[debacle]

There needs to be an easier way to transition from spreadsheets to an application. A spreadsheet that was based on programming principles rather than business principles would be fantastic.

Also, a spreadsheet that was much more scriptable for someone who didn't want to learn VB.NET would be a dream, as a programmer.

Disclaimer: I don't generally pay for software out of my own pocket.

[digikata]

I think that used to be Microsoft Access, but as a product I think it lost focus on the easy transition. I remember as an intern using a pre-Microsoft FoxPro (all text GUI) that was so easy to setup as an app backed by a database with CRUD forms & reports.

[vmorgulis]

I used FoxPro too (text based and windows). I liked a lot the command approach to access the database.

I don't see something as much convenient in nowadays softwares. All are based on multitiers, SQL and frameworks.

[marekr]

Do you mean transition from specific spreadsheets you would already have for that task? Or in a wider sense, e.g. as a company - gradually transition from using spreadsheets to using applications for some of the tasks?

[debacle]

I mean I should be able to take a spreadsheet, properly configured, and turn it into a CRUD app through some sort of wizard.

Or, as a programmer, I should be able to massage an existing spreadsheet (to confirm data types, maybe add some validations) and have that be able to be wrung through a CRUD app generator.

People use spreadsheets because they combine business logic, data, and a simple user interface into a single document. 99% of spreadsheets should actually be CRUD apps (in my experience, at least) but it's not worth the hassle of going that route until you already have close to 30 MB of unstructured, manually edited data.

[BjoernKW]

We're doing the latter (on a rather small scale, mind you), transitioning existing Excel-based applications to scalable, robust architectures: http://excelkoenner.de/ (German-only right now, sorry)