Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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FILE SYSTEM SHELL
FIEI OF THE INVENTION
,D I
The present invention relates to file systems, and more particularly, to a
file
system shell.
BACKGROUND OF THE ENTION
Present computer file systems have a number of undesirable limitations. One
limitation is that users are generally unable to control the structure that
they are shown.
In other words, when folders are organized, a user must choose a structure,
and that
structure is then difficult to change. As a specific example, J.r a "music"
folder, a user
may choose to organize the music files in an artist/alburn format, wherein all
of the album
folders for each artist are grouped! into that particular artist's folder, and
all of the songs
on a particular album are grouped into that album's folder. The artist/album
format is not
conducive to playing a type of music (e.g., playing two jazz: songs from two
different
artists), or for playing a selection of albums from different artists.
As another issue, a user may have a large number of files w'-,`-dch are
difficult' to
organize. Some users implement a rigid sense of placement fbr the files, and
thus create
strict hierarchies for them. The management of such files become increasingly
complex
and difficult as the number of available documents grows, making search and
retrieval
also difficult. This problem is farther exacerbated when additional files are
utilized from
other locations, such as shared files, etc.
Users also have to deal with files being in different locations, such as on
different
devices, on other PCs, or online. For example, users can select to listen to
their music on
the computer (as may be accessible to a music program) or can go online and
listen to
music from Web sites, however there is a strict division between these two
sources.
Music coming from different locations is organized differently, and not kept
in the sane
fashion or place. As another example, files stored on a corporate network may
inherently
be separated from files a user has on a current machine.
Users also have to keep track not only of what file data is stored, but where
it is
stored. For example, for music files, users are forced to keep copies on
various systems
and to try to track which music files are located where. This can make files
difficult to
locate, even when they are locally stored.
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It is also sometimes difficult to find and return to files that a user has. A
user may
find it difficult to recall where and how they stored certain files. Given a
set of folders
and even a group of similar files, users often find it difficult to quickly
find the one that
they are looking for. For files stored in a difficult place to find, it is
that much more
complex to locate. In addition, once users have enough files in a folder, it
becomes more
difficult to parse the folder quickly, especially if the contents are similar.
It is also sometimes difficult for users to find or retu to files on a
network.
Sharing and publishing files is often hard to do, and it may often be even
more difficult to
retrieve such a file from someone who makes it available. Users typically have
to
memorize or map the various sites and names that they need for finding files
on a
network.
Name spaces may vary, which can cause confusion to the user as to what is
"correct." This is particularly true on a network where there are different
naming
conventions, limitations, and so on. For example, certain operating systems
may require
short names with no spaces in order for them to be visible.
Programs also often save files to their own directory or other name spaces,
which
can make it difficult for users to find their way back to the files. Programs
often have
default directories and places they save documents. A user often has to search
through
their hard disk and make guesses about where a file is stored.
Related items are also often stored in separate places. Related files that a
user has
may be stored on different parts of the hard disk, etc. This problem becomes
more
common withh the developments of digital media services that have multiple
content types
(e.g., pictures, music, video).
Another issue with file systems is related to the address bar. As users
navigate
within a file system on a compwer, a conventional graphical interface control,
referred to
as an address bar, shows the users where they are in the file system
hierarchy. The
conventional address bar shows the current location in terms of the file
system's
hierarchical structure of folders, subfolders, and files. Altering the user's
location
displayed in the conventional address bar is typically performed in one of two
manners.
The first is to manually edit the address in the address bar. Manually editing
the address
in the address bar permits a user to relocate to any number of locations in
the file system
hierarchy, but requires the user to have specific information regarding the
organization of
the file system on the computer, i,e., a specific file system location. The
second method
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involves using external navigation tools which, when manipulated, update the
address bar
to reflect the new address or location. While bypassing the manual edit of the
address in
the address bar, manipulating external navigation tools still requires the
user to have
specific information concerning the organization of the file system and
traverse the
hierarchical structure. However, conventional address bars cannot reference
files or data
stored among multiple file system locations, such as folders or drives, due to
a one-to-one
relationship between the address in the address bar and a specific location in
the file
system hierarchy.
The prior art lacks an address bar that allows users to specify addresses that
display files stored among multiple file system locations. The prior art
further lacks an
address bar that also permits users to easily modify the address of the
address bar without
manually editing the. address, or requiring specific knowledge concerning the
organization of the underlying file system. Also lacking in the prior art is
an address bar
that presents alternative selections of files to the user from which the user
may select to
navigate to those selections of flies. Such an address bar could also
selectively present a
conventional address bar interface to the user enabling the user to interact
with the
address bar according to previous experience according to user preferences.
Another issue with file systems is related to the identification of items
stored on a
computer. The need to readily identify items stored in a computing environment
such as
a personal computer (PC) is dramatically increasing as more individuals
utilize computers
in their daily routines and as the type of stored information varies between
pictures,
music, docu.Ynents, etc. Documents and media are typically stored on computers
in a
hierarchical fashion and are organized with files of information or media
stored within
folders. File system browsers enable users to navigate through the file system
and locate
and open files and folders. For example, Microsoft Corporation's WINDOW s
EXPLORERTM is an operating system utility which enables users to browse the
file
system.
Many users find it difficult to correctly identify a file based on the
information
currently available in conventional file system browsers, Of course the
contents of a file
can be verified by opening it with an application program, but this method of
browsing
files is extremely inefficient. The ability to view metadata about a file
within a. file
system browser can greatly assist a. user in identifying a particular file
without having to
open it. In Microsoft Corporation's WINDOWS 9X operating systems, for
example, a
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user can view object metadata by accessing the property sheet for a particular
object. A
property sheet presents the user with a list of the attributes or settings of
an object in the
form of a tabbed, index-card-like selection of property pages, each of which
features
standard dialog-style controls for customizing parameters. However, using the
property
sheet to locate an item can be slow and cumbersome, and some users find it
difficult to
locate the relevant metadata in a property sheet. Similarly, the use
ofinfotips to locate an
item can be slow and cumbersome because a user must hover the mouse over each
file in
order to view the limited rnetadata displayed in an infotip.
Conventional file system browsers do not allow users to enter and edit
metadata
relating to files and folders, which would significantly enhance a user's
ability to later
locate a file. To date, the ability of users to enter and edit metadata has
been limited to
special purpose software programs. For example, media players for electronic
music files
present users with the ability to edit metadata associated with music albums
and artists.
Another example of such programs includes application programs for electronic
picture
files. However, the utility of media players and other such programs is
limited to the
particular type of file supported by the program, as opposed to a general
purpose file
system browser which supports multiple file types.
Microsoft Corporation's WINDOWS@ XP operating system includes an image
browser for use in the My Pictures folder. The My Pictures folder is endowed
with
special features which enable users to view pictures as photos, not just as
document icons.
My Picture's image browsing features include the ability to view thumbnail-
size and large
versions of photos, rotate photos that are sideways, and create a slide show.
A user can
also view a photo's details, such as its dimensions, the date and time it was
taken, and the
name of the camera that took it. The preview control area in the My Picture's
folder
contains an enlarged preview image of a user-selected image, iterator buttons
to assist a
.user in iterating through a series of pictures and controls for rotating
pictures in a
clockwise or counterclockwise direction. While the image browsing features in
WINDOWS XP have advanced the state of the art by alleviating the need to
invoke an
application program to view and manipulate pictures, users stall cannot enter
and edit
metadata associated with the pictures.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved user experience within a shell or
file
system browser which enables users to readily locate an item based on the
metadata
associated with that item. There is also a need for a system and method which
allow
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users to enter and edit metadata associated with items of 'various types
Within a shell
browser without the need to invoke an application program. There is also a
need for a file
system or shell browser which offers users improved file content recognition
features so
that users can readily locate their files. A need also exists for an improved
graphical user
interface for a shell browser which allows for the selection of a previewer
far a particular
file type from a plurality of available previewers. There is also a need for
an extensible
shell browser which would allow software developers to provide additional
information
and functionality to users on a file type basis. There is also a need to
provide a similar UI
experience across different collections of items.
1C S1MV.;ARY OF -1 HE INVENTION
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a system and method utilizing
virtual folders is provided. The virtual folders expose regular files and
folders (also
known as directories) to users in different views based on their metadata
instead of the
actual physical underlying file system structure on the disk. Thus, the system
is able to
take a property that is stored in the database and represent it as a container
that is like a
folder, Since users are already familiar with working with folders, by
presenting the
virtual folders in a similar manner, users can adapt to the new system more
quickly.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the virtual folders are
provided according to a method that is utilized in a computer system having a
display and
a memory for storing the items. In accordance with the method, a metadata
property is
selected. The system then searches for items that have the selected metadata
property,
and a virtual folder display object is provided that represents the collection
of items that
have the metadata property.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the system includes a
folder
processor that obtains queries from a user and a relational database for
storing
information about the items. The folder processor first obtains a query from a
user and
passes the query to the relational database. The relational database provides
results back
to the folder processor, and based on the results from the relational
database, the folder
processor provides the results to the user as virtual folders. In one
embodiment, the
results that are provided back to the folder processor include database rows
and columns.
The database rows and columns are converted by the folder processor into an.
enumerator
structure, which is then used to populate the display with the resulting
virtual folders.
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In accordance with another aspect of the invention, users are able to work
with the
virtual folders through direct manipulation. In other words, the mechanisms
that are
provided for manipulating the virtual folders are similar to those that are
currently used
for manipulating conventional physical folders (e.g., clicking and dragging,
copying,
pasting, etc.).
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the method for performing
the
direct manipulation of the virtual folders is provided in a computer system
having a
display and a memory for storing the items. In accordance with the method,
groups of
items are represented as virtual. folders. Defined actions are provided that
can be
performed for direct manipulation of the virtual ffolders, wherein when a
defined action is
performed, the virtual folder is manipulated as directed by the defined
action. An
example of a defined action would be clicking and dragging a virtual folder.
In one
embodiment, the action of clicking and dragging a first virtual folder to a
second virtual
folder performs the function of copying the items from the first virtual
folder to the
second virtual folder. The copying of items to a virtual folder may involve
adding or
otherwise altering selected metadata properties that are associated with the
items.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, filters are provided for
manipulating the virtual folders. The filters are essentially tools for
narrowing down a set
of items. In one embodiment, the filters are dynamically generated based on
the
properties of the separate items. For example, for a set of items, the filter
mechanism
may review the properties, and if the items generally have "authors" as a
property, the
filter can provide a list of the authors. Then by clicking on a particular
author, the items
that don't have the author disappear. This allows _lre user to narrow the
contents.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method for filtering
items is
provided in a computer system having a display and a memory for storing items
with
metadata properties. Display objects are provided on the display that each
represent one
or more items. The metadata properties of the items that are represented by
the display
objects are evaluated. A filter term is provided on the display that
corresponds to a
metadata property that is shared by a plurality of the items, wherein the
selection of the
filter term causes the items that are represented on the display to be reduced
to those
items that share the specified rnetadata property.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a plurality of items are
represented on the display, and a filter term is dynamically generated based
on the
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metadata properties of the items. IN-hen the filter term is selected, it
reduces the items
that are represented on the display to those that have the metadata property
that
corresponds to the filter terry.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a plurality of items are
represented on the display, and a filter area is provided in which a user can
enter a filter
term. When a filter term is entered by the user, the items that are
represented on the
display are reduced to those that contain the filter term. As the user types
the filter term,
additional items may be filtered as each new character is added to the filter
term.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a back button is provided
which may be used to back through a filtering process. For example, after a
user has
entered a filter tern, the user may wish to return to the set of items that
were represented
on the display before the filter terra was applied. The back button allows the
user to back
up to the desired point in the filter navigation.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, quick links are provided.
In
one embodiment, quick links are a set of predefined links (e.g., located on
the left side of
the display) that can be clicked an to generate useful views of the sets of
items. These
can be predefined by the program, or set by a user. For example, clicking on
"all authors"
could return a view stacked by aud: ors. "All documents" may return a flat
view of all the
documents across all of the storage areas. Users can also create their own
quick links.
