Methods, systems and computer program products for facilitating visualization of interrelationships in a spreadsheet

1. A computer program product for visually indicating relationships among cells in a spreadsheet, comprising:

a computer readable memory having computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code comprising:

computer readable program code configured to, when executed, independently display and hide each of a first graphical linking element extending between cells in a first branch of a dependency tree of a root cell and a second graphical linking element extending between cells in a second branch of the dependency tree of the root cell;

computer readable program code configured to display level indicia on a branch cell in the first branch of the dependency tree of the root cell, wherein the level indicia indicates a level of the branch cell in the dependency tree; and

computer readable program code configured to display the first graphical linking element extending between the root cell and the branch cell.

2. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the computer readable program code configured to independently display and hide each of a first graphical linking element extending between cells in a first branch of a dependency tree of a root cell and a second graphical linking element extending between cells in a second branch of the dependency tree of the root cell comprises computer readable program code configured to display the first graphical linking element while hiding the second graphical linking element.

3. The computer program product of claim 2 wherein the computer readable program code configured to independently display and hide each of a first graphical linking element extending between cells in a first branch of a dependency tree of a root cell and a second graphical linking element extending between cells in a second branch of the dependency tree of the root cell comprises computer readable program code configured to display the second graphical linking element while hiding the first graphical linking element.

4. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the computer readable program code configured to independently display and hide each of a first graphical linking element extending between cells in a first branch of a dependency tree of a root cell and a second graphical linking element extending between cells in a second branch of the dependency tree of the root cell comprises computer readable program code configured to:

display the first graphical linking element; and thereafter

display the second graphical linking element while the first graphical linking element is displayed.

5. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the computer readable program code configured to independently display and hide each of a first graphical linking element extending between cells in a first branch of a dependency tree of a root cell and a second graphical linking element extending between cells in a second branch of the dependency tree of the root cell comprises computer readable program code configured to independently display and hide the first and second graphical linking elements in response to input from a user.

6. The computer program product of claim 5 wherein the computer readable program code configured to independently display and hide each of a first graphical linking element extending between cells in a first branch of a dependency tree of a root cell and a second graphical linking clement extending between cells in a second branch of the dependency tree of the root cell comprises computer readable program code configured to toggle the first graphical linking element between a displayed state and a hidden state in response to successive selection of the first cell by the user.

7. The computer program product of claim 1 further comprising computer readable program code configured to display level indicia on a branch cell in a branch of the dependency tree of the root cell, wherein the level indicia includes alphanumeric indicia indicating a level of the branch cell in the dependency tree.

8. The computer program product of claim 1 further comprising:

computer readable program code configured to visually indicate at least one dependency relationship between cells in an initial dependency tree of the root cell; and

computer readable program code configured to, responsive to a revision in the initial dependency tree, automatically visually indicate the revised dependency tree of the root cell.

9. The computer program product of claim 1 further comprising computer readable program code configured to visually indicate that a leaf cell of the dependency tree of the root cell is a leaf cell of the dependency tree.

10. The computer program product of claim 1 further comprising computer readable program code configured to visually indicate that a branch cell of the dependency tree of the root cell is referenced by a plurality of cells in the dependency tree.

11. The computer program product of claim 1 further comprising computer readable program code configured to visually indicate a first changed cell and/or a cell depending therefrom from a second changed cell and/or a cell depending therefrom in a manner that differentiates the relative order of the changes to the first and second changed cells.

12. The computer program product of claim 1 further comprising:

computer readable program code configured to designate a reference cell;

computer readable program code configured to receive input from a user selecting a second cell; and

computer readable program code configured to automatically display a graphical linking element between the reference cell and the second cell if the second cell is a root cell including the reference cell in a dependency tree thereof.

13. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein:

the first graphical linking element comprises a first graphical path line extending between a first pair of cells in the first branch; and

the second graphical linking element comprises a second graphical path line extending between a second pair of cells in the second branch.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein:

the first graphical path line terminates on each of the cells of the first pair of cells in the first branch; and

the second graphical path line terminates on each of the cells of the second pair of cells in the second branch.

