A type system for statically detecting spreadsheet errors

Y. Ahmad; T. Antoniu; S. Goldwater; S. Krishnamurthi

doi:10.1109/ASE.2003.1240305

A type system for statically detecting spreadsheet errors

Y. Ahmad, T. Antoniu, S. Goldwater, S. Krishnamurthi

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Abstract / Description of output

We describe a methodology for detecting user errors in spreadsheets, using the notion of units as our basic elements of checking. We define the concept of a header and discuss two types of relationships between headers, namely is-a and has-a relationships. With these, we develop a set of rules to assign units to cells in the spreadsheet. We check for errors by ensuring that every cell has a well-formed unit. We describe an implementation of the system that allows the user to check Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. We have run our system on practical examples, and even found errors in published spreadsheets.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Automated Software Engineering, 2003. Proceedings. 18th IEEE International Conference on
Pages	174-183
Number of pages	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/ASE.2003.1240305
Publication status	Published - 1 Oct 2003

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10.1109/ASE.2003.1240305

ase03Accepted author manuscript, 1.25 MB

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title = "A type system for statically detecting spreadsheet errors",

abstract = "We describe a methodology for detecting user errors in spreadsheets, using the notion of units as our basic elements of checking. We define the concept of a header and discuss two types of relationships between headers, namely is-a and has-a relationships. With these, we develop a set of rules to assign units to cells in the spreadsheet. We check for errors by ensuring that every cell has a well-formed unit. We describe an implementation of the system that allows the user to check Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. We have run our system on practical examples, and even found errors in published spreadsheets.",

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N2 - We describe a methodology for detecting user errors in spreadsheets, using the notion of units as our basic elements of checking. We define the concept of a header and discuss two types of relationships between headers, namely is-a and has-a relationships. With these, we develop a set of rules to assign units to cells in the spreadsheet. We check for errors by ensuring that every cell has a well-formed unit. We describe an implementation of the system that allows the user to check Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. We have run our system on practical examples, and even found errors in published spreadsheets.

AB - We describe a methodology for detecting user errors in spreadsheets, using the notion of units as our basic elements of checking. We define the concept of a header and discuss two types of relationships between headers, namely is-a and has-a relationships. With these, we develop a set of rules to assign units to cells in the spreadsheet. We check for errors by ensuring that every cell has a well-formed unit. We describe an implementation of the system that allows the user to check Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. We have run our system on practical examples, and even found errors in published spreadsheets.

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DO - 10.1109/ASE.2003.1240305

M3 - Conference contribution

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BT - Automated Software Engineering, 2003. Proceedings. 18th IEEE International Conference on

ER -

A type system for statically detecting spreadsheet errors

Abstract / Description of output

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