For example, a user might filter down to all of the documents that they
modified in
January 2003, and then could save that as a quick link.
In accordance with another aspect of the :invention, a method for providing
quick
links is implemented in a computer system having a display and a memory for
storing
items. In accordance with the method, a user first navigates to a view of a
desired
collection of items. A quick link that corresponds to the desired collection
of items is
saved and is provided with a name. The name: of the quick link is presented on
the
display such that by clicking on the quick link a user can return to the view
of the desired
collection of items.
In accordance with. another aspect of the invention, libraries are provided.
Libraries consist of large groups of usable types of files that can be
associated together.
For example, photos may be one library, music may be another, and documents
may be
another. The libraries provide tools and activities that are related to the
particular types
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of items. For example, in the photo library, there are tools and filters that
relate to
manipulating photos, such as for creating slide shows or sharing pictures.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method for creating
libraries
is provided in a computer systeni with a display and a memory for= storing
items. The
;method begins by creating a library to contain items with one or more
specified metadata
properties. '`hen, items with the one or more specifie6 nretadata properties
are
automatically grouped into the library. Tools are also provided for
manipulating the
items of the library.
in accordance with another aspect of the invention, a M de scope of files or
items
may be available. In other words, the system is able to represent files/items
from
multiple physical locations `e.g., different hard drives, different computers,
different
network locations, etc.) so that to a user all the items appear to be from one
location. For
example, a user can be presented with all of their music files on a single
screen, and
manipulate the files all from one view, even though the files may be
physically stored on
different hard drives, different computers, or different network locations.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a scope is utilized in a
method
for displaying items in a computer system having a display. The method
involves
defining a scope of the physical: memory locations from which items are to be
drawn, the
scope comprising the present computer memory and at least one other physical
location.
Once a query is received, is response to the query items are drawn from the
physical
locations as defined in the scope,, and the items that are drawna from the
query are then
presented in a view on the display. In one embodiment, the at least one other
physical
location may be another computer, a location on a network, or an external
storage device.
In one embodiment, the view on the display can be switched to a physical
folder view
which indicates the physical locations where the items are physically stored.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, non-file items may be
represented in the virtual folders. In other words, files that are stored in
memory are
located in a physical store. The virtual folders can be Trade to include items
that are not
currently represented in the physical store. Examples of non-file items are e-
mails, and
contacts.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method for presenting
non-
file items is implemented in a computer system with a display and a memory for
storing
items. The method includes providing a database that allows both non-file
items and file
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items to be searched by a quer:y.. Once a query is received, both noel-file
items and file
items that match the query are drawn, and the items that match the query are
then
presented on the display. In one embodiment, a relational database is provided
that
includes selected information about file items, and which may hold certain non-
file items
in their entireties.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a virtual address bar for
selecting content stored on a computer file system is provided. A virtual
address bar
comprises a plurality of segments. Each segment corresponds to a filter for
selecting
content stored on the computer file system. Collectively, the corresponding
filters of
each segment in the virtual address bar represent a virtual address for
selecting content
stored on a computer file system.
Each segment is an interactive segment that can respond to user interactions
to
modify the virtual address of the virtual address bar. Select:irg a segment in
the virtual
address bar causes those segments subsequent to the selected segment to be
removed
1.5 from the virtual address bar. Alternatively selecting a segment in the
virtual address bar
causes a list of selectable peer filters to be displayed to the user. The peer
filters are peers
to the alternatively selected segment's corresponding filter. Selecting one of
the peer
filters causes the alternatively selected segment to replace its corresponding
filter with the
selected peer filter. Additionab.y, those segments subsequent to 'die
alternatively selected
filter segment are removed from., the virtual address bar.
Segments may be added to the virtual address bar according to external user
actions. Segments are added at the end of the segments in the virtual address
bar. Any
segments that conflict with an added segment are removed. Am existing segment
in the
virtual address bar conflicts with the added segment when the existing segment
is
mutually exclusive to the added segmenYc. An existing segment in the virtual
address bar
also conflicts with the added segment when the existing segment is broader or
narrower
in scope than the added segment.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a shell browser is
provided
which includes a window and an edit control. The window displays a group of
items and
also displays metadata values associated with one or more of the displayed
items. The
edit control permits user modification of at least a portion of the metadata
values
displayed in the window.
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In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a graphical user interface
is
embodied on a computer-readable medium and is executable orr a computer. The
graphical user interface includes a first screen area which displays a :;et of
items in a shell
browser and a second screen area which displays metadata associated with one
or more of
the displayed items. The graphical user interface also presents the user with
means
within the shell browser for modifying the displayed metadata.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, computer-implemented
methods are provided for enabling a user to modify metadata within a shell
browser. One
such method includes displaying a plurality of items, receiving a first input
from the user
representing a selection of at least one displayed item, displaying metadata
associated
with the selected item(s) and providing an edit control for user modification
of the
displayed metadata. Another such method includes displaying a welcome pane and
metadata associated with the welcome pane and providing an edit control for
user
modification of the displayed retadata.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a data structure
containing
metadata associated with one or more items is displayed in a shell browser.
The data
structure, which is stored on one or more computer-readable media, includes a
field
containing user modifiable metadata associated with the one or more displayed
items, and
the user modifiable metadata contained in the data structure is also displayed
in the shell
browser.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a shell browser is
provided
which includes a default previewer and an extensibility rrmechanism. The
default
previewer provides a standard level of functionality for multiple item types.
The
extensibility mechanism enables functionality beyond the standard level
provided by the
default previewer for one or more of the item types.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a shell browser is
provided
which includes a first previewer and a second previewer. The first previewer
provides a
standard level of functionality for multiple item types, and the second
previewer provides
an alternative or extended level of functionality for one or -sore of the
multiple item
types. The shell browser is con igured to selectively deploy either the first
previewer or
the second previewer for the one or more item types.
in accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a graphical user
interface for a shell browser which supports multiple item types is provided.
The
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graphical user interface includes a first screen area for displaying a set of
items in the
shell browser and means for selecting a previewer for the displayed items from
a plurality
of available previewers.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a co:: puter-implemented
method is provided for selecting a previewer in a shell browser which supports
multiple
item types. The method includes providing a plurality of previewers in the
shell browser
for a particular item type and selecting one of the previewers for the
particular item type.
The method then associates the selected previewer with the particular item
type.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a computer-implerrlented
method is provided for enabling the use of third party previewers in a shell
browser
which supports multiple item types. The method includes providing a shell
browser
having a default previewer for The multiple item types and providing an
extensibility
mechanism which enables a third party to develop an alternative previewer for
at least
one of the multiple item types.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a data structure is
provided
which contains information indicative of a plurality of previewers in a shell
browser. The
data structure, which is stored on one or more computer-readable media,
includes a first
field containing information. indicative of a default previewer which supports
multiple
item types. A. second field contains information :indicative of an alternative
previewer for
a first item type, and a third field contains information indicative of
whether to invoke the
default previewer or the alternative previewer when items of the first item
type are
displayed in the shell browser.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, different types of items
are
grouped into libraries for which a similar set of basic UI features are
provided. In other
words, a similar set of basic UI features is provided for different types of
libraries, such
as a document library, a photo library, and a music library. This set of basic
UI features
may include features such as filtering, creating new categories, editing the
metadata of
the items, altering the pivots, etc. The similar set of basic UI features for
the libraries
allows a user to process and organize different types of items using
attributes and features
they are already familiar with.
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According to another aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a method in a computer system with a display and a memory for
providing a virtual path to items stored in a computer file system using a
virtual
address bar, the method comprising: displaying a virtual address bar operable
to
include a first interactive segment, wherein the first interactive segment
references
items on the computer file system according to a corresponding filter for
selecting
items; adding one or more additional interactive segments to the virtual
address
bar, wherein each additional interactive segment further restricts the items
referenced by the preceding interactive segments; and wherein each segment in
the virtual address bar represents an actionable, interactive user interface
element
that is able to display a filter view, wherein a plurality of filters
corresponds to each
segment; wherein the first interactive segment and the one or more additional
interactive segments comprise a virtual path in a virtual folder structure.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is
provided in a computer system having a display and a memory for storing items
with
metadata properties, a method of filtering items, the method comprising:
providing a
plurality of display objects on the display that each represent one or more
items;
filtering the items represented by the display objects based on a filter term;
modifying
the display objects that are provided on the display so as to represent the
items that
remain after the filtering of the items, including displaying a time-rotating
sample of a
plurality of metadata associated with the items; and a virtual address bar
method for
providing a virtual path to items stored in a computer file system using a
virtual
address bar, the virtual address bar method comprising: displaying a virtual
address
bar operable to include a first interactive segment, wherein the first
interactive
segment references items on the computer file system according to a
corresponding
filter for selecting items; and adding one or more additional interactive
segment to the
virtual address bar, wherein each additional interactive segment further
restricts the
items referenced by the preceding interactive segments; wherein the first
interactive
segment and the one or more additional interactive segments comprise a virtual
path.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a computer-implemented method for enabling a user to modify metadata
within a shell browser, the method comprising: displaying a plurality of
items;
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receiving a first input from the user representing a selection of at least one
displayed item; displaying metadata associated with the at least one selected
item;
displaying, in response to a user hover input, a control for user modification
of the
displayed metadata; and a virtual address bar method for providing a virtual
path to
items stored in a computer file system using a virtual address bar, the
virtual
address bar method comprising: displaying a virtual address bar operable to
include
a first interactive segment, wherein the first interactive segment references
items on
the computer file system according to a corresponding filter for selecting
items; and
adding one or more additional interactive segment to the virtual address bar,
wherein each additional interactive segment further restricts the items
referenced by
the preceding interactive segments; wherein the first interactive segment and
the
one or more additional interactive segments comprise a virtual path.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a computer-implemented method for enabling the use of third party
previewers in a shell browser which supports multiple item types, the method
comprising: providing an operating system with a shell browser having a
default
previewer for the multiple item types; providing an extensibility mechanism
which
enables a third party to develop an alternative previewer that operates in the
shell
browser for at least one of the multiple item types by exposing a set of
application
program interfaces, APIs, by a user configuration, by a pointer to HTML, or by
hosting a flash; and a virtual address bar method for providing a virtual path
to items
stored in a computer file system using a virtual address bar, the virtual
address bar
method comprising: displaying a virtual address bar operable to include a
first
interactive segment, wherein the first interactive segment references items on
the
computer file system according to a corresponding filter for selecting items;
and
adding one or more additional interactive segment to the virtual address bar,
wherein each additional interactive segment further restricts the items
referenced by
the preceding interactive segments; wherein the first interactive segment and
the
one or more additional interactive segments comprise a virtual path.
