-point unit for evaluating the formula, said sequence of machine code instructions including pointers pointing to locations in said reference list, for retrieving cell values for said operand tokens which comprises an identifier for an information cell and for retrieving literal values for said operand tokens which comprises constant values.

In an electronic spreadsheet system, a computer-implemented method for improving recalculation of spreadsheet formulas in a spreadsheet model, the computer-implemented method comprising:

• (a) maintaining the spreadsheet model as a plurality of cell records on a storage device, wherein each cell record stores user-supplied data for a single information cell and includes a cell identifier which specifies a particular location in said spreadsheet model for the cell, and wherein some of said cell records store spreadsheet formulas having cell identifiers for referencing values of other cells in the spreadsheet model;
• (b) loading said cell records into an addressable memory device for evaluation by a processing unit, wherein each cell record of the spreadsheet model resides at a particular memory address in said memory device;
• (c) for each cell record storing a spreadsheet formula:
• (i) creating a reference list for retrieving from the memory device values of cells whose identifiers are present in the formula, and for retrieving values of any constant values present in the formula,
• (ii) generating a compiled formula comprising a sequence of native machine code which is directly executable by a floating-point processor, said sequence comprising operations of said floating-point processor which calculates a result for the formula, said sequence of native machine code including instructions for retrieving from the memory device, based on the reference list, any values referenced in the formula,
• (iii) storing said compiled formula at a location in said memory device, and
• (iv) storing in the cell record a pointer to the location in the memory device of the compiled formula;
• and
• (d) recalculating spreadsheet formulas in the spreadsheet model by executing all stored compiled formulas.

In an electronic spreadsheet system for modeling user-supplied information in a spreadsheet model, said spreadsheet model comprising a plurality of information cells storing data and formulas operative on said data, a computer-implemented method for recalculating the spreadsheet model, the computer-implemented method comprising:

• (a) for each information cell having a formula, storing the formula as a sequence of tokens comprising operands and operators;
• (b) for each information cell having a formula, attempting to compile its sequence of tokens into a compiled formula by:
• (i) storing a list specifying a memory address or a literal value for each operand present in the formula,
• (ii) generating a sequence of machine code instructions which, when executed by a floating-point processor, evaluates to a result for the formula, said sequence of machine code instructions referencing said list for retrieving a value for each operand, and
• (iii) if said sequence of machine code instructions is generated in step (ii), storing said sequence of machine code instructions as the compiled formula for the information cell;
• and
• (c) recalculating the spreadsheet model by evaluating said formulas, whereby each information cell having a compiled formula is evaluated by executing its stored sequence of machine code instructions.

An electronic spreadsheet system for modeling user data in a spreadsheet model comprising a matrix of cells, the system comprising:

• a computer having a central processor, a floating-point processor, a system memory, and a storage device;
• means for storing said spreadsheet model as a plurality of cell records on said storage device;
• means for loading said spreadsheet model into memory by transferring said cell records from said storage device into said system memory, wherein each cell record resides at a particular memory address in the system memory;
• input means for receiving input specifying a spreadsheet formula for a particular cell;
• means for storing said input as a sequence of tokens for the particular cell, said sequence comprising operand and operator tokens;
• means for compiling said sequence of tokens for the particular cell into a compiled formula comprising machine code instructions for execution by said central processor and said floating-point processor;
• and
• means for recalculating a result for said particular cell by executing said machine code instructions of the compiled formula.

An electronic spreadsheet system for modeling information in a matrix of spreadsheet cells, said electronic spreadsheet system comprising:

• a computer having a processing unit and a system memory, said spreadsheet cells storing in said system memory user data and spreadsheet formulas operative on said user data;
• and
• a formula evaluator system, operably coupled to said computer, comprising:
• means for instructing paid processing unit for converting each spreadsheet formula into opcode tokens for runtime interpretation by a token-based formula interpreter;
• means for instructing said processing unit for compiling opcode tokens for some of said spreadsheet formulas into a series of machine code instructions for execution by said processing unit;
• means for instructing said processing unit for storing said series of machine code instructions as compiled formulas for particular spreadsheet cells;
• and
• recalculation means for instructing said processing unit for evaluating said spreadsheet formulas by interpreting opcode tokens for each cell which does not have a compiled formula and by executing said series of machine code instructions for each cell which does have a compiled formula.