An Al-based interactive tool for spreadsheet debugging

Several cases are known where faults in spreadsheets have caused severe losses of money for companies. Besides other factors, the non-existence of advanced testing and debugging mechanisms in environments like MS Excel causes faults in spreadsheets to remain undetected. In this paper we describe the main functionality of the EXQUISITE tool, a software system and add-in to MS Excel that was developed in the context of our research on designing next-generation mechanisms for spreadsheet testing and debugging based on artificial intelligence technology. The tool in particular supports a novel algorithmic debugging approach and was successfully validated through different user studies.