According to yet a further aspect of the present invention, there is
provided in a computer system with a display and a memory for storing items,
the
items being of a plurality of different types, a method for presenting
libraries of the
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items, comprising: providing libraries for containing items of similar types;
providing a similar set of UI features for each of the libraries, wherein the
set of UI
features includes a control for modifying metadata of one of the items that is
displayed in response to a user hover input, and wherein the set UI features
further includes a control that displays a time-rotating sample of a plurality
of
metadata associated with at least some of the items; and a virtual address bar
method for providing a virtual path to items stored in a computer file system
using
a virtual address bar, the virtual address bar method comprising: displaying a
virtual address bar operable to include a first interactive segment, wherein
the first
interactive segment references items on the computer file system according to
a
corresponding filter for selecting items; and adding one or more additional
interactive segment to the virtual address bar, wherein each additional
interactive
segment further restricts the items referenced by the preceding interactive
segments; wherein the first interactive segment and the one or more additional
interactive segments comprise a virtual path.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE 1 R.AWFNIGS
The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention
will
become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by
reference to
the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the
accompanying
drawings, wherein:
FIGURE 1 is a block diagram of a general purpose computer system suitable for
implementing the present invention;
FIGURE 2 is a block diagr a. of a virtual folder system in accordance with the
present invention;
FIGURE 3 is a flow diagram illustrative of a routine by which a user provides
a
query that draws back selected files and folders;
FIGURE 4 is a flow diagr'arn illustrative of a routine by which virtual
folders are
constructed and displayed on the screen in accordance with either a default
query or a
query from the user;
FIGURE 5 is a tree diagram of a folder structure in accordance with a physical
folder arrangement on a hard drive;
FIGURE 6 is a tree diagram of a virtual folder structure;
FIGURE 7 is a tree diagram of the virtual folder structure of FIGURE 6,
wherein
the clients stack is further filtered by contracts and year;
FIGURE 8 is a tree diagram of the virtual folder structure of FIGURE-E-7,
wherein
the contracts of the clients stack are further filtered by year;
FIGURE 9 is a tree diagram of the virtual folder structure of FIGURE 6,
wherein
the contracts stack is further filtered by clients and year, of which s:he
clients are still
further filtered by year;
FIGURE 10 is a diagramT:-_ illustrative of a screen display showing the stacks
of a
document library;
FIGURE 11 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display showing the documents
in
the ABC Corp. stack of FIGURE 10;
FIGURE 12 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which a stacking
function is selected for the documents of FIGURE 11;
FIGURE 13 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which a "stack by
author" parameter is selected for he stacking function of FIGURE 12;
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FIGURE 14 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which the files of
F IGURE 13 have been stacked by author;
FIGURE 15 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which a stacking
function is selected and a "stack by category" options D rther selected for
restacking the
files of FIGURE 14;
FIGURE 16 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display iq which the files of
FIGURE 14 have been restacked by category;
FIGURE 17 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which a quick link
for
showing physical folders is selected;
FIGURE 18 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which the physical
folders are shown which contain the files of the virtual folder stacks of
FIGURE 17;
FIGURE 19 is a flow diagram illustrative of a routine by which a user can
directly
manipulate virtual folders;
FIGURE 20 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which a new "West
Coast" stack has been added to the stacks of FIGURE 10;
FIGURE 21 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which direct
manipulation is used for copying the files from the "ABC Corp." stack to the
"West
Coast" stack of FIGURE 20;
FIGURE 22 is a flow diagram illustrative of a routine for the system
dynamically
generating new filter terms;
FIGURE 23 is a flown diagram illustrative of a routine for the system
filtering
items based on the selection of a filter term;
FIGURE 24 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which the stacks of
FIGURE 10 have been filtered by the term "";
FIGURE 25 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which the stacks of
FIGURE 10 have been filtered by the term "AEC";
FIGURE 26 is a diagram i ilustrative of a screen display in which the filter
term
"year 2002" is selected for the stacks of FIGURE 10;
FIGURE 27 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which the stacks of
FIGURE 10 have been filtered by the "year 2002" and the further selection of
the filter
term "month";
FIGURE 28 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which a list is
presented for selecting a month for filtering;
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FIGURE 29 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display wherein the stacks of
FIGURE 10 have been furtther filtered by the month of January, and further
showing a
filter term of "day";
FIGURE 30 is a flow diagram illustrative of a routine for creating a new
quick.
link;
FIGURE 31 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display for creating a new
quick
link called "January Work" based on the filtering of FIGURE 229;
FIGURE 32 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which a quick link
of
"All Authors" is selected;
to FIGURE 33 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which a list of
all of the
authors of FIGURE 32 is presented;
FIGURE 34 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which "Author l"
has
been selected from the list of F:CURE 33 and all of the Author i s documents
are shown;
FIGURE 35 is a flow diagram illustrative of a routine for creating a new
library;
FIGURE 36 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which a collection
of
various available libraries are shown;
FIGURE 37 is a flow diagram illustrative of a routine for defining the scope
of a
virtual folder collection;
FIGURE 38 is a block diagram illustrative of the various sources which may
form
the scope of a virtual folder collection;
FIGURE 39 is a flow diagram illustrative of a routine for including non-file
items
in a virtual folder collection;
FIGURE 40 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display showing various non-
file
items included in a virtual folder;
FIGURE 41 is a pictorial diagram of an exemplary networked computer
environment suitable for implementing the present invention;
FIGURE 42 is a pictorial diagram illustrating an exemplary file viewer having
a
conventional address bar associated with displaying files in a computer file
system, as
found in the prior art;
FIGURE 43 is a pictorial diagram illustrating an exemplary file viewer for
displaying files in a computer file system in accordance with a virtual
address in a virtual
address bar formed in accordance with the present invention;
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FIGURE 44A is a pictorial diagram of the exemplary file viewer of FIGURE 5
illustrating selecting a segment of the virtual address in the virtual address
bar to navigate
in the file system;
FIGURE 44B is a pictorial diagram of the exemplary file vieraer of FIGURRE 45A
illustrating the results of selecting a segment of the virtual address in the
virtual address
bar;
FIGURES 45A-45D are pictorial diagrams illustrating selecting a peer filter
associated with a segment of a virtual address in a virtual address bar;
FIGURES 46A-46D are pictorial diagrams illustrating adding additional filters
to
a virtual address in a virtual address bar;
FIGURES 47A and 47B are pictorial diagrams illustrating an exemplary virtual
address bar displaying a virtual address where the virtual address exceeds the
virtual
address bar's display capacity;
FIGURE 48A is a pictorial diagram illustrating an exemplary virtual address
bar
having a virtual address with Biters referencing both virtual and actual
locations in a file
system;
FIGURE 48B is a pictorial diagram illustrating the exemplary virtual address
bar
of FIGURE 48A as configured to display a conventional address bar;
FIGURE 49 is a flow diiagrarn illustrative of an alternate filter selection
routine
for selecting alternate filters in a virtual address bar;
FIGURE 50 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary add filter routine for
adding a filter to a virtual address in a virtual address bar;
FIGURE 51A is a block diagram of an exemplary graphical user interface fir a
shell browser having an edit control in accordance with an embodiment of the
present
invention;
FIGURE 51 B is a block diagram of an exemplary graphical user interface for a
shell browser having one or more edit controls in accordance with an
embodiment of the
present invention;
FIGURE 52 is a schematic diagram. of a welcome pane in a she browser;
FIGURE 53 is a schematic diagram of a selected pane in a shell browser;
FIGURE 54 is a schematic diagram of the selected pane of FIGURE 53 including
a context menu enabling a user to modify metadata in a shell browser in
accordance with
an embodiment of the present invention;
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FIGURE 55 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for enabling a user to
modify
metadata displayed in a welcome pane within a shell browser in accordance with
an
embodiment of the present invention;
FIGURE 56 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for enabling a user to
modify
metadata displayed in a selected pane within a shell browser in accordance
with an
embodiment of the present invention;
FIGURE 57 is a block diagram of a data structure containing user modifiable
metadata associated with an item displayed in a shell browser;
FIGURE 59 is a schematic diagram of a prior art graphical user interface for
browsing pictures stored in a folder within a shell browser environment which
is used for
viewing other non-pictorial files and folders;
FIGURE 59 is a block diagram of an exemplary graphical user interface for a
shell browser;
FIGURE 60 is a schematic diagram of a welcome pane; in a shell browser;
FIGURE 61 is a schematic diagram of a selected pane in a shell browser;
FIGURE 62 is a schematic diagram of a selected pane in a shell browser with
extended controls in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIGURE 63 is a schematic diagram of a selected pane similar to FIGURE 61 but
including a context menu enabling a user to select a previewer in a shell
browser in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIGURE 64A is a flow diagram illustrating a method for enabling a user to
select
a previewer in a shell browser in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention;
FIGURE 64B is a flow diagram illustrating a method for enabling the system to
select a previewer in a shell browser in accordance with an embodiment of the
present
invention;
FIGURE 65 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for enabling the use of
third
party previewers in a shell browser in accordance with an embodiment of the
present
invention; and
FIGURE 66 is a block diagram of a data structure containing information
indicative of multiple previewers in a shell browser.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The present invention is directed to a file system shell which incorporates a
number of desirable features. In essence, the shell provides users with the
ability to view
and manipulate files and other items that are stored on a computer. The
following
description first provides a summary of the features that are shown in the
FIGURES 1-66,
and then provides a detailed discussion.
In summary, FIGURES 1-9 are generally directed to an overall system for
virtual
folders. Virtual folders provide a method for allowing a conventional user
interface to
expose regular files and folders (also known as directories) to users in
different views
based on their metadata instead of the actual physical underlying file system
structure on
the disk. FIGURES 10-18 are generally directed to stacks, which are related to
the ability
of the virtual folders to take any property that is stored in the database and
represent it as
a container that is like a folder. FIGURES 19-21 are generally directed to
direct
manipulation of virtual folders, which relates to providing mechanisms for
manipulating
1.5 virtual folders that are similar to the mechanisms currently used for
manipulating
standard folders (e.g., copying, pasting, clicking and dragging, etc.).
FIGURES 22-29 are
generally directed to filters, wch provide a set of tools for narrowing down a
set of
files/items. FIGURES 30-34 are generally directed to quick links, which are a
set of
predefined links that can be clicked on to generate useful views of sets of
files/items.
FIGURES 35-36 are generally directed to libraries, which are related to the
concept that
groups of usable types of files can be associated together, and that tools and
activities that
are related to the particular types of items can be provided. FIGURES 37-38
are
generally directed to scope which is related to the concept of being able to
acquire
files/items from multiple physical locations (e.g., different hard drives,
different
computers, from a computer in a network location, etc.) so that to the user
all the
files/items are presented with the same convenience as if they were being
provided from
one location. FIGURES 39-40 are generally directed to non-file items, which
can be
included in the database along with files, and which can include items such as
emails and
contacts. FIGURES 41-50 are generally directed to a virtual address bar which
comprises
a plurality of segments, each segment corresponding to a filter for selecting
content.
FIGURES 51-57 are generally directed to a shell browser, with which: users can
readily
identify an item based on the metadata associated with that item. F GURES 58-
66 are
generally directed to extending the functionality of an object previewer in a
shell browser
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configured to display a plurality of items representing multiple item types.
The following
description provides a detailed discussion of each of these aspects of the
invention.
As noted above, FIGURES 11-9 are generally directed to a system for
implementing virtual folders. Virtual folders utilize the same or similar user
interfaces
that are currently used for file systems. The virtual folders expose regular
files and
folders (also known as directories) to users in different views based on their
metadata
instead of the actual physical underlying file system structure on the disk.
Location-
independent views are created which allow users to manipulate their files and
folders
utilizing similar controls as those presently used for managing file systems.
In general,
this means that users can organize and rearrange their files based on inherent
properties in
the files themselves, instead of the managing and organization being done as a
separate
part of the system. The virtual folders may represent files or items from
different
physical locations, such as from multiple disk drives within the same
computer, between
multiple computers, or different network locations, such that one view of
files or items
:15 can expose files or items sitting at different physical locations. In one
embodiment, the
different items or files need only be connected via an IP network in order to
be included.
The virtual folder modeling is also able to be used for. traditionally non-
file
entities. An application of this is to have a set of user interfaces similar
to files and
folders (that is, objects and containers) to show traditionally non-file
entities. One
example of such non-file entities would be e-mails, while another would be
contact
information from a contact database. In this manner, virtual folders provide
for a
location-independent, metadata-based view system that works regardless of
whether the
data being shown is from files or non-file entities. In general, these aspects
allow more
flexibility in terms of letting users manipulate their files and data, using
both common
user interface techniques (drag and drop, double-click, etc.) as well as
leveraging the rich
integration of various data types.
FIGURE I and the following discussion are intended to -provide a brief,
general
description of a suitable computing environment in which the virtual folders,
and any of
the other aspects of the present invention that are described herein, may be
implemented.
