What is the Objectsheet?

The easiest way to view the Objectsheet is as a canvas on which you create, manipulate, and view data. This is similar to the traditional spreadsheet. But instead of a single large grid of cells, the Objectsheet organizes data into "Sections". Sections are self-contained chunks of data or text that can be linked to each other. Graphically, they can be each be grown, shrunk, moved, and changed independently.

You can also look at the Objectsheet as organizing data like a database, with self-contained tables, forms (html sections), and sophisticated look up, aggregation, and automation features, while retaining the free-form usability of spreadsheets.

Sections

Sections are the building blocks of an Objectsheet. Each of the three types of Sections has a specific purpose and usage. They are:

Table	A grid of cells organized into an object-oriented data structure. Tables are for row and column -oriented data. They are easy to use and more powerful than tables in a spreadsheet.
Html	Contains HTML content with enhancements that allow close integration with other Sections. HTML sections are useful for form-based input or to show results.
Scratch	A place to enter simple calculations and Javascript commands to examine or change information anywhere else in the application.

What unifies the different types of Sections in the Objectsheet application are the following:

• All Sections utilize Javascript for data and processing and cascading style sheets (CSS) for visual styling.
• You can refer to data between Sections by prefixing a data reference with the appropriate Section's name
• All data is "live"-- any changes you make are instantly reflected throughout the Objectsheet
• Sections can be embedded within any webpage, individually or as a group.
• Table and HTML sections have "Templates", separate areas that hold formulas, formats, styles, etc. You can show the Templates along with the resulting data, to get complete view of how a particular model works.

Sections have the following common graphical elements:

To read more about each type of Section, go to the pages for Tables, HTML, and Scratch. To read more about the Objectsheet application itself, see the Application page.