Microsoft patents spreadsheet formulas that pass function names as arguments
Microsoft has been granted a patent for a new way to write formulas in spreadsheet software like Excel. The system allows one function to receive the name of another function as an input, then automatically runs that second function on each part of a data set. This lets users build more complex calculations without writing out repetitive code for every single row or column.
In the filing’s own words
Technology is disclosed herein by which a spreadsheet function is accepted as an argument to another function in a spreadsheet. In an implementation, a computing apparatus identifies a formula in a cell, the formula including a first function which has a parameter for the name of a second, non-anonymous function. The computing apparatus passes the function name as an argument to the first function for execution. In executing the first function, the computing apparatus calls the second function and passes a value as an argument to the second function. The computing apparatus updates the spreadsheet based on one or more results of the first function. In an implementation, when the first function calls the second function, the first function iterates through a range of values passed to it as an argument.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A computing apparatus comprising: one or more computer readable storage media; one or more processors operatively coupled with the one or more computer readable storage media; and program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media that, when executed by the one or more processors, direct the computing apparatus to at least: identify a formula in a cell of a spreadsheet, wherein the formula includes a first function having a parameter comprising a name of a second function, wherein the formula further includes a parameter comprising one or more values, and wherein the second function comprises a non-anonymous function that is passed by name only without an argument and lacks function notation; pass the name of the second function as an argument to the first function; identify a common characteristic based on the first function; aggregate the one or more values into one or more subarrays according to the common characteristic; execute the first function, wherein the first function iteratively calls the second function and passes each of the one or more subarrays as an argument to the second function; and populate the spreadsheet based on one or more results of the first function.
Facts
- Company
- Microsoft (Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC)
- Official title
- Non-anonymous functions as arguments in spreadsheet environments
- Patent number
- US12769933B2
- Application number
- 18471058
- Filed
- Sep 20, 2023
- Granted
- Oct 20, 2026
- Inventors
- 2
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
G06F 40/18 Physics & computingMore from Microsoft in AI & software
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.