Although not required, the invention will be described in the general context
of computer-
executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a personal
computer. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, characters,
components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement
particular
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abstract data types. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the
invention may be
practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held
devices,
multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer
electronics,
network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. The invention
may
also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are
performed by
remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In
a
distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both
local and
remote memory storage devices.
With reference to FIGURE an exemplary system for implementing the
invention includes a general purpose computing device in the form of a
conventional
personal computer 20, including a processing unit 21, system memory 22, and a
system
bus 23 that couples various system components including the system memory 22
to the
processing unit 21. The system bus 23 may be any of several types of bus
structures
including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus
using any
'15 of a variety of bus architectures. The system memory includes read-only
memory
(ROM) 24 and random access memory (RA 4) 25. A basic input/output system
(BIOS) 26, containing the basic routines that helps to transfer information
between
elements within the personal computer 20, such as during start-up, is stored
in ROM 24.
The personal computer 20 _ urther includes a hard disk drive 27 for reading
from or
writing to a hard disk 39, a magnetic disk drive 28 for reading from or
writing to a
removable magnetic disk 29, and an optical disk drive 30 for reading from or
writing to a
removable optical disk 31, such as a CD-ROM or other optical media. The hard
disk
drive 27, magnetic disk drive 28, and optical disk drive 30 are connected to
the system
bus 23 by a hard disk drive interace 32, a magnetic disk drive interface 33,
and an optical
drive interface 34, respectively. The drives and their associated computer-
readable media
provide non-volatile storage of computer-readable instructions, data
structures, program
modules, and other data for the personal computer 20. Although the exemplary
environment described herein employs a hard disk 39, a removable magnetic disk
29, and
a removable optical disk 31, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the
art that other
types of computer-readable media which can store data that is accessible by a
Computer,
such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital video disks, Bernoulli
cartridges,
random access memories ( is), read-only memories (ROMs), and the like, may
also
be used in the exemplary operating environment.
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A number of program modules may be stored on the hard disk 39, magnetic
disk 29, optical disk 31, ROAI 24 or RAM 25, including an operating system 35,
one or
more application programs 36, other program modules 37 and program data 38. A
user
may enter commands and information into the personal computer 20 through input
devices such as a keyboard 40 and pointing device 42. Other input devices (not
shown)
may include a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish,, scanner, or the
like. These
and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit 21 through
a serial port
interface 46 that is coupled to the system bus 23, but may also be connected
by other
interfaces, such as a parallel port, game port or a universal serhhal bus
(USB). A display in
the form of a monitor 4-1 is also connected to the system bus 23 via an
interface, such as a
video card or adapter 48. One or more speakers 57 may also be connected to the
system
bus 23 via an interface, such as an audio adapter 56. In addition to the
display and
speakers, personal computers typically include other peripheral output devices
(not
shown), such as printers.
The personal computer 20 may operate in a networked environment using logical
connections to one or more personal computers, such as a remote computer 49.
The
remote computer 49 may be another personal computer, a server, a router, a
network PC,
a peer device or other common network node, and typically includes many or all
of the
elements described above relative to the personal computer 20. The logical
connections
depicted in FIGURE I include a local area network (LAN) 51 and F. wide area
network
(WAN) 52. Such networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-
wide
computer networks, intranets, and the Internet.
When used in a LAN networking environment, the personal computer 20 is
connected to the local area network 51 through a network interface o adapter
53. When
used in a WAN networking environment, the personal computer 20 typically
includes a
modem 54 or other means for establishing communications over the wide area
network 52, such as the Internet, The modem 54, which may be internal or
external, is
connected to the system bus 23 via the serial port interface 46. In a
networked
environment, program modules depicted relative to the personal computer 20 or
portions
thereof may be stored in the remote memory storage device. I ft will be
appreciated that
the network connections shown are exemplary, and other means of establishing a
communications link between the computers may be used.
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As implemented on a system of the type illustrated in FIGURE 1, the present
invention utilizes virtual folders which make it easier for users to perform
basic tasks
around file manipulation and folder navigation (browsing) and to provide
higher level
storage capabilities which can be leveraged in new features. The virtual
fblders expose
files and items to users in different views based on their metadata instead of
the actual
physical underlying file system structure on the disk.
FIGURE 2 is a block diagram of a virtual folder system 200 in accordance with
the present invention. As will be described in more detail below. r, the
virtual folders allow
a user to change the "pivot" which controls the way the data is viewed. As an
example, a
user could view their music as a flat list of all the songs, which can be
grouped by album.
Alternatively, the user could switch the view to show only the genres or
artists or years,
etc. The user can tailor the view to see only the objects suite `d to the task
at hand. This
allows an improved browsing experience that negates the need for further
navigation
through folders (both down and back up). The same lessons and capabilities
apply to
modeling other data-types not stored as files. Contacts, for example, can be
exposed to
the user in this way, giving them familiar interface capabilities, as well as
richer
infrastructure for manipulating them than is provided by a flat address book.
As illustrated in, FIGURE 2, the virtual folder system 200 includes a folder
processor 210, a relational database 230, a virtual folder descriptions
database 232, an
other shell folders component 234, a folder handler's component 236, and a
shell browser
and view component 240. The folder processor 210 includes a native handling
code
component 212, a handler factory component 2'14, a property writer component
216, a
rowset parser component 218, a query builder component 220, an enumerator
component 222, and a property factory component 224.
The relational database 230 stores properties about all files in the system.
It also
stores some items, like contacts (i.e., non-file items), entirely. In general,
it stores
metadata about the types of files and items that it contains. The relational
database 230
receives SQL queries from the query builder 220. The relational database 230
also sends
SQL rowsets to the rowset parser component 218, with one row per item column,
columns being the item properties.
The virtual folder descriptions database 232 includes the virtual folder
descriptions. The virtual folder descriptions database 232 sends data to the
query builder
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component 220, including a list of types to display in the folder, the initial
filter, and the
physical locations to show results from (the scopes).
With regard to the other shell folders component 234, the folder processor 210
delegates to existing shell folders from many types of items, including all
files, for
handlers or properties. The other shell folders component 234 sends properties
from
other folders to the property factory 224. The other shell folders component
also sends
handlers to the handler factory 214.
The folder handlers component 236 provides code behavior for the items that
exist
only in the database, like contacts. TI-is is what allows non-file items to
behave akin to
Liles. The folder handlers component 236 sends handlers to the handler factory
214.
For the native handling code component 212, the folder processor 210 directly
implements certain handlers based on the properties of the items. The native
handling
code component 212 sends handlers to the handler factory 214. For the native
handling
code component 212 and the folder handlers component 236, like all namespaces,
virtual
folders have to provide a set of handlers (context menu, icon, thumbnail,
infotip, ...) for
their items. For most of these (infotip, data object, drag-drop handler,
background
context menu ...) the virtual folder provides a common (native) handler for
all the types
it holds. However there are others which the author of the type has to provide
(context
menu on the item itself, writable property store, ...). The default handler
can also be
overridden. Virtual folders reuse this for files and allow non-file items do
the same.
The handler factory 214 takes ID lists and produces code 'behaviors that
provide
context menus, icons, etc. In general, the folder processor 210 may use native
handlers,
external handlers, or delegate to other shell folders to get handlers, as
described above
with respect to the native handling code component 212, the other shell
folders
component 234, and the folder handlers component 236. The handler factory
component 214 sends handlers to the shell browser in view 240, as requested by
the view.
The handler factory component 214 sends a property handler to the property
writer 216.
The property writer 216 converts user intentions such as cut, copy, and paste
into
property rights to the file or item. A shell browser and view component 240
sends data to
the property writer 216, including direct manipulation (cut/copy/paste) or
editing of
metadata. In general, since virtual folders present an organization based on
the properties
of an item, operations such as move and copy (drag-drop) become an edit on
those
properties. For example, moving a document, in a view stacked by author, from
Author 1
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to Author 2, means changing the author. The property writer component 216
implements
this function.
The rowset parser 218 takes database rowsets and stores all item properties
into a
shell ID list structure. A rowset takes the piecewise definition of the
virtual folder and
builds a SQL string which can then be issued to the database. The rowset
parser
component 218 sends ID lists to the enumerator component 222. As described
above, the
rowset parser component 218 also receives data from the relational database
230,
including SQL rowsets, with one row per item, the columns being item
properties.
The query builder component 220 builds SQL queries. The query builder
component 220 receives data from the enumerator component 222, including new
filters
from the navigation. The query builder component 220 also receives data from
the
virtual folder descriptions database 232, including a list of the types to
display in the
folder, the initial filter, and the physical location to show results from
(the scopes). The
query builder component 220 sends the SQL queries to the relational. database
230.
In general, the query builder component 220 includes a set of rows (in other
words a table). This is what running the query yields. The rowset parser
component 218
takes each row and using the column names transforms the rove into an ID list.
An ID
list is a well-known shell structure which is used to reference items in a
namespace.
Doing this allows virtual folders to be just like any other namespace to the
rest of the
shell, Also caching this data, helps keep database access, which can be
costly, to a
minimum,
The enumerator component 222 operates in response to a navigation to a virtual
folder. As described above, the enumerator component 222 receives ID lists
from the
rowset parser component 218, and, sends new filters from the navigation to the
query
builder component 220. The enumerator 222 also sends data to the shell browser
and
/iew component 240, including ID lists that are returned to be inserted into
the view after
a navigation.
The property factory component 224 takes ID lists and prope-ty identifiers and
returns values for those properties. The property factory component 224
receives data
from the handler factory component 214 including the property handler. As
described
above, the property factory component 224 also receives data from the other
shell folders
component 234, including properties from other folders. The property factory
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component 224 also sends data to the shell browser and view component 240,
including
item properties, as requested. by the view.
The shell browser and view component 240 displays the contents of a folder in
a
window, and handles all the user interaction with the displayed files or
items, such as
clicking, dragging, and navigating. bus, the shell browser and view component
240
receives the user actions. The shell browser and view component 240 also gets
the data
regarding the code behaviors that it needs from the folder, in this case the
folder
processor 210.
As described above, the virtual folders expose regular Wiles and folders (also
known as directories) to users in different views based on their uet.adata
instead of the
actual physical underlying file system structure on the disk. '.thus, the
system is able to
take a property that is stored in the database and represent it as a container
that is like a
folder. Since users are already familiar with working with folders, by
presenting the
virtual folders.in a similar manner, users can adapt to the new system more
quickly.
FIGURE 3 is a flow diagram illustrative of a routine 300 by which a user
provides
a query that draws back selected items. At a block 302, the folder processor
gets a query
from the user. In a block 304, the folder processor passes die query to the
relational
database. At a block 306, the relational database provides the results back to
the folder
processor. At block 308, the folder processor provides the results to the user
in the form
of virtual folders and items.
FIGURE 4 is a flow diagram illustrative of a routine 320 by which virtual
folders
are constructed and displayed on the screen in accordance with either a
default query or a
query from the user. At a block 322, when a user first opens the virtual
folder, a default
query is used. This default query is taken from the registry. For example, the
default
query for a music library could be to show all the songs grouped by album. At
a
block 324, the folder processor constructs a query object for this query, and
then passes
this query to the relational database, At a block 325, the relational database
generates the
results of the query and passes these back to the folder processor as database
rows and
columns.
At a block 328, the folder processor takes these results and converts them
from
the rows and columns of data into an enumerator structure, which is used by
the folder
view to populate the screen with the resulting virtual folders and items for
the user to
interact upon. At a decision block 330, a user decides whether to change the
view (by
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issuing a different query or For example, a user could issue a "show all a:-
tists"
pivot. If the user does want to change the view, then the routine returns to
block 324
where the folder processor passes this new query to the relational database,
and receives
back new rows and columns of results, and constructs a new enumerator
structure. The
process then continues as described above, as the folder view clears and
updates, using
the enumerator to draw the " ar(ist." objects to the screen.
