Patent ID: 7647551

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for formatting a cell in response to data stored in a separate location, the method comprising: identifying one or more data cells in a first document, wherein each of the one or more data cells is configured to present: a value stored in association with the data cell in the first document; and a conditional format to be applied to the data cell in the first document based on an outcome of a condition, wherein the condition determining the conditional format is determined by a set of data stored in a second document, and wherein the set of data stored in the second document is not stored in the first document; wherein the second document is stored at a separate network location; selecting the set of data stored in the second document on which the condition is based, wherein the selected set of data stored in the second document is different data from data associated with the data cell; establishing the condition that determines the conditional format based on the outcome of the condition; defining a formatting dependency on the data cell that defines a dependency of the data cell on a value of the set of data that is stored in the second document; determining the outcome of the condition based on the set of data stored in the second document; formatting the data cell in accordance with the outcome of the condition; and providing a selection of a formatting type within a formatting interface, such that a selection of the formatting type applies the formatting type to the formatting of the data cell in accordance with the outcome of the condition based on the set of data in the second document, wherein a list in the formatting interface is a menu that allows a user to select whether to format the data cell based on at least one of the set of data and data included in the data cell.