A MULTIDIMENSIONAL ELECTRONIC SPREADSHEET SYSTEM AND METHOD

摘要

A multidimensional electronic spreadsheet system is provided, wherein different spreadsheet cells may be addressed by a different number of variables, thereby minimizing memory and processing time requirements of the electronic spreadsheet system. A group of cells addressed by more than two variables is displayed as a virtual highrise block positioned on a document, preferably a two-dimensional spreadsheet. For example, in a spreadsheet comprising 2D cells and 3D cells, the 2D cells are displayed in a 2D spreadsheet format. The 3D cells are visualized in perspective as cells positioned on top of each other along an axis perpendicular to the document. They are identified by rows and columns as for 2D cells and by a third variable in the third dimension. Cells addressed by a specific value of the third variable are said to constitute a storey. Multidimensional cells of identical row and column addresses are said to constitute a stack. Further, an intuitive method of controlling data processing, similar to methods known from 2D spreadsheets, e.g., when summing data along a row of cells or along a column of cells, is provided for data in three dimensions so that, e.g., summing data along stacks may be done in a similar manner. Thus, it is no longer necessary to create complex links between 2D spreadsheets to make calculations in three dimensions.