Patent ID: 7664804

Claim:
A method for exposing data objects of a workbook as a server data source, comprising: generating metadata for the data objects by automatically identifying the metadata in the workbook and setting properties for the identified metadata, wherein the metadata is utilized by a first server computer in responding to requests for the data objects stored in the workbook as a server data source, the server data source comprising a multidimensional database, wherein identifying the metadata comprises analyzing the data objects to identify the following: data types, measures, hierarchy, and default aggregations, and wherein setting the properties comprises indicating a first default aggregation as a count for a string data field in the metadata and setting a second default aggregation as a sum for a numeric data field in the metadata; publishing the workbook and the metadata to the first server computer, wherein publishing comprises programmatically generating a spreadsheet and sending the spreadsheet to the first server computer through a server application program interface, wherein the workbook is parsed for ranges including the data objects by a spreadsheet server application executing on the first server computer, and wherein user-specified data objects from among the data objects are exposed at the first server computer as server data sources; and connecting to the data object exposed at the first server computer as server data sources in a manner identical to connecting to a dedicated OLAP data source provided by a second server computer.