In one example, album objects are provided that represent containers that
users
can navigate into. For example, double-clicking the "Beatles" albs will
navigate the
view to see all of the Beatles' sores. The folder processor issues the "show
all Beatles'
songs" query to the relational database, which hands back the rows and columns
of data
for those songs. The folder processor creates an enumerator of all these
songs, which
then get drawn to the screen.
The user can also choose the view at any point while browsing virtual folders.
From the above example, after narrowing down to just show Beatles songs, a
user can
change the view to only show the songs as albums. The process of changing the
view of
items into another representation is called "stacking''. This is because the
items are
conceptually arranged into "stacks" based on that representation. In this
case, the songs
are rearranged into stacks fear each of the various albums. Users can then
navigate into
one of these stacks, only seeing the songs from that particular album. Again,
the user can
rearrange the view of these remaining songs into stacks based on a property
"e.g., a
rating, for example). If the rating property were selected, the songs from
that Beatles
album would be shown in stacks for a ore two-, or a three-star ating.
The results of each query depend on which physical locations are included in
the
scope. For example, the scope may be made to include only the folders in the
user's "my
documents" folder. Alternatively, the scope could include all folders en the
computer, or
even all folders on multiple network connected computers. The user is able to
view and
change the scope through, a scope property sheet. In one example, the scope
property
sheet could be exposed by right-clicking on the virtual folder and choosing
"properties."
The user could add new folders to the scope, or remove folders that were
previously
3 d added.
One group of users for which virtual folders will provide particular utility
is
knowledge workers. Virtual folders allow knowledge workers to easily switch
between
viewing documents by file type, project, case number, author, etc. Since
knowledge
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workers each tend to have a different method for organizing documents, virtual
folders
can. be used to accommodate these different preferences.
FIGURE 5 is a tree diagram of a folder structure in accordance with a physical
folder arrangement on a hard drive. This physical folder arrangement is based
on the
traditional implementation of folders, which may be based on h TFS or other
existing file
systems. Such folders are referred to as physical folders because their
structuring is
based on the actual physical underlying file system structure: or., the disk.
As will be
described in more detail below, this is in contrast to virtual folders, which
create location-
independent views that allow users to manipulate files and folders in ways
that are similar
to those currently used for manipulating physical folders.
As illustrated in FIGURE 5, a folder 400 is a "my documents" folder. At a
first
level, the folder 400 includes folders 410, 420, and 430, corresponding to
Clients 1, 2,
and 3, respectively. At a second level, each of the folders 410, 420, and 430,
contain a
folder 411, 421, and 431, respectively, which each correspond to the contracts
for the
selected client. At a third level, each of the folders 411, 421, and 43:1
contains a
folder 412, 422, and 432, respectively, each corresponding to the year 2001.
At the third
level, each of the folders 411, 4211, and 431 also contains a folder 413, 423,
and 433,
respectively, each corresponding to the year 2002.
It will be appreciated that a number of obstacles are presented to a user who
wishes to navigate a physical folder file structure such as that illustrated
in. FIGURE 5.
For example, if the user wishes to work with all of the contracts that the
user has
produced, the user will first need to navigate to the folder 411 to work with
the contracts
for Client 1, and then will have to renavigate to the folder 421. to reach the
contracts for
Client 2, and will again have to renavigate to the folder 431 for the
contracts for Client 3.
This arrangement makes it d fficult for the user to access all of the
contracts, and in
general prevents simultaneous viewing and manipulation of all of the
contracts,
Similarly, if the user wishes to view all of the contracts produced in the
year 2001, the
user will have to navigate and renavigate to the folders 412, 4.22, and 432,
respectively.
As will be described in more detail below, the virtual folders of the present
invention
provide an improved file system structure.
FIGURE 6 is a tree diagram of a virtual folder structure. As will be described
in
more detail below, virtual folders create location-independent views that
allow users to
manipulate their files and folders in. convenient ways. As shown in FIGURE 6,
the
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virtual folders are represented as stacks. A virtual folder 500 is an "all
items" folder. At
a first level, the virtual folder 500 contains virtual folders 510, 520, and
530,
corresponding to clients, contracts, and year, respectively. As will be
described in more
detail below, this structure allows a user to access files according to a
desired parameter.
FIGURE 7 is a tree diagram of the virtual folder structure of FIGURE 6,
wherein
at a second level, the virtual folder 510 further includes virtual folders 51
R_ and 51.2,
which correspond to contracts and year, respectively. In other words, the
clients stack of
virtual folder 510 is further filtered by contracts and year. The process for
determining
which files and items are contained in each of the virtual folders will be
described in
more detail below.
FIGURE 8 is a tree diagram of the virtual folder structure of FIGURE 7,
wherein
at a third level, the virtual folder 511 contains a virtual folder 513, which
corresponds to a
year. In other words, the contracts stack of virtual folder 511 is further
filtered by year.
While the virtual folder structure for the virtual folders 510, 511, and 513
have been
structured according to clients, contracts, and year, it will be appreciated
that the virtual
folders allow for other structuring sequences to occur, as will tie described
in more detail
below with reference to FIGURE 9.
FIGURE 9 is a tree diagram of the virtual folder structure of FIGURE 6,
wherein
at a second level, the virtual folder 526 has been further filter d into
virtual folders 521
and 522, corresponding to clients and year. At a third level, the virtual
folder 521 has
further been filtered to a virtual folder 523, corresponding to a year. The
contrast
between the organizational structures of FIGURES 8 and 9 helps illustrate the
flexibility
of the virtual folder system.. In other words, in a virtual folder system, a
user is able to
navigate the virtual folders according to desired parameters, as opposed to
being
dependent on the location-dependent views of a physical file structure such as
that
illustrated in FIGURE 5.
FIGURE 10 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display 6500 showing the
stacks of
a document library. As noted above, stacks can be used to represent a type of
virtual
folder. As will be described in more detail below, the screen display 600
includes quick
link elements 610-613, filter elements 620-626, activity elements 630-633,
information
and control elements 640-645, and virtual folder stacks 651-655.
The quick link elements include an "all categories" quick link 610, on "all
authors" quick link 611, a "January work" quick link 612, and a selection for
displaying
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additional quick links 613. As will be described in more detail below, quick
links can be
selected by a user to perform desired navigations of the virtual folders.
Quick links may
be provided by the system, and some quick links may be created and saved by a
user.
The filter elements include a "filter by" indicator 620, an entry blank 621, a
"by
date" indicator 622, a "year" selector 623, a "pick an author" selector 624, a
"pick a
category" selector 625, and a "more filters" selector 626. The "filter by"
indicator 620
directs a user to the fact that the items below can be used to filter the
virtual folders or
items. The entry blank 621 provides an area in which a user can type a desired
new f lter
term. The "by date" indicator 622 directs a user to the fact that by selecting
a date from
l0 the "Year" selector 623, the virtual folders or items can be filtered by
the selected year.
The "pick an author" selector 624 allows a user to filter accor ding to a
specific author.
The "pick a category" selector 625 allows a user to filter according to a
selected category.
The "more filters" selector 626 allows a user to pull up additional filters on
the display,
The activity selectors include a "create a new category" selector 630,
"activity"
selectors 631 and 632, and a "'more activities" selector 633. As will be
described in more
detail below, the activities that are presented may be for generally desirable
functions, or
may more specifically be directed to activities useful for the type of virtual
folders that
are currently being displayed. For example, the "create a new category"
selector 630 can
be selected by the user to create a new category which will be represented by
a new stack.
As noted above, the activity selectors 631 and 632 may be more specifically
directed to the type of folders or items that are being displayed. For
e:x:ample, the present
display is of a document library, for which the "activity" selectors 631 and
632 may be
directed to activities specifically tailored for documents, such as editing or
creating
attachments. If the present library had been a photo library, .he "activity"
selector 631
and 632 could be for activities specifically directed to photos, such as
forming photo
albums or sharing photos with other users.
The information and control elements include information lines 640 and 641, a
control 'line 642, a backspace control 643, and information lines 644 and 645.
The
information lines 640 and 641 provide information as to the current navigation
of the
virtual folders or items. In the present example, the information line 640
indicates that
the current navigation is to a document library, while the information line
641 indicates
the more complete navigation, showing that the document library is within the
storage
area. The control line 642 provides a number of standard controls, and the
backspace
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button 643 allows a user to back up through a navigation, The information line
644
provides numerical information about the contents of the present navigation.
In the
present example, the information line 644 indicates that there are 41 items
which take up
100 MB in the stacks of the document library. The information line 645 is
available to
provide additional information, such as additional information about a file
that is selected.
The stacks of the document library include an "ABC Corp.' stack 651, a
"backups
stack" 652, a "business plans" stack 653, an "XYZ Corp." stack 654, and a
"marketing
reports" stack 655. The numbers on top of each of the stacks indicate how many
items
are in each stack. For example, the "ABC Corp." stack 651 is shown to include
8 items.
The total number of items of the stacks adds up to the number of items
indicated in the
information line 644, which as described above is 41 in the present example. A
selection
box SB is provided which can be utilized by a user to select a desired item.
The selection
of the "ABC Corp." stack 651 yields a view of the items of that stack, as will
be described
below with respect to FIGURE 11.
FIGURE I I. is a diagram illustrative of a screen display showing the items in
the,
"ABC Corp." stack 651 of FIGURE 10. It should be noted that the information
lines 640
and 641 now indicate that the present navigation is showing the "ABC Corp."
stack. The
"ABC Corp." stack 651 is shown to include 8 documents 751-758, corresponding
to
documents 1-8, respectively. The information line 644 correspondingly
indicates that
there are 8 items which take up 20 MB of memory. Documents of FIGURE 11 may be
further arranged into stacks within the ABC Corp, stack. In other words,
within the
virtual folder represented by the ABC Corp. stack 651, additional virtual
folders may be
organized to hold the documents, as will be described below with respect to
FIGURES 12-16.
FIGURE 12 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which a stacking
function is selected for the documents of FIGURE 11. As shown in FIGURE 12,
the user
is able to pull up a function box 760. The function box 760 includes a "view"
selection 761, an "arrange icons by" selection 762, a "stacks" -selection 763,
a "refresh"
selection 764, an "open containing folders" selection 765, a "cut' selection
766, a "copy"
selection 767, an "undo" selection 768, a "new" selection 769, and a
"properties"
selection 770. The selection box SB is shown to be around the "stacks"
selection 763.
FIGURE 13 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which a "stack by
author" parameter is selected for the stacking function of FIGURE 12. As shown
in
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FIGURE 13, a box 780 is displayed which presents various stacking options. The
stacking options include an "unstack" option 781, a "stack 'by category"
option 782, a
"stack by author" option 783, and a "stack by a user" option 784. The
selection box SB is
shown to be around the "stack by author" option 783.
FIGURE 14 is a diagrarn. illustrative of a screen display in which the files
of
FIGURE 13 have been stacked by author. As shown in FIGURE 14, stacks 791 and
792
correspond to authors Bob and Lisa, respectively. As indicated by the numbers
on top of
each of the stacks, the Bob stack 791 includes two items, while the Lisa stack
792
includes five items. The item. '1'58 (corresponding to documer 8) did not have
an author,
and so is not included in an "author" stack. The stacks 791 and 792 illustrate
that stacks
may be organized at multiple levels, such as within the "ABC Corp." stack 651.
Thus,
the virtual folders may be formed at multiple levels, such as the "Lisa" stack
792 being
within the "ABC Corp." stack 651 which is within the document library.
FIGURE 15 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which a "stack by
category" option is further selected for restacking the files of FIGURE 14. As
shown in
FIGURE 15, the selection box SB is around the "stack by category" option 782.
Since
sortie of the items are already stacked in the stacks 791 and 792, the
selection of the
"stack by category" option 782 will restack the items, as will be described in
more detail
below with reference to FIGURE 16.
