Title :
3D interactive visualization for inter-cell dependencies of spreadsheets
Author :
Shiozawa, Hidekazu ; Okada, Ken-ichi ; Matsushita, Yutaka
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Inf. & Comput. Sci., Keio Univ., Yokohama, Japan
Abstract :
This paper proposes a new technique to visualize dependencies among cells in a spreadsheet. In this way, the system firstly visualizes a spreadsheet on a plane in three-dimensional space, and draws arcs between interrelated cells. By allowing a user to select an arbitrary cell and lift it up with direct manipulation, the system utilizes the third dimension to ameliorate visual occlusion of crossing arcs. As the user lifts a focused cell up, the interrelated cells are lifted up together; thus hidden dataflow networks can be visually intelligible interactively. Because spreadsheets are aimed at calculation itself rather than appearances of outputs, their mechanism is relatively invisible and not obvious for ordinary users. Our visualization helps such users to understand structures and mechanism of spreadsheets
Keywords :
data visualisation; spreadsheet programs; user interfaces; 3D interactive visualization; 3D space; crossing arcs; direct manipulation; hidden dataflow networks; inter-cell dependencies; interactive lifting-up operation; interrelated cells; spreadsheet visualization; spreadsheets; visual occlusion; visually intelligibility; Application software; Calculators; Computer graphics; Computer languages; Computer science; Debugging; Displays; Layout; User interfaces; Visualization;
Conference_Titel :
Information Visualization, 1999. (Info Vis '99) Proceedings. 1999 IEEE Symposium on
Conference_Location :
San Francisco, CA
Print_ISBN :
0-7695-0431-0
DOI :
10.1109/INFVIS.1999.801861