Adding Apples and Oranges

We define a unit system for end-user spreadsheets that is based on the concrete notion of units instead of the abstract concept of types. Units are derived from header information given by spreadsheets. The unit system contains concepts, such as dependent units, multiple units, and unit generalization, that allow the classification of spreadsheet contents on a more fine-grained level than types do. Also, because communication with the end user happens only in terms of objects that are contained in the spreadsheet, our system does not require end users to learn new abstract concepts of type systems.