FIGURE 16 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which the files of
FIGURE 14 are restacked by category. As shown in FIGURE 16,. the stacks 793
and 794
correspond to the "XYZ Corp." and "marketing reports" categories,
:respectively. The
items 751 and 752, corresponding; to documents I and 2, were not designated
for any
additional categories, and thus did not fall into any of the other category
stacks.
FIGURE 17 is a diagrani illustrative of a screen display in which a quick link
for
physical folders is selected. The selection box SB is shown to be around the
"all folders"
quick link 616. As will be described in more detail below with respect to
FIGURE 18,
the "all folders" quick link 616 provides for switching to a view of physical
folders.
FIGURE 18 is a diagram illustrative ofa screen display showing physical
folders.
The physical folders that are shown contain the files of the virtual folder
stacks of
FIGURE 17. In other words, the items contained within the stacks 651-655 of
FIGURE 17 are also contained in certain physical folders in the system. These
are shown
in FIGURE 18 as a "My Documents" folder 851 that is located on the present
computer, a
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"Desktop" folder 852 that is located on the present computer, a Too" folder
853 that is
located on the hard drive C:, a "My Files" folder 854 that is located on a
server, an
"External Drive" folder 855 that is located on an external drive, a "My
Documents"
folder 856 that is located on another computer, and a "Desktop" folder 857
that is located
on another computer.
As shown in FIGURE 18, a user is able to switch from the virtual files
representation of FIGURE 17 to the physical Fle representation of FIGURE 18.
This
allows a user to toggle between virtual file representations and physical file
representations, depending on which is desired for a current task. The
different locations
of the physical folders 851-857 also illustrate that the scope of the virtual
file system may
be relatively broad, as will be described in more detail below.
FIGURE 19 is a flow diagram illustrative of a routine 880 by which a user can
directly manipulate virtual folders. As will be described in more detail
below, the
mechanisms that are provided for manipulating the virtual folders are similar
to those that
are currently used for manipulating regular folders (e.g._, clicking and
dragging, copying,
pasting, etc.). As shown in FIGURE 19, at a block 882, the system provides
defined
actions that the user can perform for direct manipulation of the virtual
folders that are
represented as display objects. At a block 884, the user performs a defined
action. As
noted above, one example of this might be a user clicking and dragging a
virtual folder to
copy its contents to another virtual folder. At a block 886, the virtual
folder and/or
contents are manipulated as directed by the action performed by the used.
FIGURE 20 is a diagram illustrative of a. screen display in which a new West
Coast stack 656 has been added to the stacks of FIGURE 10. The West Coast
stack 656
was formed by a user creating a new category of "West Coast." Upon its initial
creation,
the new West Coast stack 656 would be empty and have zero items. In the
embodiment
of FIGURE 20, two items have been added to the West Coast stack 656. One
method for
adding items to a stack is to select a particular item, and either modify or
add additional
categories to the category metadata for the item, such as adding the category
"West
Coast" to two items as was done in the embodiment of FIGURE 20. This process
illustrates that the category data is a metadata property for an item that is
a type of ad-hoc
property. in other words, a property of this type does not have any implicit
meaning, and
can be assigned an arbitrary value by the user. For example, the category
"property" can
have any value whereas the "author" property should be the name of a person.
As will be
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described in more detail below with reference to FIGURE 21, items may also be
clicked
and dragged to be copied froir_ other stacks to the West Coast stack 656 (in
which case
the categories of the items are automatically updated to include "West
Coast"). In this
regard, FIGURE 20 shows that the selection box SB is around the ABC Corp.
stack 651,
in preparation for its contents being copied.
FIGURE 21 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which direct
manipulation is used for copying the files from the ABC Corp. stack 651 to the
West
Coast stack 656. In other words, as shown in FIGURE 20, the user selected the
ABC
Corp. stack 651, and then as shown in FIGURE 21 the user has clicked and
dragged the
stack to be copied to the West Coast stack 656. Thus, the West Coast stack 656
,which
had two items in FIGURE 20, is now shown to include a total of ten items,
including the
additional eight items from the ABC Corp. stack 651. When the items from the
ABC
Corp. stack 651 were copied to the West Coast stack 656, this was accomplished
by
modifying the category descriptions of the eight items to also include the
"West Coast"
category in addition to including the original "ABC Corp." category. This
illustrates one
type of direct manipulation that may be performed.
Another example of direct manipulation is right clicking an item and selecting
delete. In one embodiment, V en a deleting function is selected by a user, the
user is
queried whether the item should be deleted all together, or simply removed
from the
present virtual folder. If the item is gust to be removed fro_,,i a present
virtual folder
category stack as noted above, this can be accomplished by removing the
desired
category from the metadata for the item. In other words, if one of the items
that had been
copied from the ABC Corp. stack 651 to the West Coast stack 656 was then to be
removed from the West Coast stack 656, this could be accomplished by modifying
the
category data for the particular file to no longer include the "West Coast"
category.
FIGURE 22 is a flow diagram illustrative of a routine 900 for the system
dynamically generating new filter terms. Filter terms are utilized for
manipulating the
virtual folders. The filtering terms, are essentially utilized as a. set of
tools for narrowing
down a set of items. In one embodiment, filters consist of metadata categories
and their
values (presented to the user in the user interface as clickable links or drop-
down menus).
The user clicks on a filter term in order to filter clown the current results
set of items on
the display.
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FIGURE 22 illustrates 'how filters may be dynamically generated. As shown in
FIGURE 22, at a block 902, the properties (from the metadata) of the items in
a collection
on the present display are reviewed. In a block 904, proposed filter terms are
dynamically generated based on common properties of the items. At a block 906,
the
proposed filter terms are presented to the user for possible selection for
filtering items.
As an example of this process, the system may review the properties of a set
of items, and
if the items generally have "Authors" as a property, the filter can provide a
list of the
authors to filter by. Then, by clicking on a particular Author, the items that
don't have
that Author are removed from the set on the display. This filtering process
provides the
user with a mechanism for narrowAnng the set of items on the display.
FIGURE 23 is a flow diagram illustrative of a routine 920 for the system
filtering
items based on the selection of a filter Merin. At a block 922, the user
either enters a new
filter term or else selects one of the filter terms that have been presented
by the system.
As noted above, the filter terms may be dynamically generated by the system,
or they
may be preset. At a block 924, the items from the collection on the display
are evaluated
'15
with regard to whether their selected properties match the filter term. For
example, if the
filter term is for items that were authored by "Bob," then the items are
evaluated in
accordance with whether their author property includes "Bob". At block 926,
the items
for which the selected properties do not match the filter term are removed
from the
collection on the display.
FIGURES 24-29 generally illustrate how the filtering process appears on the
screen display. As will be described below with reference to FIGURES 24-29, in
one
embodiment, the filtering may generally operate according to the following
process.
After the user clicks on a filter value, the items outside the filter range
are animated off
the screen. The animation is generally designed to make it obvious that items
are being
removed and that no new items .re being added. The back button 643 may be
selected by
a user so as to undo the filter operations. In one embodiment, a navigation
stack is
created which contains the sequential filter actions, which is utilized to
undo each of the
filter actions when the back button 643 is selected. Each time a filter value
is selected,
the information areas 640 and 641 are updated to indicate the current filter
value. In one
embodiment, after a filter value is selected, a user is provided an option for
saving a new
quick link to the current filter navigation, as will be described in more
detail below with
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respect to FIGURE 30. As filter values are selected, the filter controls may
be updated to
be appropriate for the items remaining in the view.
FIGURE 24 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which the stacks of
FIGURE- 10 have been filtered by the term "AB". As shown, in. the filter area
621, the
term "AB" has been typed by a user. The information lines 640 and 641 indicate
that the
items in the display are now those that have been filtered by the tern "AB".
As shown,
the ABC Corp. stack 651 still contains eight items, while the Backups stack
652 now
contains three items, and the XYZ Corp. stack 654 also contains three items.
The
information line 644 thus indicates that there are a total of 14 items, taking
up a total of
35 MB of memory.
FIGURE 25 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which the stacks of
FIGURE 10 have been filtered by the term "ABC". With regard to the filter term
"AB"
of FIGURE 24, the user has simply typed the additional letter "C" to make the
total filter
term "ABC". As shown in . IC11 "RE 25, the information lines 640 and 641 now
indicate
that the items on the display are those that contain the term "ABC". The ABC
Corp.
stack 651 is still shown to contain eight items, while the Backups stack 652
now contains
only two items. The XYZ Corp. stack 654 has disappeared because none of its
contents
matched the "ABC" filter. The information line 644 now indicates that there
are a total of
10 items in the stacks on the display, which take up a total of 25 M13 of
memory.
FIGURES 24 and 25 thus provide examples of how a user may enter new filter
terms, and
how those filter terms are then used to filter the items that are shown on the
display.
The back button 643 mad" be utilized by a user to back through the filtering
process. As described above with respect to FIGURE 10, the back button 643
allows a
user to back up through a navigation. With regard to the examples of FIGURES
24 and
25, after filtering by the term "ABC" in FIGURE 25, a user could select the
back
button 643 so as to back up one step of the filtering process, which would
return to the
state of FIGURE 24. Alternatively, in another embodiment, the back button 643
may
clear out the entire filter term, and may thus return to the state before that
filtering
occurred. In this case, by pressing the back button 643 in FIGURE 25, a user
would
return to the state of FIGURE 10.
In one embodiment, in addition to the back button, an additional means is
provided for a user to back up in or otherwise modify the faltering
navigation. This
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additional means involves allowing the user to directly access and modify the
information
line 641, which correspondingly changes the filter navigation. In other words,
by directly
accessing and modifying the information line 641, the user can remove one or
more of the
applied filters, or modify the values for any of the applied filters. This
feature is
described in greater detail in U.S. Patent No. 7,240,292, which is commonly
assigned.
A timer may also be utilized in conjunction with a user typing in filter terms
such
as those shown in FIGURE 24 and 25. The timer is used to monitor for a pause
in the
typing by the user. After a selected interval of no typing, the filter is
applied. For
example, in the state of FIGURE 24, a user has typed the filter term "AB",
with no
significant time lag between the "A" and the "B." After typing the term "AB",
the user
pauses, thus producing the state shown in FIGURE 24, where the filter term
"AB" is
applied. Sometime later, the user adds the letter "C" to complete the filter
term "ABC",
and then pauses again, at which point the filter term "ABC" is applied as
illustrated in
FIGURE 25.
In one embodiment, after a user has typed a filter term in the filter area
621, and
then chooses another filter or navigation, the navigation state is updated,
and the filter
term in the filter area 621 is made to be empty again. In addition, as will be
described in
more detail below with reference to FIGURES 26-29, other filter controls may
be updated
based on the selection of certain filter terms.
FIGURE 26 is a. diagram illustrative of. a screen display in which the system
provided filter term "year 2002" is selected. As noted above, under the by
date
indicator 622, the year selections 623 include the years 2000, 2001, or 2002.
The
selection box SB is shown to be around the year 2002, indicating that the user
is selecting
that as the desired filter term.
FIGURE 27 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which- the filter
term
"2002" has been applied. Also shown is the further selection of the "pick a
month"
selector 623A. As shown in FIGURE 27, after applying the filter term "2002",
the
number of items in the stacks have been reduced. More specifically, the ABC
Corp.
stack 651 now contains six items, the Backups stack 652 now contains eight
items, the
Business Plans stack 653 now contains three items, and the XYZ Corp. stack 654
now
contains five items. The information line 644 now indicates a total of 22
items, taking up
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a total of 50 1%AB of memory. The information lines 640 and. 641 now indicate
that the
items shown on the display are those that have been filtered to contain the
filter term
P12002".
FIGURE 28 is a diagram: illustrative of a screen display in which a last is
presented for selecting a month for filtering. A box 950 is provided which
includes the
list of the months. The box 950 has been provided on the display due to the
user
selecting the "pick a month" selector 623A. The selection box SB is shown to
be around
the month of January.
