The Object Sheet

Links

Spreadsheet Dangers

• Problems with Modern Spreadsheets- from Chris Browne, a Linux dude. This one hits the key points the best
• Fatal Addiction- the Problem of Spreadsheets, New Scientist, Aug 1997.
• Spreadsheet Research University of Hawaii- Focuses on spreadsheet errors, their cause and basic solutions (at some level, pointing towards Model Master). There is also an interesting page on Human errors in computing, including spreasheets.
• The Risk Digest- (Article on Computing error at Fidelity's Magellen Fund, 1995)
• Spreadsheets are Dangerous! - from Model Master

  Excerpt from Model Master home page: Spreadsheet models can be difficult to read and maintain. Spreadsheets provide few facilities for documentation, and although the structure of a spreadsheet program is implicit in the cell equations, it cannot be made explicit as it would if programmed in a conventional programming language

Spreadsheets and Objects

many of these may be out of date...

• Inventure Technologies - have patent number 5,768,158
  • Other Patents: 5,883,623,
• WINGZ Software- Jsheet Java-based spreadsheet applications server. A precanned, object oriented centralized spreadsheet model. (a note on spreadsheet usage in an organization)
• [all these links are dead- I think the company went out of business]- Advanced Planning Solutions-- A business decision support tool; interesting concept. It seems to be kind of a newer version of improv, but has some quite interesting screen shots (implied object oriented, auto formulas, is restructurable). They have a page that discusses strengths & weakness of spreadsheets, db, programmed solutions. The company is based in Berkeley.
• Smalltalk Object Spreadsheet- interesting GUI mockup-- In the right direction, but it seems more like a visual view of an existing object structure more than an integrated environment (1995)
• CLOVER, from Lee Braine, Univ.College London. (last ref. 1998) Not far from my goal. His Goal: A new software development system integrating three key technologies: object-oriented design and programming, functional programming and visual programming. He's got a Java applet mockup of a user interface with spreadsheet-- the object model is implemented alternatively with a textual editor and an "object flow browser"
  • His possibly useful links to background on CLOVER and Functional Programming
• Model Master- Jocelyn Paine, Dept of experimental Psychology, Oxford Univ. (last ref 1998)
  [MOST of the link on the page are dead-- i think this is now an OLD project]
  • This is a procedural language front-end to a spreadsheet, for the purpose of making its structure more explicit and to provide a facility for commenting. What it does is reign in run-away spreadsheet complexity and spaghetti-ness for formal development projects. With this single benefit, one loses many of the actual advantages of a spreadsheet: lay-person usage, and the interactive development environment.
  • While the goal is a good one, the implementation seems like a band-aid solution. What prevents the programmer, or worse, the user, from tweaking the result, thus diverging the model's configuration? Why use a programmer to develop something on a platform as inefficient as a spreadsheet? Because it is an understood user interface? This hardly seems like good justification. They are attempting to make a simpler interface for "non-programmers though, so I'll withhold judgement until then.
• The spreadsheet engine itself as an Object -- student project, Ga Tech. What kind of OOA diagram is this?

Spreadsheets- General

• Design of a Shared Spreadsheet- Univ. of St. Andrews.
• Data mining Software Kit- uses a coherent table-based model for analyzing data
• Useful homepage with history from Dan Bricklin (Mr. Visicalc)

Spreadsheet sample Models (examples)

• Easco's Spreadsheets
• Model of Slowing Gypsy Moth Spread
• A few in a local directory

Javascript

• Netscape has provided a C-language implementation of the Javascript engine.
• Quick evaluation/FAQ of Javascript
• ECMAscript specification (PDF)
• Javascript 1.3 highlights
• Cookies for persistence
• Core objects (From Netscape), (From Univ Miami--slide show)
• Object Model (From Netscape)
• Advanced Tutorial (from hotwired webmonkey)
• Signed Scripts
  • Discussion (non Netscape)

OOA

• Comparison of 6 OOA/OOD techniques

OODB

• Cache- "Post relational" OO DB from Intersys. White Paper

rk 1 may 99