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I'm not sure if I quite understand this. It's like a database GUI tool but for spreadsheets with some structured data inside the cells? Is it for researchers?

I'm not sure if I quite understand this. It's like a database GUI tool but for spreadsheets with some structured data inside the cells? Is it for researchers? Is the idea that you'll generate an underlying explicit schema for the end user?

richardboegli 10y ago
Abstract from paper [1] gives a better explanation: Abstract Spreadsheets offer many advantages as the computational and data-storage engine for applications that are authored by end users. Paradoxically, however, their main failing in this regard is their computational model. Despite being used in almost all cases to represent data that is essentially relational (with some hierarchical structuring), the spreadsheet model treats the two-dimensional grid as largely unstructured, with formulas linking cells in an ad hoc way. This paper reports on a quest to rethink the spreadsheet model. The model we propose supports not only conventional flat tables, but also nested variable-size lists and object references. It includes a formula language suited to the data model and procedures to specify updates. The model has been implemented in a tool called Object Spreadsheets, which is intended for the development of data-centric web applications. We describe several example applications we built using the tool to demonstrate its applicability. [1] http://sdg.csail.mit.edu/projects/objsheets/objsheets-onward2016-preprint.pdf http://sdg.csail.mit.edu/projects/objsheets/objsheets-onward...
mattmccutchen 10y ago
> It's like a database GUI tool but for spreadsheets with some structured data inside the cells? I'm not sure exactly what you mean here. Our tool provides a spreadsheet-style interface to an underlying structured data model with a schema, like you'd have in a relational database. (We often abbreviate this by saying the tool is a spreadsheet with full support for structured data.) The difference from relational databases and the GUI tools that have been developed for them is that we've attempted to optimize the data model and computational model to make sense in a spreadsheet; the full design rationale is given in sections 3 and 4 of our paper. Judge for yourself if we've succeeded. :) > Is it for researchers? If what you're getting at is that researchers need to store and analyze structured data, e.g., measurements from repeated trials conducted under different conditions, then yes. It's also true that the tool is a research prototype and development so far has focused more on demonstrating ideas to computer science researchers than meeting the immediate needs of our target user population, but that's an orthogonal issue. > Is the idea that you'll generate an underlying explicit schema for the end user? Yes! This is the key thing that Sumwise (http://www.sumwise.com/ http://www.sumwise.com/) is missing. And unlike some tools that merely guess a schema for an existing traditional spreadsheet, we try to provide editing operations that make sense in terms of the schema.

richardboegli 10y ago

Abstract from paper [1] gives a better explanation: Abstract Spreadsheets offer many advantages as the computational and data-storage engine for applications that are authored by end users. Paradoxically, however, their main failing in this regard is their computational model. Despite being used in almost all cases to represent data that is essentially relational (with some hierarchical structuring), the spreadsheet model treats the two-dimensional grid as largely unstructured, with formulas linking cells in an ad hoc way. This paper reports on a quest to rethink the spreadsheet model. The model we propose supports not only conventional flat tables, but also nested variable-size lists and object references. It includes a formula language suited to the data model and procedures to specify updates. The model has been implemented in a tool called Object Spreadsheets, which is intended for the development of data-centric web applications. We describe several example applications we built using the tool to demonstrate its applicability. [1] http://sdg.csail.mit.edu/projects/objsheets/objsheets-onward2016-preprint.pdf http://sdg.csail.mit.edu/projects/objsheets/objsheets-onward...

mattmccutchen 10y ago

> It's like a database GUI tool but for spreadsheets with some structured data inside the cells? I'm not sure exactly what you mean here. Our tool provides a spreadsheet-style interface to an underlying structured data model with a schema, like you'd have in a relational database. (We often abbreviate this by saying the tool is a spreadsheet with full support for structured data.) The difference from relational databases and the GUI tools that have been developed for them is that we've attempted to optimize the data model and computational model to make sense in a spreadsheet; the full design rationale is given in sections 3 and 4 of our paper. Judge for yourself if we've succeeded. :) > Is it for researchers? If what you're getting at is that researchers need to store and analyze structured data, e.g., measurements from repeated trials conducted under different conditions, then yes. It's also true that the tool is a research prototype and development so far has focused more on demonstrating ideas to computer science researchers than meeting the immediate needs of our target user population, but that's an orthogonal issue. > Is the idea that you'll generate an underlying explicit schema for the end user? Yes! This is the key thing that Sumwise (http://www.sumwise.com/ http://www.sumwise.com/) is missing. And unlike some tools that merely guess a schema for an existing traditional spreadsheet, we try to provide editing operations that make sense in terms of the schema.