15. A system for visually indicating relationships among cells in a spreadsheet, comprising:

a display device; and

a data processing system coupled to the display device, wherein the data processing system, using the display device, is configured to independently display and hide each of a first graphical linking element extending between cells in a first branch of a dependency tree of a root cell and a second graphical linking element extending between cells in a second branch of the dependency tree of the root cell;

wherein the data processing system is configured to visually indicate a first changed cell and/or a cell depending therefrom from a second changed cell and/or a cell depending therefrom in a manner that differentiates the relative order of the changes to the first and second changed cells.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the data processing system is configured to independently display and hide each of a first graphical linking element extending between cells in a first branch of a dependency tree of a root cell and a second graphical linking element extending between cells in a second branch of the dependency tree of the root cell by displaying the first graphical linking element while hiding the second graphical linking element.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the data processing system is configured to independently display and hide each of a first graphical king element extending between cells in a first branch of a dependency tree of a root cell and a second graphical linking element extending between cells in a second branch of the dependency tree of the root cell by displaying the second graphical linking element while hiding the first graphical linking element.

18. The system of claim 15 wherein the data processing system is configured to independently display and hide each of a first graphical linking element extending between cells in a first branch of a dependency tree of a root cell and a second graphical linking element extending between cells in a second branch of the dependency tree of the root cell by:

displaying the first graphical linking element; and thereafter

displaying the second graphical linking element while the first graphic element is displayed.

19. The system of claim 15 wherein the data processing system is configured to independently display and hide each of a first graphical linking element extending between cells in a first branch of a dependency tree of a root cell and a second graphical linking element extending between cells in a second branch of the dependency tree of the root cell in response to input from a user.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the data processing system is configured to toggle the first graphical linking element between a displayed state and a hidden state in response to successive selection of the first cell by the user.

21. The system of claim 15 wherein the data processing system is configured to:

display level indicia on a branch cell in the first branch of the dependency tree of the root cell, wherein the level indicia indicates a level of the branch cell in the dependency tree; and display the first graphical linking element extending between the root cell and the branch cell.

22. The system of claim 15 wherein the data processing system is configured to display level indicia on a branch cell in a branch of the dependency tree of the root cell, wherein the level indicia includes alphanumeric indicia indicating a level of the branch cell in the dependency tree.

23. The system of claim 15 wherein the data processing system is configured to: visually indicate at least one dependency relationship between cells in an initial dependency tree of the root cell; and

responsive to a revision in the initial dependency tree, automatically visually indicate the revised dependency tree of the root cell.

24. The system of claim 15 wherein the data processing system is configured to visually indicate that a leaf cell of the dependency tree of the root cell is a leaf cell of the dependency tree.

25. The system of claim 15 wherein the data processing system is configured to visually indicate that a branch cell of the dependency tree of the root cell is referenced by a plurality of cells in the dependency tree.

26. The system of claim 15 wherein the data processing system is configured to: designate a reference cell;

receive input from a user selecting a second cell; and

automatically display a graphical linking element between the reference cell and the second cell if the second cell is a root cell including the reference cell in a dependency tree thereof.

27. A system for visually indicating relationships among cells in a spreadsheet, comprising:

a display device; and

a data processing system coupled to the display device, wherein the data processing system, using the display device, is configured to independently display and hide each of a first graphical linking element extending between cells in a first branch of a dependency tree of a root cell and a second graphical linking element extending between cells in a second branch of the dependency tree of the root cell;

wherein

the first graphical linking element comprises a first graphical path line extending between a first pair of cells in the first branch; and

the second graphical linking element comprises a second graphical path line extending between a second pair of cells in the second branch.

28. The system of claim 27 wherein:

the first graphical path line terminates on each of the cells of the first pair of cells in the first branch; and

the second graphical path line terminates on each of the cells of the second pair of cells in the second branch.