MDSheet

MDSheet is a framework for the embedding, evolution and inference of spreadsheet models. This framework offers a model-driven software development mechanism for spreadsheet users.

The OpenOffice extension can be downloaded here. For installation and use instructions, see below.

Instructions

The MDSheet addon is only available for Linux-based operating systems.

If you have any problem installing or using the addon, or if you have any comment or suggestion, you can contact Jorge Mendes.

Note: This is an alpha prototype, which is still under active development. Nevertheless, it may already be used to test new theories and to experiment several functionalities. For now, we do not have in mind to make this a production tool, so only a representative set of features were implemented. It was only made available for demonstration purposes. We take no responsibility for any damage caused by the application. Use it at your own risk.

Installation

Download the addon here. Open OpenOffice and install the addon via the extension manager. The macros in the addon may not be copied. In that case, you should extract the HaExcel directory from the addon package (you can rename the file name extension to .zip) to "~/.openoffice.org/3/user/basic/".

The installation procedure for LibreOffice should be similar. In most (or all) cases, only the name is changed from OpenOffice.org to LibreOffice.

There can be some errors installing or using the addon due to missing library dependencies. At this moment, we do not have a list of dependencies available.

Use

• Initialization — Create a new spreadsheet file and name two sheets Model and Data. Run the macro HaExcel.HaExcel.Init (in "My Macros") to initialize some properties of the spreadsheet.
• Model creation — Go to the Model sheet. Select an area for a class and click on the button "c+" in the addon toolbar to create a class. (An error message might appear the first time. You can ignore it.) Fill the dialog and click "Add". You just created a new class. You can create more to build your model following the same steps. After creating your model, you can go to the Data sheet to see the result.
• Model evolution — Go to the Model sheet. Select a cell where you want to evolve. Click the button that you want to use to evolve (e.g., "Col+"), or edit the cells. You can go to the Data sheet to see the result.
• Data evolution (add new content) — Go to the Data sheet. Click on the buttons (with label '⋯' or 'â‹®') to add new instances of expandable classes. These operations do not change the layout of the spreadsheet, so the model remains the same.

SmellSheet Detective

SmellSheet Detective is a tool to find bad smells in spreadsheets.

You can download it here.

HaExcel

• HaExcel is a framework to manipulate, transform and query spreadsheets.
• The HaExcel Add-on for OpenOffice helps users to safely edit spreadsheets.
  • A demonstration video can be found here.