Smart fill

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10013413-B2
Application number	US-201615171895-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 2, 2016
Priority date	Jun 14, 2013
Publication date	Jul 3, 2018
Grant date	Jul 3, 2018

Abstract

A smart fill feature is provided, which may be utilized to provide suggestions to a user and to prepopulate fill results in a spreadsheet. Characteristics associated with a set of data may be recognized and used to help determine fill results Suggestions may be determined from internal and or/external data sources, and may use contextual information in a data set to determine what a user may be trying to accomplish. External data sources may include one or more Internet data sources or internal corporate databases, providing a large amount of data from which to search for potential fill results. A split column command may be used to split a column into two or more columns. Data may be split between columns or combined by various methods, which may include, by example, by direct manipulation via tokens, or via a slider UI.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for providing data splitting, the method comprising:
opening and displaying a spreadsheet;
receiving an indication of a selection of a first plurality of cells including a first data set;
receiving a selection to split the first data set into a first component and a second component;
creating, in second plurality of cells adjacent to the first plurality of cells, a second data set;
receiving input to a cell of the second plurality of cells of the second component of a corresponding cell of the first plurality of cells;
in response to receiving the input, removing the second component from the corresponding cell based on the input, such that the corresponding cell retains the first component;
detecting a pattern associated with the input;
providing an autosuggestion control to split additional pieces of data in the first data set located in additional cells of the first plurality of cells into the first component in the first plurality of cells and the second component in the second plurality of cells according to the detected pattern;
receiving a selection of the autosuggestion control; and
in response to receiving the selection of the autosuggestion control, removing the second component from the first data set and filling the second data set with the removed second component.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the selection to split the first data set comprises:
receiving data input in an input cell in a second column, wherein the second column comprises the second plurality of cells; and
determining whether the data input includes a portion of data from an adjacent cell in a first column comprising the first plurality of cells, wherein the first column and the second column are adjacent in the spreadsheet and the adjacent cell is adjacent to the input cell in the spreadsheet.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
providing an autosuggestion to delete the portion of data from the adjacent cell in the first column and add the deleted portion of data to the input cell in the second column.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the selection to split the first data set comprises:
detecting individual data elements in a particular cell, wherein an individual data element is a displayed value of the first component or a displayed value of the second component; and
converting each individual data element into a selectable token, wherein the selectable token is a user interface element that is selectable and draggable within the spreadsheet.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
receiving an indication of a selection to move a particular selectable token in the particular cell to another cell;
moving the particular selectable token to the other cell; and
converting each selectable token in the particular cell and the other cell back into the individual data elements.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the selection to split the first data set comprises:
providing a selectable slider user interface control;
receiving an indication of a selection to move the slider user interface control over data in a particular cell of the first plurality of cells;
receiving an indication of a release of the slider user interface control; and
splitting the first data set between two columns of cells according to the position of the slider user interface control.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the selection to split the first data set comprises:
receiving a selection of a piece of data within a column.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein splitting the first data set comprises:
splitting the column into two columns, wherein the piece of data is split between the two columns.

9. A system for providing a suggestion of autofill results for a set of data, the system comprising:
one or more processors; and
a memory including computer readable instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the system to be operable to:
open and display a spreadsheet;
receive an indication of a selection of a first plurality of cells including a first data set;
receive a selection to split the first data set into two components, including a first component and a second component;
create, in a second plurality of cells adjacent to the first plurality of cells, a second data set;
receive, at a cell of the second plurality of cells, input of the second component of a corresponding cell of the first data set;
in response to receiving the input, remove the second component from the corresponding cell of the first plurality of cells set based on the input, such that the corresponding cell of the first plurality of cells retains the first component;
detect a pattern associated with the input;
provide an autosuggestion control to split additional pieces of data of the first data set into the two components according to the detected pattern;
receive a selection of the autosuggestion control; and
in response to receiving the selection of the autosuggestion control, filling the second data set in the second plurality of cells with the second component and replacing the first data set in the first plurality of cells with the first component.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further operable to:
receive data input in an input cell in a second column, wherein the second column comprises the second plurality of cells; and
determine whether the data input includes a portion of data from an adjacent cell in a first column, wherein the first column comprises the first plurality of cells, and wherein the adjacent cell is adjacent to the input cell in the second column in the spreadsheet.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the one or more processors are further operable to:
provide an autosuggestion to delete the portion of data from the adjacent cell in the first column and add the deleted portion of data to the input cell in the second column.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further operable to:
detect individual data elements in a particular cell, wherein an individual data element is a displayed value of the first component or a displayed value of the second component; and
convert each individual data element into a selectable token, wherein the selectable token is a user interface element that is selectable and draggable within the spreadsheet.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further operable to:
receive an indication of a selection to move a particular selectable token in the particular cell to another cell;
move the particular selectable token to the other cell; and
convert each selectable token in the particular cell and the other cell back into the individual data elements.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further operable to:
provide a selectable slider user interface control;
receive an indication of a selection to move the slider user interface control over data in a particular cell of the first plurality of cells;
receive an indication of a release of the slider user interface control; and
split the data between two columns of cells according to the position of the slider user interface control.

15. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further operable to:
receive a selection of a piece of data within a column comprising the first plurality of cells; and
split the column into two columns, wherein the piece of data is split between the two columns.

16. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Otero Carlos Augusto
• Campbell John
• Albert Uhl
• Parish Daniel
• Wilson Aaron Lamar
• Tullis Steve

Classifications

• G06F40/18 Primary

  of spreadsheets (form-filling G06F40/174) · CPC title

• G06F40/174

  Form filling; Merging · CPC title

• G06F9/453

  Help systems · CPC title

• G06F3/04842

  Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements (G06F3/0482 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06F3/04845

  for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour · CPC title