Wiki for a better world:Calculator/Feature requests/Spreadsheets

From the change wiki

So, combine the calculations with tables, huh? Congratulations, u just re-invented the spreadsheet lol

Ok but seriously, we can't use any existing spreadsheet software because none of the calculations work with units.

Also I really don't have time to build a full-featured spreadsheet web app from scratch.

Design idea

Quick design, off the top of my head; this probably has some flaws that still need to be worked out, but:

  • Just like a normal wikitable, but each cell has an option to act as a datapoint
  • Just like a datapoint, the cell can be given an identifier, value, description and note.
  • Same identifier can be used in multiple cells, to reference the same data
  • Cell shows its value by default (monospace font, maybe green background idk)
  • Hovering or clicking the cell will reveal its id, description, note.
    • Need to decide on a UI behavior. Has to work on mobile too (in other words, usable with no mouse hover)
  • For datapoints that are calculated from other datapoints:
    • The 'value' should be the equation.
      • But also, the 'value' showed by default in the cell should be the result.
    • There needs to be a fifth parameter of the cell: "units wanted".
    • Design decision: should there be a distinction between these calculated datapoints vs "primary" datapoints? On one hand, their behavior is different, right? On the other hand, "primary" datapoints already can still reference other "primary" datapoints. So what's the simplest way to go about this?

Use-cases

Here are some pages that could benefit from these kinds of spreadsheets: