Logical Spreadsheets

Michael Genesereth
Stanford University

Despite their successes, computerized spreadsheet systems have unnecessary restrictions that limit their usefulness. One such restriction is the “functional” nature of the formulas used to specify calculations – for every combination of values of the “directly specified” cells, the formulas specify unique values for the “computed” cells. In this presentation, we discuss the possibility of generalizing the formula language used by spreadsheets from simple functional formulas to relational logic. In recognition of the central role of computational logic in this approach, we use the phrase “logical spreadsheets” to refer to spreadsheets of this sort. We argue that logical spreadsheets provide greater benefits than traditional spreadsheets while preserving the key features of automatic calculation of values and ease of administration.