Designing with Datawasp

The user creates the data structure and the end user interface for his/her solution simultaneously by adding visual elements to the display.

The display elements are 'tables' and 'paragraphs'. Table columns can be either storage columns or calculated columns. Paragraphs are single fields which can be either storage or calculation.

If desired, the structural editing capacity can be disabled for most users to protect the data structure. Even users, for whom the structural editing capacity has been disabled, can add purely personal, non structural calculations which can generate report tables as well as single numbers.

Calculations are added in a spreadsheet format albeit one which allows lists to be manipulated as easily as single numbers.

The lack of distinction between 'development' and 'use' is crucial because it means that solutions created on Datawasp can be developed as you use them. Not only can the underlying structure be developed as you go along but individual users can develop their own personal interfaces independently without affecting the core structure. This is a huge deal.

Unlike a spreadsheet Datawasp stores data not as a series of flat sheets but in a series of nested tables. Nested means that individual cells can contain an entire table. A row which represents a house can have a cell which contains 'table of rooms'. Each room could have a cell which contains a 'table of windows' etc... Also cells can contain references to other rows so a row which represents an invoice could have a reference to a row which represents the account it belongs to. The comparison with a spreadsheet is useful to convey the holistic interface but Datawasp goes far beyond the functionality of a spreadsheet. Most importantly it is networked which means different people can access and edit data simultaneously. Also, the same data can be presented in many different places in different ways. Lastly, data elements of different types can easily be tied together. A full comparison between Datawasp and a spreadsheet are given here.