FIGURE 29 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display wherein the stacks of
FIGURE 28 have been further filtered by the month of January, and. further
showing a
filter term, of "day As shown in FIGURE 29, the information lines 640 and 641
now
indicate that the items on the display are those that have been filtered by
the term
"January". The Backups stack 652 is now shown to contain two items, while the
Business Plans stack 653 is also shown to contain two items. he information
line 644
indicates that there are a total of four items on the display, which take up a
total of 10 MB
of memory. A. "pick by day" selector 62313 is provided, should the user wish
to further
filter the results to a specific day.
As described above with respect to FIGURES 24-29, filter terms may be
presented by the system, or typed by a user. Once a filter term is selected,
the remaining
filter terms that are presented may be updated (e.g., after the year "2002" is
selected in
FIGURE 26, in FIGURE 27 the options for selecting a year are no longer
presented and
instead a "pick a month" option is provided). As noted above, the back button
643 may
be selected by a user to back through the filtering process. For example,
after the month
of "January" has been selected in FIGURE 29, the user may select the back
button 643 to
back up the filtering process to the year "2002", as illustrated in FIG1 ` 27.
The filter
menu may also include a "stack by" function, which would work similarly to the
stack by
function described above with respect to FIGURES 15 and 16. For example, a
"file type"
filter could have choices for '"Excel", "PowerPoint", "Word", and also "Stack
by file
type". Choosing the "stack by" f nction changes the view to show stacks for
the various
file types.
in general, the filters may be con-figured to apply to different properties of
the
tales or items. In one embodiment, the filters may be classified according to
different
types, such as: alphabet index; discrete values; dates; and numerical ranges.
Example
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properties for the alphabet index may include file name, author, artist,
contact friendly
name, owner, document author, document title, document subject, and
description.
Example properties for the discrete values may include location, file type
(application
name), genre, track, decade (for music), rating (For music), bit rate,
protected, document
category, document page co writ, document comments, camera model, dimensions,
product
name, product version, image X, image Y, and document created time. Example
properties for the dates may include last accessed, last modified, created on,
taken on (for
pictures). An example property for the numerical range may be file size.
It will be appreciated that the filters described above with respect to
FIGURES 24-29 allow users to reduce a list of items to find a particular item
that is of
interest. As a specific example, according to the processes described above, a
user could
narrow a current list of documents to only show Microsoft Word. files,
authored by a
particular person and edited in the last week. This functionality allows a
user to find a
particular item in a list of roany, and helps the user avoid havin to manually
scan each
item in the list.
FIGURE 30 is a flow diagram illustrative of a routine 940 for creating a new
quick link. As will be described in more detail below, quick links are
predefined links
that can be clicked on by a user to create user selected views of the sets of
items. In one
embodiment, a quick link may be thought of as a type of pivot. Quick links
provide a
mechanism for retrieving a virtual folder. Clicking a quick link can take a
user to a
desired folder (in the same way that clicking a "favorites" may take a user to
a Web site.
The quick links can be predefined by the system, or can be set by a user. For
example,
clicking on "all authors" could return a view stacked by authors. Clicking on
"all
documents" may return a flat view for all of the. documents fbr all of the
storage areas.
Users can also create their own quick links.
As shown in FIGURE 30, at a block 942, a user makes a selection on the display
to indicate that a new quick link should be formed from the present filter
term or
navigation. At a block 944, the user provides a new name for the new quick
link. At a
block 946, the new quick link is saved and the new quick link name is provided
in the
quick link section on the display.
FIGURE 31 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display for creating a new
quick
link called "January Work" based on the filtering of FIGURE 29. As described
above, in
FIGURE 29, the stacks have been filtered by the month of January. In FIGURE
31, the
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user has indicated that the filtering of FIGURE 29 should be saved as a new
quick link,
and has named the new quick link "Jaansuary work". Thus, the new January work
quick
link 612 is shown in the quick links section of the display. A,~ ith regard to
forming new
quick links, the user is generally provided with an. option such as "save this
collection as a
quick link".
FIGURE 32 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which a quick link
of
"All Authors" is selected. As shown in FIGURE 32, the selection box SE is
shown
around the All Authors selection 611. Other examples of collections that might
be
accessible by quick links include "all authors", "recent documents", "all
documents I've
shared", "all documents I've authored", "all documents not authored by me",
"desktop",
and "all types".
FIGURE 33 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which a list of all
of the
authors of the items. of FIGURE 32 is presented. As shown in FIGURE 33, an
information line 950 is provided, which indicates columns for showing the name
of an
item, the author, the modified date, the type, the size, and the location of
an item. A list
of Authors 951-954 are shown, corresponding to Authors 1-4, espectirvely.
FIGURE 34 is a diagram illustrative of a screen display in which "Author 1"
has
been selected from the list of FIGURE 33. The Author I's documents include
documents 951A and 951B, corresponding to documents 1 and 2, respectively. The
document 95 IA is shown to have been authored by Author 1, was modified on 11
July,
2001, is a Microsoft Excel file, takes up 282 Kb of memory, and was obtained
from the
location \\serverl\folder2. The document 9512 is shown to have been authored
by
Author 1, was modified on 22 December, 2002, is a Microsoft Word file, takes
up
206 kilobytes of memory, and is physically stored in the location My
Documents\folderi.
The locations of the documents 951A and 951B also illustrate that the virtual
folders of
the present invention may contain items from different physical locations, as
will be
described in more detail below.
FIGURE 35 is a flow diagram illustrative of a routine 960 for creating a new
library. One example of a library is the documents library described above
with reference
to FIGURE 10. In general, libraries consist of large groups of usable types of
files that
can be associated together. For example, photos may be one library, music may
be
another, and documents may be another. Libraries may provide tools and
activities that
are related to the particular types of items. For example, in t e photo
library, there may
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be tools and filters that relate to manipulating photos, such as for creating
slide shows or
sharing pictures. As shown in FIGURE 35, at a block 962, a new library is
created which
is to include items with selected characteristics. At a block 964, the
selected items are
grouped into the library. At a block 966, the tools and/or activities related
to the selected
characteristics of the items or to other desired functions are provided.
FIGURE 36 is a diagram illustrative of a. screen display in which a collection
of
available libraries are shown. As shown in FIGURE 36, the libraries include a
documents
library 971, a photos and video library 972, a music library 973, a messages
library 974, a
contacts library 975, and a TV and movies library 976, as well as an all items
library 977.
The all items library 977 is shown to include 275 items, which is the total
number of
items from all of the other libraries combined. The information line 644
indicates a total
of 275 items, which take up a total of 700 MB of memory. It should be noted
that the
documents library 971 is the library that was described above with respect to
FIGURE 10.
FIGURE 37 is a flow diagram illustrative of a routine 990 for defining the
scope
of a virtual folder collection. As will be described in more detail below, a
virtual folder
system is able to represent items from multiple physical locations (e.g.,
different hard
drives, different computers, different networks locations, etc.) so that to a
user, all of the
items are readily accessible. For example, a user can be presented with music
files from
multiple physical locations on a single display, and manipulate the files all
at once.
As shown in FIGURE 37, at a block 992, a scope is defined for the physical
locations from which items are to be drawn. At a block 994, in response to a
query, the
items are drawn from the physical locations as defined in the scope. At a
block 996, all
of the items drawn by the query are presented on a single display.
FIGURE 38 is a block diagram illustrative of the various sources which may
form
the scope of a virtual folder collection. As shown in FIGURE 38, the system
1000 may
include a present computer 1010, an additional computer 1020, external and
removable
storage s 030, and locations on a network 1040. The overall scope .1001 is
described as
including all of the physical locations from which a user's items are drawn to
create
collections. The scope may be set and modified by a user. As noted above,
other figures
have illustrated that items may come from different pl,-Yysical locations,
such as
FIGURE 34 showing different documents coming from a server and a My Documents
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'older on a present computer, and in FIGURE 18 showing physical folders that
are
physically stored in multiple locations.
FIGURE 39 is a flow diagram illustrative of a routine 1080 for including non-
file
items in a virtual folder collection. Non-file items are contrasted with file
items that are
typically located in a physical site storage. Examples of non.-file items
would be things
like c-mails, or contacts. As shown in FIGURE 39, at a block 1082 a database
is utilized
to include non-file items along with file items that may be searched by a
query. At a
block 1084, in response to a query, both non-file items and file items are
drawn to match
the query. At a block 1086, both the non-file items and the gale items that
matched the
query are presented on the display.
FIGURE 40 is a diagram :illustrative of a screen display showing various non-
file
items. As shown in FIGURE 40, the items have been filtered to those that
include
"John". The items are shown to include a contact item 1101, an e-mail item
1102, and
document items 1103 and 1104. The contact item 1101 and e-mail item 1102 are
non-file
items. The present system allows such non-file items to be included with
regular file
items, such that they can be organized and manipulated as desired by a user.
As was
described above with respect to F][GURE 2, such non-file items may be
contained entirely
within the relational database 230, which otherwise includes information about
the
properties of files.
FIGURES 41-50 are diagrams related to a virtual address bar that corresponds
to
the information line 641 of FIGURE 10 and which is formed in accordance with
the
present invention. As will be described in more detail below, the virtual.
address bar
comprises a plurality of segments, and each segment corresponds to a filter
for selecting
content. Collectively, the corresponding filters of each segment represent a
virtual
address for selecting content.
FIGURE 41 is a block diagram of an exemplary networked computing
environment 1200 suitable for operating the virtual address bar, or any of the
other
aspects of the present invention described herein. The exemplary networked
computing
environment 1200 includes a computing device 1202, such. as the personal
computer
described in regard to FIGURE 1, for interacting with a user, and upon which
the user
may view files stored either locally or remotely to the computing device.
While the
following discussion describes the present invention in relation. to a
personal computer, it
should be understood that the computing device 1202 includes many types of
physical
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devices including, but not limited to mini- and mainframe computers, PDAs,
tablet
computers, and other devices capable of interacting with a user and displaying
files and
content stored on the computing device and elsewhere.
The exemplary networked computing environment 1200 may also include one or
more remote servers, such as server 1204, that stores files accessible to the
computing
device 1202, and connected to the computing device via a communications
network, such
as the Internet 1206, as shown in FIGURE 41. In addition, the computing device
1202
may also be connected to other information sources storing files or other
content, such as
a remote database 1208. Those skilled in the art will recognize that files and
information
stored on botli the remote server 1204 and the remote database 1208, as well
as on local
storage devices such as hard disk drive (FIGURE 1), may be accessible to, and
displayable on, the computing device 1202 as part of an integrated file system
on the
computing device. Additionally, while a particular configuration of a remote
server 1204
and remote database 1208 is presented in FIGURE 41, those skilled in the art
will readily
recognize that this particular configuration is for illustrative purposes
only, and should
not be construed as limiting upon the present invention.
FIGURE 42 illustrates an exemplary file viewer 1300 having a conventional
address bar 1302 associated with displaying files in a computer file system,
as found in
the prior art. For purposes of the present discussion, a file viewer is a.
view or window on
a display device, such as display device (FIGUR.E 1), for displaying files or
other content
to a user. A file viewer may be a window corresponding to an executable
program
specifically for displaying flies to a user. Alternatively, a file viewer may
be a view
within an open or close dialog box on an executable program that must save or
retrieve
data from a storage device connected locally or remotely to the computer
system. It
should be noted that the above examples of a file viewer are illustrative, and
should not
be construed as limiting upon the present invention.
An address in the conventional address bar 1302 corresponds to a specific
location
in a file system. As previously described, in order to edit the address
displayed in the
conventional address bar 1302, a user must modify the address according to
specific
knowledge of the file system. Alternatively, a user may select an entry in a
tree
view 1304 to navigate to an alternative location. Those skilled in the art
will recognize
that other controls external to the address bar 1302 may also be available
that are not
shown in the exemplary file view- 1300. While the address displayed. in the
conventional
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address bar 1302 corresponds to a specific location in a .file system, related
files
distributed among multiple folders in the file system cannot be displayed in.
conjunction
with the conventional address bar 1302.
