Method for expanding and collapsing data cells in a spreadsheet report

Abstract

Data cells in a spreadsheet report are collapsed and expanded without disrupting other spreadsheet data. A user may want to drill down on data corresponding to a parent member of the report to display more detailed information about the parent member. Likewise, a user may want to drill up the displayed information corresponding to the parent member to hide detailed information associated with the parent member. Before expanding or collapsing a report, the spreadsheet is scanned for information to determine whether the display of other data in the spreadsheet would be disrupted by the expansion/collapse. The information may include cross-join information associated with the parent member, the number of child members associated with the parent member, the dimension of the report created by the parent member and the associated child members, and other reports that may be linked to the report that includes the parent member.

1 . A computer-implemented method for expanding data cells in a report of a spreadsheet, comprising: 
 receiving a request to expand a parent member of a report;    scanning the spreadsheet for information related to the parent member; and    expanding the parent member in the report based on the information, wherein the parent member is expanded by displaying child members associated with the parent member in the report without disrupting the layout of data in areas of the spreadsheet external to the report.    
   
   
       2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the report is a free-form report that comprises page filters.  
   
   
       3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the parent member comprises a plurality of data cells.  
   
   
       4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein expanding the parent member further comprises displaying child members associated with a parent member in the report proximate the parent member.  
   
   
       5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the report is a cross-joined report that assembles data from a plurality of sources.  
   
   
       6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein scanning the spreadsheet for information further comprises scanning the spreadsheet for at least one of: 
 empty data cells between the border of the report and the border of the spreadsheet,    cross-join information associated with the report,    data cells that are dependent on the parent member,    the number of child members associated with the parent member, and    the dimension of the report created by the parent member and the associated child members.    
   
   
       7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein expanding the parent member comprises at least one of a group comprising: 
 replacing a row in the spreadsheet with a row containing a child member,    replacing a row in the report with a row containing a child member,    replacing a column in the spreadsheet with a column containing a child member, and    replacing a column in the report with a column containing a child member.    
   
   
       8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining whether a batch of child members are associated with the parent member.  
   
   
       9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising copying a format and a formula associated with the parent member to the associated child members.  
   
   
       10 . A computer-implemented method for collapsing data cells in a report of a spreadsheet, comprising: 
 receiving a request to collapse child cells associated with a parent cell of the report;    scanning the spreadsheet for information related to the parent cell and the associated child cells; and    collapsing the child cells in the report based on the information, wherein the child members are collapsed by removing the child members associated with the parent member from being displayed in the report without disrupting the layout of data in areas of the spreadsheet external to the report.    
   
   
       11 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 10 , wherein collapsing the child cells further comprises at least one of: 
 removing a row containing a child cell from the spreadsheet,    removing a row containing a child cell from the report,    moving a row containing a sibling cell to be proximate a row containing the parent cell,    removing a column containing a child cell from the spreadsheet,    removing a column containing a child cell from the report, and    moving a column containing a sibling cell to be proximate a column containing the parent cell.    
   
   
       12 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 10 , wherein the information comprises at least one of: 
 the total number of data cells in the report,    the dimension of the report,    the data cells in the report that are dependent on other data cells external to the report within the spreadsheet,    cross-join information associated with the report, and    other related reports within the spreadsheet.    
   
   
       13 . A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for expanding data cells in a report of a spreadsheet, comprising: 
 receiving a request to expand a parent cell in the report;    retrieving information related to the parent cell from the spreadsheet; and    expanding the parent cell in the report based on the information, wherein the parent cell is expanded by displaying a child cell associated with the parent cell in the report without disrupting the display of other occupied data cells in the spreadsheet external to the report.    
   
   
       14 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein expanding the parent cell further comprises displaying the child cell in the report proximate the parent cell.  
   
   
       15 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein retrieving information related to the parent cell further comprises scanning the spreadsheet for at least one of: 
 empty data cells between the border of the report and the border of the spreadsheet,    cross-join information associated with the report,    data cells that are dependent on the parent cell,    the number of child cells associated with the parent cell, and    the dimension of the report created by the parent cell and the associated child cells.    
   
   
       16 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein expanding the parent cell comprises at least one of: 
 replacing a row in the spreadsheet with a row containing the child cell,    replacing a row in the report with a row containing the child cell,    replacing a column in the spreadsheet with a column containing the child cell, and    replacing a column in the report with a column containing the child cell.    
   
   
       17 . A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for collapsing child members associated with a parent member in a report of a spreadsheet, comprising: 
 receiving a request to collapse the child members;    retrieving information related to the parent member and the child members from the spreadsheet; and    collapsing the child members in the report based on the information, wherein the child members are collapsed by removing the child members from the report without disrupting the display of occupied data cells in the spreadsheet external to the report.    
   
   
       18 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein collapsing the child members further comprises at least one of: 
 removing rows containing the child members from the spreadsheet,    removing rows containing the child members from the report,    moving a row containing a sibling member to be proximate a row containing the parent member,    removing columns containing the child members from the spreadsheet,    removing columns containing the child members from the report, and    moving a column containing a sibling member to be proximate a column containing the parent member.    
   
   
       19 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the information comprises at least one of: 
 the total number of data cells in the report,    the dimension of the report,    the data cells in the report that are dependent on other data cells external to the report within the spreadsheet,    cross-join information associated with the report, and    other related reports within the spreadsheet.