Process and device for the automatic generation of spreadsheets

Claim 2

A process implemented on a graphical user interface for the automatic generation of a spreadsheet from a model of an entity-relationship type which serves as a support for a relational data base model, comprising the steps of displaying said data base model of the entity-relationship type on a screen of an information system in the form of a graph composed of a plurality of entities and relationships represented respectively by first and second types of objects and linked by lines, said graph being physically embodied in memory by a set of relational tables, and automatically defining said spreadsheet by selection, from among various types of objects in said graph, of elements which are memorized to enable plotting of abscissa and ordinate data of the graph and compose the contents of cells of the spreadsheet thus formed.

Claim 3

The process according to claim 1, in which the selection of the elements which compose the spreadsheet comprising selecting a first set of entities in a first phase such that a path formed by said entities and the relationships which link said entities does not include any loops, one end of said path being designated as a root and another end of said path being designated as a branch, and selection of a second set of entities linked by relationships to the branch in a second phase, and, for each of the entities in the first set, when it is indicated for selection, displaying a list of its attributes, selecting at least one attribute from said list of attributes and for each of the attributes selected, plotting on the abscissa, in hierarchical levels corresponding to a tree structure between the entities of the abscissas, the values of attributes extracted from the data base, and plotting non-selected attributes of the entity branch and the attributes of the entities in the second set on the ordinate in hierarchical levels corresponding to a tree structure between the entities of the ordinates, and intializing the cells thus formed with values of said attributes extracted from the data base.

Claim 4

The process according to claim 2, further comprising showning in the graph the attributes of the entities and relationships which compose it, in the form of objects of a third type, and selecting the objects directly.

Claim 5

The process according to claim 2, wherein the range of the values assumed by the attributes to be plotted on the abscissa is limited, by pinpoint choices or by limitation functions, and further wherein, in the same way, the user selects a number of attributes to be plotted on the ordinate, from among the set of attributes of the branch and those of the entities linked by relationships to said branch.

Claim 6

The process according to claim 2, wherein all objects which form the graph are at first displayed in a first color, then in the course of the selection the objects selected are displayed in a second color.

Claim 7

The process according to claim 5, wherein at every moment in the selection phases, the objects which may be selected are displayed in a third color.

Claim 8

The process according to claim 5, wherein said colors comprise variations in brightness.

Claim 9

The process according to claim 6, wherein said colors comprise variations in blinking frequencies.

Claim 10

The process according to claim 2, further comprising constituting a historical report of the selections which contains each of the selection steps and to backtrack step by step through said selections.

Claim 11

The process according to claim 2, wherein the selection includes a step for validation of a current entity selected in order to verify: during the first phase, whether a relationship links said current entity in the graph to a preceding entity selected, and in the second phase, whether a relationship links said current entity in the graph to the branch, said relationships being physically embodied in memory by tables to effect, at the level of the RDBMS, a joining of the tables corresponding to these entities.

Claim 12

The process according to claim 1, wherein said model includes expression of constraints with which various entities and relationships composing said model comply, and the constraints associated with the entities and relationships selected are automatically linked to the cells of the spreadsheets thus generated.

Claim 13

The process according to claim 1, wherein said model is a model of a company.

Claim 16

The device to assist in decision-making according to claim 13, further including means for converting the spreadsheet created into a spreadsheet program format for utilization of said spreadsheet in a program to allow the presentation of data in the form of graphics and of the simulations which comply with the constraints for utilizing the data and forecasting impact of decisions.