Patent Document ID: 9229922
Application ID: 12286734

Base Claim:
1. A computer program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for: receiving entry of a formula directly into a cell of a spreadsheet; receiving an indication to include a reference or an argument in the formula being entered into the cell, wherein receiving the indication comprises receiving a plain text entry of the reference or the argument into the formula; and in response to receiving the indication to include the reference or the argument in the formula being entered into the cell, automatically inserting into the formula inside the cell a user interface object to represent the reference or the argument wherein the user interface object is configured to perform one or more features or behaviors not performed by plain text, when the user interface object appears inside the cell, wherein the automatically inserting the user interface object into the formula inside the cell comprises automatically transforming the plain text entry into the user interface object.

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Claim 9:
9. The computer program product recited in claim 1 , wherein the one or more features or behaviors include: allowing selection of the user interface object using a single select operation; allowing the user interface object to be dragged and/or dropped to a desired position; allowing a set of user interface objects to be simultaneously selected and moved as a group; allowing a menu to be associated with the user interface object; allowing a tool tip to be associated with one or more of a function, the user interface object, and a menu option associated with the user interface object; rendering different types of user interface objects in different visual styles; coloring a reference user interface object and an associated cell or cell range outline in a same unique color; allowing toggling between a keyboard reference insertion mode and normal editing mode via a prescribed toggle key; or providing a throbbing user interface object as a visual indication of being in a keyboard reference insertion mode; or any combination thereof.