Spreadsheet Generation from Rule-based Speciications

Experimental studies have pointed out that operational spreadsheets contain a lot of errors. In this paper, we propose to use a multidimensional rule-based data manipulation language to specify spreadsheets. This language allows formal declarative deenition of spreadsheet tabular data treatments. The main contribution of this paper is to show that from textual rule-based speciications, we can generate the corresponding spreadsheet. This generation of a spreadsheet from its logical deenition is a promising way to reduce encoding errors. The technique presented has been implemented in a crude running prototype.