Integrated, Configurable, Analytical, Temporal, Visual Electronic Plan System

Abstract

An integrated, configurable, analytical, temporal, visual, electronic plan system including one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in a memory and configured to be executed by one or more processors, the programs including instructions to generate: an electronic plan including one or more row descriptors each including a plurality of row descriptor properties, one or more column descriptors each including a plurality of column descriptor properties, one or more cells mapped to one of the row descriptors by a unique row descriptor identifier and to one of the column descriptors by a unique column descriptor identifier, and each of the one or more cells including a numeric formula or a user-defined formula that references one or more other cells, the user-defined formula including the unique row descriptor identifier and/or the unique column descriptor identifier from one or more other cells initially expressed by an abbreviation associated with a row descriptor and/or an abbreviation associated with a column descriptor. A formula parser is configured to translate the abbreviation for the row descriptor and/or the abbreviation for the column descriptor to its corresponding unique row descriptor identifier and/or unique column descriptor identifier. A natural language report module is configured to substitute any unique row identifier and/or any unique column descriptor identifier in the user-defined formula with a corresponding natural language description or abbreviation to render the user-defined formula in natural language terms or abbreviated terms.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An integrated, configurable, analytical, temporal, visual, electronic plan system comprising:
 one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in a memory and configured to be executed by one or more processors, the programs including instructions to generate:   an electronic plan including:
 one or more row descriptors each including a plurality of row descriptor properties, 
 one or more column descriptors each including a plurality of column descriptor properties, 
 one or more cells mapped to one of the row descriptors by a unique row descriptor identifier and to one of the column descriptors by a unique column descriptor identifier, and 
 each of the one or more cells including a numeric formula or a user-defined formula that references one or more other cells, the user-defined formula including the unique row descriptor identifier and/or the unique column descriptor identifier from one or more other cells initially expressed by an abbreviation associated with a row descriptor and/or an abbreviation associated with a column descriptor; 
 a formula parser configured to translate the abbreviation for the row descriptor and/or the abbreviation for the column descriptor to its corresponding unique row descriptor identifier and/or unique column descriptor identifier; and 
 a natural language report module configured to substitute any unique row identifier and/or any unique column descriptor identifier in the user-defined formula with a corresponding natural language description or abbreviation to render the user-defined formula in natural language terms or abbreviated terms. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  in which the plurality of row descriptor properties include one or more of: a natural language description, an abbreviation, and a unique row descriptor identifier. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  in which the plurality of column descriptor properties include one or more of: a natural language description, an abbreviation, and a unique column descriptor identifier. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  in which the one or more row descriptors define one or more plan attributes. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1  in which the one or more column descriptors define one or more time points. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  in which the one or more column descriptors define one or more plan attributes. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  in which the one or more row descriptors define one or more time points. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  further including a column descriptor defining module responsive to user input configured to define one of the column descriptors. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8  in which the column descriptor defining module is configured to input a column descriptor in natural language terms and assign an abbreviation and a unique column descriptor identifier for the column descriptor. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1  further including a row descriptor defining module responsive to user input configured to define one of the row descriptors. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10  in which the row descriptor defining module is configured to input a row descriptor in natural language terms and assign an abbreviation and a unique row descriptor identifier for the row descriptor. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1  further including a formula defining module responsive to user input configured to define the user-defined formula. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 8  further including a time point defining module responsive to user input configured to capture at least one user-defined time period associated with the plan and assign the user-defined period to one of the column descriptor properties. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13  in which the natural report language module is responsive to the user-defined time period and is configured to determine which of the one or more cells are relevant to the user-defined time period. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14  in which the natural language report module is configured to assemble a plurality of user-defined formulas associated with the one or more cells relevant to the user-defined time period. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15  in which the natural language report module is configured to substitute any unique row identifier and/or any unique column descriptor identifier in the plurality of user-defined formula with a corresponding natural language description or the abbreviation to render the plurality of user-defined formulas in natural language terms or abbreviated terms. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 14  in which the natural language report module is configured to factor out repetitive formulae. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 14  in which the natural language report module is configured to organize the natural language terms or abbreviated terms according to cell type. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 14  in which the natural language report module is configured to organize the natural language terms or abbreviated terms according to cell type for all time points in the plan to provide a comprehensive view of the data and formulaic relationships of the entire plan. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 1  in which the natural language report module is configured to substitute any unique row identifier associated with each of the one or more row descriptors and any unique column identifier associated with each of the one or more column descriptors to display each of the one or more cells in natural language terms or abbreviated terms. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 1  further including a root cell display module for visually highlighting root cells. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 1  further including a dependency display module for visually highlighting and displaying dependent cells. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 1  further including a terminal display module for visually highlighting display terminal cells. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 1  further including an ancestry display module for visually highlighting ancestry of root cells, dependent cells, and terminal cells. 
     
     
         25 . A computer program product having program code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, which when executed by at least one computing device, causes at least one computing device to generate:
 an electronic plan including:
 one or more row descriptors each including a plurality of row descriptor properties, 
 one or more column descriptors each including a plurality of column descriptor properties, 
 one or more cells mapped to one of the row descriptors by a unique row descriptor identifier and to one of the column descriptors by a unique column descriptor identifier, and 
 each of the one or more cells including a numeric formula or a user-defined formula that references one or more other cells, the user-defined formula including the unique row descriptor identifier and/or the unique column descriptor identifier from one or more other cells initially expressed by an abbreviation associated with a row descriptor and/or an abbreviation associated with a column descriptor, 
   a formula parser configured to translate the abbreviation for the row descriptor and/or the abbreviation for the column descriptor to its corresponding unique row descriptor identifier and/or unique column descriptor identifier, and   a natural language report module configured to substitute any unique row identifier and/or any unique column descriptor identifier in the user-defined formula with a corresponding natural language description or abbreviation to render the user-defined formula in natural language terms or abbreviated terms.   
     
     
         26 . A method executed on a computing device for generating an integrated, configurable, analytical, temporal, visual, electronic plan, the method comprising:
 assigning one or more row descriptors each including a plurality of row descriptor properties to one or more rows of an electronic plan;   assigning one or more column descriptors each including a plurality of column descriptor properties to one or more columns of the electronic plan;   mapping one or more cells to one of the row descriptors by a unique row descriptor identifier and to one of the column descriptors by a unique column descriptor identifier,   each of the one or more cells including a numeric formula or a user-defined formula that references one or more other cell or each of the one or more cells, the user-defined formula including the unique row descriptor identifier and/or the unique column descriptor identifier from one or more other cells initially expressed by an abbreviation associated with a row descriptor and/or an abbreviation associated with a column descriptor,   translating the abbreviation for the row descriptor and/or the abbreviation for the column descriptor to its corresponding unique row descriptor identifier and/or unique column descriptor identifier, and   substituting any unique row identifier and/or any unique column descriptor identifier in the user-defined formula with a corresponding natural language description or abbreviation to render the user-defined formula in natural language terms or abbreviated terms.