Spreadsheets are one of the most popular programming systems in the world, widely used both by individuals as well as large companies. Spreadsheets popularity is due to characteristics such as their low entry barrier, their simple visual interface, their availability on almost any platform, and their multipurposness. However, spreadsheets' flexibility, which is not accompanied with effective error prevention mechanisms, makes them extremely error prone, as indicated by several studies. Moreover, since spreadsheets often take an important role in business decisions, they can have an enormous impact on critical components of businesses, as numerous audit processes have shown. As a result, it is necessary to create mechanisms that allow the specification of spreadsheets' structures and their respective business logic correctly, as well as to maintain the correctness of their data during the spreadsheets' life cycle.
We designed a Domain Specific Language (DSL) that uses the Model-Driven Development approach (MDD) to address the stated needs. This DSL consists of a UML-based visual language that covers the most common spreadsheets patterns and allows to define arbitrary data constraints. From this high-level abstraction, our system, termed GenSS, can generate a concrete spreadsheet with data validators guiding and enforcing the end user to introduce correct data.
Scientific Results
The paper On the Emergence of Patterns for Spreadsheets Data Arrangements describes part of this work. More information can be found in the MSc thesis entitled Controlled Specification and Generation of Spreasheets.
Contact
Have questions about SheetGit? Contact us at @spreadsheetsunl or or @jacomecunha.