IT DRILLDOWN
 
NEWSLETTERS
 

CIO.com updates, insights and advice on technology, management and your career.

 
 
 
SUBSCRIBE TO CIO
 
Are you involved in setting the direction for your company's IT budget or strategy?

Apply today for a FREE subscription to CIO Magazine!

 


Tue, May 29, 2007 13:19 EDT

Error-checking our lives

Topic: Applications

Blog: CIO Research Update

Current Rating: 5 Comments: 0

You know that curvy red line that some programs (like Word) draw under the words it thinks you have misspelled?

Imagine how cool it would be to have
a similar sort of error-checking for all the other areas of our life. Every time we got a name wrong, or forgot a birthday, or gave a chafing dish to a couple that never cooks, a wavy line would pop up in our field of vision, warning us that we just fumbled the ball.

One sphere of life that needs error-checking in the worst way is spreadsheets. It is very easy to make mistakes in spreadsheets since almost any value (in theory) can be entered into almost any cell, and almost any formula (again, in theory) could be associated with that or any other cell. The structure of a spreadsheet looks much the same everywhere. Thus it is very hard to pick out implausible entries at a glance. 

The result is that spreadsheets are rife with errors.  Indeed, some experts have claimed never to have seen a moderately complex spreadsheet without one or more, often many more, errors in it.

Given how important spreadsheets are to society this is obviously a situation crying out for redress.  But computers are even worse at perceiving deviations from patterns than humans are.  With all these degrees of freedom, how do you begin teaching an error checker the difference between right and wrong?

Recently a group of computer scientists at Oregon State University found an ingenious and possibly quite generalizable approach to the problem.  While the program (called GoalDebug; for "Goal Directed Debugging of Spreadsheets") cannot pick up raw errors -- we still have to rely on humans to do that -- it optimizes correction of those errors. 

GoalDebug is what is called an inference system -- in this case you flag an entry as an error and it infers how the error was made and therefore what the right value probably is. 

More specifically, suppose you spot an entry in a spreadsheet you think looks weird. You feed the entry to GoalDebug and enter the kind of value you would have expected to see. The program then lists the kinds of human errors that would have yielded this particular mistake (not the corrections, the categories of errors).

 You pick the category of error that you suspect might have been made. The program then calculates what the right value should have been if that error was indeed the one made, and (in some cases) points out other values that might have been generated by the same error. "This approach allows people with comparatively little training in computer programming to identify and repair errors," says Martin Erwig, one of the developers, "by looking at a short list of possible problems instead
of combing through hundreds or thousands of cells."

The OSU researchers are part of a multi-university consortium called EUSES that is dedicated to helping nontechies write and debug programs.

While so far as I can see no one is developing a version that works on relationships, surely that is not far off. 

You do not have flash or javascript support.
Average (5 votes)
5
 
About this Blog

Exclusive CIO magazine survey findings and links to other interesting research

Start a Conversation
Click to post

Got something to say? We want to hear it! Click the Post button to get started. GO»

EXPERT ADVICE
See our roster of experts.

Advice & Opinion from more than 96 of IT's most insightful thinkers.

advertisement

  PARTNERS       PODCASTS       WEBCASTS    
 

From Laggard to Leader: Transforming the Data Center

This webcast offers an understanding of how customers are transforming their data centers, the successes and challenges of each approach, and how IT can become the driver to provide real business value and competitive advantage.

Sponsored by HP  Register for this Webcast »

 

Raising the Bar on Business Service Delivery

Applications drive every business, but as networks become more complex and dynamic, performance has become a key tenant in service delivery. In this CIO webcast, Forrester and Fluke Networks offer advice and best practices for ensuring high delivery with better application performance.

Sponsored by Fluke  Watch this webcast. »

 

The Universal Wireless Client

Learn how replacing multiple wireless clients with one Universal Wireless Client can cut support and help desk costs, increase end user satisfaction, improve security, and help implement Network Access Control.

Sponsored by Fiberlink  Read this White Paper »

Resource Alerts

Get instant email notifications by topic when white papers, webcasts, and case studies are added to our library.

