Combining spatial and semantic label analysis

Labels in spreadsheets can be exploited for finding errors in spreadsheet formulas. Previous approaches have either used the positional information of labels or their interpretation as dimension for checking the consistency of formulas. In this paper we demonstrate how these two approaches can be combined. We have formalized a combined reasoning system and have implemented a corresponding prototype system. We have evaluated the system on the EUSES spreadsheet corpus. The evaluation has demonstrated that adding a syntactic, spatial analysis to a dimension inference can significantly improve the rate of detected errors.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: VL
• Authors: Chris Chambers, Martin Erwig
• Keywords: Corresponding Prototype System, Languages, Spreadsheet, Spreadsheet Formulas, VL 2009