Spreadsheet metadata extraction: A layout-based approach

Abstract

Metadata is an essential part of modern information system since it helps people to find relevant documents from disparate repositories. This paper proposes an innovative metadata extraction method for spreadsheets. Unlike traditional methods which concern only content information, this paper considers both layout and content. The proposed method extracts metadata from the spreadsheets whose metadata is stored under certain conditions. Data types (such as date, number, etc.) of metadata are taken into account in order to realize document search based on metadata of various data types. Furthermore, the extracted metadata is semantically classified and hierarchically grouped in order to allow end-users to define complex search queries and the meanings of search keywords. System implementation of the proposed method is also discussed. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.