diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/poi/ss/util/CellRangeAddressBase.java b/src/java/org/apache/poi/ss/util/CellRangeAddressBase.java
index 4b5b10424..9561cb9f5 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/poi/ss/util/CellRangeAddressBase.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/poi/ss/util/CellRangeAddressBase.java
@@ -164,4 +164,36 @@ public abstract class CellRangeAddressBase {
 		CellReference crB = new CellReference(_lastRow, _lastCol);
 		return getClass().getName() + " [" + crA.formatAsString() + ":" + crB.formatAsString() +"]";
 	}
+	
+	// In case _firstRow > _lastRow or _firstCol > _lastCol
+	protected int getMinRow() {
+		return Math.min(_firstRow, _lastRow);
+	}
+	protected int getMaxRow() {
+		return Math.max(_firstRow, _lastRow);
+	}
+	protected int getMinColumn() {
+		return Math.min(_firstCol, _lastCol);
+	}
+	protected int getMaxColumn() {
+		return Math.max(_firstCol, _lastCol);
+	}
+	
+	@Override
+	public boolean equals(Object other) {
+		if (other instanceof CellRangeAddressBase) {
+			CellRangeAddressBase o = (CellRangeAddressBase) other;
+			return ((getMinRow() == o.getMinRow()) &&
+					(getMaxRow() == o.getMaxRow()) &&
+					(getMinColumn() == o.getMinColumn()) &&
+					(getMaxColumn() == o.getMaxColumn()));
+		}
+		return false;
+	}
+	
+	@Override
+	public int hashCode() {
+		final int[] values = new int[]{getMinRow(), getMaxRow(), getMinColumn(), getMaxColumn()};
+		return values.hashCode();
+	}
 }
diff --git a/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/ss/util/TestCellRangeAddress.java b/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/ss/util/TestCellRangeAddress.java
index c5a163394..5616f79f3 100644
--- a/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/ss/util/TestCellRangeAddress.java
+++ b/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/ss/util/TestCellRangeAddress.java
@@ -20,7 +20,9 @@ package org.apache.poi.ss.util;
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 
-import junit.framework.TestCase;
+//TODO: replace junit3 with junit4 code
+import junit.framework.TestCase; //junit3
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotEquals; //junit4
 
 import org.apache.poi.hssf.record.TestcaseRecordInputStream;
 import org.apache.poi.util.LittleEndianOutputStream;
@@ -190,4 +192,45 @@ public final class TestCellRangeAddress extends TestCase {
         ref = new CellRangeAddress(-1, -1, -1, -1);
         assertEquals(":", ref.formatAsString());
     }
+    
+    public void testEquals() {
+        final CellRangeAddress ref1 = new CellRangeAddress(1, 2, 3, 4);
+        final CellRangeAddress ref2 = new CellRangeAddress(1, 2, 3, 4);
+        assertEquals(ref1, ref2);
+        
+        // Invert first/last row, but refer to same area
+        ref2.setFirstRow(2);
+        ref2.setLastRow(1);
+        assertEquals(ref1, ref2);
+        
+        // Invert first/last column, but refer to same area
+        ref2.setFirstColumn(4);
+        ref2.setLastColumn(3);
+        assertEquals(ref1, ref2);
+        
+        // Refer to a different area
+        assertNotEquals(ref1, new CellRangeAddress(3, 4, 1, 2));
+    }
+    
+    public void testGetMinMaxRow() {
+        final CellRangeAddress ref = new CellRangeAddress(1, 2, 3, 4);
+        assertEquals(1, ref.getMinRow());
+        assertEquals(2, ref.getMaxRow());
+        
+        ref.setFirstRow(10);
+        //now ref is CellRangeAddress(10, 2, 3, 4)
+        assertEquals(2, ref.getMinRow());
+        assertEquals(10, ref.getMaxRow());
+    }
+    
+    public void testGetMinMaxColumn() {
+        final CellRangeAddress ref = new CellRangeAddress(1, 2, 3, 4);
+        assertEquals(3, ref.getMinColumn());
+        assertEquals(4, ref.getMaxColumn());
+        
+        ref.setFirstColumn(10);
+        //now ref is CellRangeAddress(1, 2, 10, 4)
+        assertEquals(4, ref.getMinColumn());
+        assertEquals(10, ref.getMaxColumn());
+    }
 }