NAC launch from HP Procurve Podcast with Lippis Report, Part 1

ProCurve Networking by HP joins the Lippis Report to announce major product and organizational additions to their ProActive Defense strategy.  Read More »

 

Accenture's View on Web 2.0 and its impact on business

Publisher at CIO magazine, Bob Melk, talks to Accenture's Blair Jones about the emergence of Web 2.0...  Read More »

 

A Best-Practice Framework for Virtualization

This podcast offers insights and perspective on the various issues that relate to virtualization...  Read More »

Resource Alerts

Get instant email notification when white papers, webcasts, and case studies are added to our library. Don't just be up-to-date—be up to the minute with our new Resource Alerts.

CIO Viewpoints on Exchange 2007 Risks and Mitigation Strategies

Knowing where your peers have found limits and workarounds in areas including high availability, archiving, recovery, compliance, e-Discovery and storage growth can be essential in planning your successful Exchange 2007 migration.  Read More »

 

Find out what Forrester says about mobile endpoint security and its management.

Mobility raises productivity. But IT departments are hard-pressed to protect mobile data and to manage security software, wireless clients and regulatory compliance for mobile workers...   Read More »

 

Get Forrester's take on simplifying mobility with the universal wireless client.

Mobile workers want to use all types of wireless networks: WiFi, 3G cellular networks, corporate WLANs and home wireless networks. But how can IT support...  Read More »

Resource Alerts

Get instant email notification when white papers, webcasts, and case studies are added to our library. Don't just be up-to-date—be up to the minute with our new Resource Alerts.

 
NEWSLETTER

Sign-up for the Blogs & Discussion Newsletter

 
FEATURED SPONSORS
 
 
 
SPONSORED LINKS
 

Build up or Tear down? See how UC makes sense with Nortel. Calculate your UC ROI

Predict the future with HP Insight Power Manager

Drive Business Value with Enterprise Social Computing - whitepaper

See how IBM helped Bharti create a new business model

Read how IBM helped Hughes enhance security

HP LaserJet M3035 MFP series starting at $1,599. » SHOP NOW. www.hp.com

NEW HP Color LaserJet CM3530n MFP starting at $2,499. » SHOP NOW. www.hp.com

Affordable technology-no compromise. HP server solutions

Make IT Work As One@novell.com

Learn about the software-based VoIP solution from Microsoft

CIO Starter Kit includes useful resources created by top CIOs. Free Download>>

Rolling the dice with your security? Take the Self-Assessment Test now

Request a Novell/Microsoft deployment workshop and kit

Request a Novell/Microsoft deployment kit

Compuware.com - See how we make IT rock around the world

SOA Educational Library at the TIBCO SOA Resource Center

A fresh look at the impact of customer intimacy.

Webcast: SOA Brings Backend Systems into the Future, Rapidly & Successfully

Find out why IDC thinks virtualization is changing operating environments.

Explore the impact virtualization can have on your bottom-line.

Save with 0% Lease Offer on HP Servers and Storage

The Customer Communications Management Platform - Key Functionality and Best Practices

Data Center ROI with RFID Asset Tracking

Learn how the new Quad-Core AMD Opteron™ processor improves performance

Get help navigating the management challenges of virtualization.

SAS a Leader in Forrester BI report. Click here to see evaluation.

Protect data-HP All-in-One and Disk-Based systems

Microsoft SQL Server 2008. Read Case Studies, Watch Demos, & Download for Free

The 2008 CEO Study: Implications for the CIO

HP LaserJet P4014n printer starting at $799 after $100 IS. www.hp.com

NEW HP Color LaserJet CP3525n printer starting at $699. » SHOP NOW. www.hp.com

Predict the future with HP Insight Power Manager

A new level of interoperability. Make IT Work As One@novell.com

Businesses Transform with VMware Virtualization

IT Service Management: Metrics That Matter

Download the free CIO Starter Kit to access useful resources created by top CIOs

Log onto Hitachi True Stories, films inspired by the next great achievement

Request a Novell/Microsoft deployment workshop

Strong Authentication. Secure USB data storage. One Device

Discover PMI's credentials and career path tools

Learn how companies are changing how they reach out to their most profitable customers.

The Right and Wrong Master Data Management Strategies to Start Small and Grow Big

Learn how to leverage virtualization for a 74% savings in TCO.

Find out how you can affordably consolidate applications with VMware.

ESG Research on Server and Storage Virtualization

Webcast: Mitigate Operational Risk- Real Answers for Tough Times

Laptop Security: Where Do CIOs See Weaknesses?

How RFID Improves Data Center Efficiency

Paving the Way for Trusted Collaboration

Find out how to manage virtualization's risks and reap the rewards.