Patent ID: 8370795

Claim:
A method for explaining a value of a selected field of a first form, the method comprising: obtaining a calculation tree for the selected field, wherein the calculation tree represents dependencies between the selected field and a plurality of precedent data elements, wherein at least one of the plurality of precedent data elements is in a second form, and wherein the second form is separate from the first form; obtaining a first equation associated with the selected field from the calculation tree; displaying a first value associated with the selected field and the first equation in symbolic form, wherein the first equation comprises a first precedent data element of the plurality of data elements, and wherein the selected field is dependent on the first precedent data element; receiving an expansion request for the equation associated with the selected field; obtaining a second equation associated with the first precedent data element from the calculation tree based on the expansion request, wherein the second equation is used to calculate the first precedent data element in the first equation; displaying a second value associated with the first precedent data element and the second equation with the first value and the first equation in a dependency hierarchy; receiving an expansion request for the second equation associated with the first precedent data element, wherein the second equation comprises a second precedent data element of the plurality of data elements; determining that the second precedent data element references a report; and displaying the report.