Adding Deductive Logic to a COTS Spreadsheet

Contents

We exploit the spreadsheet metaphor to make deductive problem-solving methods available to the vast population of spreadsheet end users. In particular, we show how the function-based problem-solving capabilities of spreadsheets can be extended to include logical deductive methods in a way that is consistent with the existing spreadsheet "look and feel." The foundation of our approach is the integration of a standard deductive logic system into a successful Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) spreadsheet. We have demonstrated this by designing and implementing an extension to Excel that manages the integration of Excel and a deductive logic engine based on the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standard ontology language OWL + SWRL.