Abstract
This paper presents techniques for the design and implementation of domain specific languages. Our techniques are based on higher-order attribute grammars. Formal languages are specified in the classical attribute formalism and domain specific languages are embedded in the specification via higher-order attributes. We present a domain specific language for pretty-printing and we show how such language can be easily embedded in the specification of a powerful spreadsheet-like tool. From such specification an incremental implementation is automatically derived and the first results are presented. © 2003 IEEE.

Abstract

Abstract

Abstract
Denotational semantics is a powerful technique to formally de. ne programming languages. However, language constructs are not always orthogonal, so many semantic equations in a definition may have to be aware of unrelated constructs semantics. Current approaches for modularity in this formalism do not address this problem, providing, for this reason, tangled semantic definitions. This paper proposes an incremental approach for denotational semantic specifications, in which each step can either add new features or adapt existing equations, by means of a formal language based on function transformation and aspect weaving.

Abstract
Spreadsheets are widely used and studies show that most of the existing ones contain non-trivial errors. To improve end-users productivity, recent research proposes the use of a model-driven engineering approach to spreadsheets. In this paper we conduct the first empirical study to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of this approach. A set of spreadsheet end users worked with two different model-based spreadsheets. We present and analyze here the results achieved. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.

Abstract
Although spreadsheets can be seen as a flexible programming environment, they lack some of the concepts of regular programming languages, such as structured data types. This can lead the user to edit the spreadsheet in a wrong way and perhaps cause corrupt or redundant data. We devised a method for extraction of a relational model from a spreadsheet and the subsequent embedding of the model back into the spreadsheet to create a model-based spreadsheet programming environment. The extraction algorithm is specific for spreadsheets since it considers particularities such as layout and column arrangement. The extracted model is used to generate formulas and visual elements that are then embedded in the spreadsheet helping the user to edit data in a correct way. We present preliminary experimental results from applying our approach to a sample of spreadsheets from the EUSES Spreadsheet Corpus. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.