VALUE-DRIVEN VISUALIZATION PRIMITIVES FOR SPREADSHEETS, TABULAR DATA, AND ADVANCED SPREADSHEET VISUALIZATION
A method for visually enhancing the display of tabular data of an electronic spreadsheet is disclosed. The method includes obtaining data presented in at least one cell of the spreadsheet, computing at least one visual parameter based on the obtained data, using the at least one visual parameter to control a visual effect of the displayed data, and applying the at least one visual effect to the displayed data to visually enhance the displayed data. Each visual parameter is a number within a range of numbers and is determined according to a numerically calculated mathematical function. The visual enhancements include varying the background color or texture or border color, thickness, grouping scope of cells enveloping characters conveying data, as well as font color, type, embellishment, size, format, location, decimal places, rounding or supplemental symbols symbolic or image element rendered within the cell of characters conveying data.
1 . A method for visually enhancing the display of tabular data of an electronic spreadsheet comprising cells arranged in rows and columns, the method comprising:
obtaining at least one data value of the tabular data;
computing at least one visual parameter responsive to the at least one data value, wherein each visual parameter is a number within a range of numbers and is determined according to a numerically calculated mathematical function;
controlling a visual effect of the at least one data value according to the at least one visual parameter; and
applying the visual effect to the display of the at least one data value to visually enhance the display of tabular data of the electronic spreadsheet.
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the visual effect is a color of at least one of a font, a background, and a border of a spreadsheet cell in which the at least one data value is displayed.
3 . The method of claim 1 wherein the visual effect is at least one of a font style of, a font size of, and a font embellishment of the at least one displayed data value.
4 . The method of claim 1 wherein the visual effect is at least one of a format of, a degree of rounding of, a number of displayed decimal places of, and a rounding method of the at least one displayed data value.
5 . The method of claim 1 wherein the visual effect is a thickness a border of a spreadsheet cell in which the at least one data value is displayed.
6 . The method of claim 6 wherein the border encompasses a plurality of spreadsheet cells in which more than one data value is displayed.
7 . The method of claim 1 wherein the visual effect is displaying a background texture of a spreadsheet cell in which the at least one data value is displayed.
8 . The method of claim 1 wherein the visual effect is aligning the at least one data value within one or more spreadsheet cells in which the at least one data value is displayed.
9 . The method of claim 1 wherein the visual effect is at least one of appending a symbol to the at least one data value displayed in a spreadsheet cell, displaying a symbol in a spreadsheet cell, and displaying an image in a spreadsheet cell.
10 . The method of claim 1 wherein the visual effect is applied to the at least one of the row and the column in which the at least one data value is displayed.