USENIX Technical Program - Abstract - Domain-Specific Languages 99
Slicing Spreadsheets: An Integrated Methodology for Spreadsheet Testing and Debugging
James Reichwein, Gregg Rothermel, and Margaret Burnett, Oregon State University
Abstract
Spreadsheet languages, which include
commercial spreadsheets and various
research systems, have proven to be
flexible tools in many domain specific settings.
Research shows, however, that spreadsheets often contain faults.
We would like to provide at least some of the benefits
of formal testing and debugging methodologies to
spreadsheet developers.
This paper presents an integrated testing and
debugging methodology for spreadsheets.
To accommodate the modeless and incremental
development, testing and debugging activities
that occur during spreadsheet creation, our
methodology is tightly integrated into the
spreadsheet environment.
To accommodate the users of spreadsheet languages,
we provide an interface to our methodology that
does not require an understanding of testing and
debugging theory, and that takes advantage of the
immediate visual feedback that is characteristic
of the spreadsheet paradigm.
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