Patent ID: 7650576

Claim:
A computer readable medium encoded with computer code for performing a method of creating a control panel showing a visual representation of a relationship between information in a file produced using a software application program, the method comprising: assigning a first visual component to represent a first data source in the file; assigning a second visual component to represent a second data source in the file; identifying from information in the file a mathematical relationship between the first data source in the file and the second data source in the file by extracting one or more formulas from the file to reproduce the mathematical relationship implicit between the first data source and the second data source; and automatically generating the control panel with a computer graphics and animation module in which, independently of the file and independently of the software application program, the control panel calculates and displays at least one displayed value using the second visual component, in accordance with the mathematical relationship, in response to a change in at least one altered value displayed using the first visual component; wherein the at least one displayed value is calculated and displayed by the control panel without accessing the software application to supply dynamic computer graphics responsive to the at least one altered value.