FIGURE 43 illustrates an exemplary file viewer 1400 having a virtual address
bar 1402 associated with displaying files in a computer file system. The
virtual address
bar 1402 corresponds to the information line 641 of FIGURE 10, The virtual
address
bar 1402, having a virtual address 1404, is configured to display similar
information to
that displayed by the conventional address 1304 of the prior art file viewer
1300 of
FIGURE 42. A virtual address, also referred to as a virtual path, references
files stored in
a computer file system according to selection criteria.
Similar to a conventional address, such as address 1304 of FIGURE 42, the
virtual
address's selection criteria may reference files stored in a specific location
in the file
system hierarchy. However, in contrast to a conventional address, the virtual
addresses
selection criteria may also reference files irrespective of their specific
file system
location. Thus, a virtual address may reference files stored in multiple
locations in a
computer file system. As shown. in FIGURE 43, the file viewer 1400, according
to the
virtual address 1404 in the virtual address bar 1.402, is able to display
additional files,
such as files 1406 and 1408, not found in the file viewer 1300 of FIGURE 42.
Additionally, the virtual address bar 1402 may also be utilized to display
content other
than files in a computer file system. For example, the virtual address bar
1402 may be
used to reference content including system devices, system services, or
Internet. locations.
FIGURE 44A illustrates manipulating a segment of the virtual address 1404 in
the
virtual address bar 1402 in order to navigate in a computer file system. Each
virtual
address bar, such as virtual address bar 1402, is comprised of one or more
interactive
segments, such as segments 1502, 1504, 1506, and 1508. Each segment in a
virtual
address bar corresponds to a predetermined filter, or selection criteria, on
all of the
available content or files accessible to a computer file system. Collectively,
the filters of
all of the segments in a virtual address bar 1402 represent the virtual
address bar s virtual
address.
The first segment in a virtual address bar, such as segment 1502, is referred
to as a
root segment, or root filter. The root segment represents the broadest
category of content
available for selection by the virtual address bar 1402. For example, segment
1502
"Files" would likely represent a filter that references all files accessible
the computer file
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system. Alternatively, a root segment may represent a filter that references
all system
services available to the user on the computer system, or a filter that
references all
hardware devices installed in the computer system. Those skilled in the art
will recognize
that numerous other alternative root filters ma: be utilized by the present
invention.
Thus, the above described examples are given for illustrative purposes, and
should not be
construed as limiting upon the present invention. Additionally, the labels
displayed for
each segment, such as "Files" on the root segment 1502, are illustrative and
should not be
construed as limiting upon the present invention. According to one embodiment,
a label
displayed on a segment is user configurable.
1D Each additional segment in a virtual address bar 1402,- such as
segments 1504, 1506, and 1508, represent additional filters to be applied when
selecting
and displaying files or content in a file viewer 1400. For example, root
segment 1502
"Files" references all files available to the computer system. Segment 1504
"Document
Library" filters the files selected' by the root segment 1502, by selecting
those files that
were generated as documents by the user, such as through a word processor,
spreadsheet,
or some other document generating application. Segment 1506 "Word Documents"
filters the files selected by segment 1504 according to those documents that
were
generated using a word processor, such as Microsoft Corporation's Word
application.
Finally, segment 1508 "Author A" filters the word processing documents
selected by
segment 1506 according to whether they were authored by "Author A." Thus,
content
selected according to the virtual address represented in the virtual address
bar 1402 must
satisfy the filters corresponding to all of the segments in the virtual
address bar.
Segments in the virtual address bar 1402 are generally ordered from those
filters
that are most inclusive, to those filters that are least inclusive. For
example, as previously
discussed, segment 1502 "Files" is the broadest and most inclusive. Segments
1506
"Word Documents" and segment 1508 "Author A" are less inclusive. The virtual
address
bar 1402 illustrates the ordering of segments from left to right, and, for
purposes of the
present discussion, segments 1504, 1506, and 1508 are subsequent to the root
segment 1502. However, it should be understood that other orientations are
possible,
such as a top-down arrangement, without departing from the scope of the
invention.
Thus, the orientation from left to right should be viewed as illustrative, and
not construed
as limiting on the present invention.
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As previously mentioned, segments in a virtual address bar 1402, such as
segments 1502, 1504, 1506, and 1508, do not necessarily correspond to specific
locations
in a computer file system, such as folders, drives, and directories. Thus,
segment 1504
"Document Library" may reference files or content distributed on multiple
servers, drives,
or folders/directories. However, certain segments in a virtual address bar
1402 may
reference specific locations with a computer file systerri hieraerchy. A
fairther discussion
of virtual address segments referencing specific file system locations is
given below in
regard to FIGURES 48A and 48B.
In contrast to a conventional address bar, each segment in a virtual address
bar 1402 represents an actionable, interactive user interface element. For
example, a
segment in a virtual address bar 1402 is responsive to user selection,
monitors whether a
cursor is located over the segment for a specific period of time, and may be
removed
from the virtual address bar by a dragging user interaction. Hence, as shown
in
FIGURE 44A, a user may place a cursor 1510 over a segment in the virtual
address
bar 1402, such as segment 1504 "Document Library," to select, or click, on
that segment
in order to navigate to that level, i.e., truncate the virtual address at that
segment, as
described in regard to FIGURE 4413.
FIGURE 44B illustrates the results of selecting a segment 1504 in the virtual
address bar 1402. By clicking on the segment 1504 in the virtual address bar
1402, the
user is indicating a desire to navigate to that level in the virtual address.
In effect, the
user is trimming off those filters subsequent to the selected segment. For
example, by
clicking on segment 1504 "Document Library" (FIGURE 44A), the resulting
virtual
address 1404 no longer contains segments 1506 "Word Documents" and 1508
"Author A" (FIGURE 44A). Additionally, because the user has navigated to a
less
restrictive set of filters, the resulting virtual address 1404 in the virtual
address bar 1402
is more inclusive. This is indicated by the addition of documents in the file
viewer 1400
of FIGURE 44B not previously found in the file viewer 1400 of FIGURE 44A,
including
document 1512, document 1514, and document 1516, and by the presence of a
scroll
button 1518 indicating that additional files may be viewed that cannot be
displayed in the
file viewer 1400 (FIGURE 4413) due to space limitations.
In addition to selecting segments in a virtual address bar to navigate to a
less
restrictive segment, a user may also wish to navigate to, or select, peer
filters of current
segments in a virtual address. A peer filter is an alternative filter that may
be selected and
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applied to a given segment in the virtual address bar. For example, with
reference to
FIGURE 44A, peer filters for segment 1506 "Word Documents" may include filters
such
as "Excel Documents, "Journaiis," and the like. Other types of filters,
including specific
file system locations, hardware devices, or computer services, may also be
applied to a
given segment in the virtual address bar. Peer filters may or may not be
logically related
to a given segment's current filter. Each segment in a virtual address bar may
have peer
filters. Selecting a peer filter of a segment in a virtual address bar is
sometimes referred
to as navigating laterally. Selecting peer filters of segments in a virtual
address bar is
described below in regard to FIGURES 45A-45D, and also in regard to FIGURE 49,
FIGURES 45A-45D are pictorial diagrams illustrating selecting a 'peer filter
associated with a segment of virtual address in a virtual address bar 1600. As
shown in
FIGURE 45A, virtual address bar 1 600 has a virtual address comprising
multiple
segments, segments 1602-1608. In order to select a peer filter for a given
interactive
segment in a virtual address bar 1600, a user must make an alternative
selection, or
alternative manipulation, of that interactive segment. One v,,ay to make an
alternative
selection is to right click on a given segment. Right clicking is known in the
art and
refers to using a secondary button on a mouse, or other input device, where
the secondary
button is typically on the right-hand side of the mouse. Alternatively,
because an
interactive segment can monitor when a cursor is located over it, an
alternative selection
may be made by locating the cursor over an interactive segment and leaving the
cursor in
place for predetermined amount of time, sometimes referred to as hovering.
However,
while the present discussion describes alternatives for causing peer filters
to be displayed,
they are for illustration, and should not be construed as 'limiting upon the
present
invention. Those skilled in the art will recognize that there are numerous
alternatives for
generating an alternative selection.
To illustrate alternatively selecting a segment, with reference to FIGURE 45A,
a
user first places the cursor 1610 over segment 1604 "Document Library" for a
predetermined amount of time, i.c., hovers over the segment, to select that
segment.
FIGURE 45B demonstrates the results of alternatively selecting segment 1604
"Document Library" in the virtual address bar 1600. As shown in FIGURE 45B,
after
alternatively selecting segment 1604 "Docurnent Library," a peer filter view
1612 is
displayed including peer filters corresponding to the selected segment. It
should be
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understood that the peer filters presented in the peer filter view 1612 are
for illustrative
purposes only, and should not be construed as limiting upon the present
invention.
In order to select an. alternative peer filter, as shown in FIGURE 450, the
user
positions the cursor 1610 over one of the filters presented in the peer filter
view 1612,
such as peer filter 1614, and selects the peer filter. As shown in FIGURE 45D,
after
selecting the alternative peer filter 1614, the previously selected segment
1604
(FIGURE 45A) is replaced with a new segment 1.616 representing the selected
alternative
peer filter 1614. Additionally, those segments that followed the alternatively
selected
segment 1604 in the virtual address bar 1600 of FIGURE 45A, specifically
segments 1606 "Journals" and 1608 "All Documents in 20012", are removed from
the
virtual address bar 1600 in FIGURE 451. Although not shown, it follows that
any files
or content previously selected according to segments 1604 "Document Library",
1606
"Journals", and 1608 "All Documents In 2002" would no longer be displayed in a
corresponding file viewer, and only those files or content selected according
to
segments 1602 "Files" and 1616 "Picture Library" would be displayed.
Segments may be added to a virtual address in a virtual address bar through
various user interactions at the end of the existing segments. To add a filter
to a virtual
address in a virtual address bar, a user may manipulate an actionable control
associated
with a particular filter found on a window, or file viewer with the virtual
address bar. For
example, with reference to the file viewer 1400 of FIGURE 43, a user may click
on the
actionable control 1412 "2003" to add a corresponding filter to the virtual
address 1404 in
the virtual address bar 1402, Alternatively (not shown), a user may manually
enter in a
known filter at the end of the virtual address by typing the filter's name.
Numerous other
ways of adding a filter to a virtual address exist, all of which are
contemplated as falling
within the scope of the present invention. Thus, it should be understood that
the above
examples are for illustration purposes, and should not be construed as
limiting upon the
present invention.
When a filter is added to a virtual address in a virtual address bar, a
process is
undertaken to ensure that the newly added filter does not conflict with any
filters
currently existing as part of the virtual address. If the newly added filter
conflicts with an
existing filter, the existing filter is removed. A newly added filter
conflicts with an
existing filter in a virtual address if the newly added filter varies from the
breadth of the
existing filter, being either more or less broad than the existing filter.
Additionally, a
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newly added filter conflicts with an existing filter if the newly added filter
is mutually
exclusive to the existing filter. However, a newly added filter that is
equivalent to an
existing filter is not added because it has no effect. It should be understood
that the above
description of conflicts is given. for illustration purposes, and should not
be construed as
limiting upon the present invention. Those skilled in the art will recognize
that other
conflicts between filters may exist that are contemplated as falling within
the scope of the
present invention.
FIGURES 46A-46D are pictorial diagrams illustrating adding filters to a
virtual
address 1702 in a virtual address bar 1700, and removing conflicting existing
filters.
FIGURE 46A illustrates an exemplary virtual address 1702 displayed in a
virtual address
bar 1700. As shown in FIGURE 46f3, a new filter, represented by segment 1706
"2002",
is added to the virtual address 1702. As previously described, new filters are
added to the
end of the virtual address, as indicated by placing segment 1706 "2002" at the
end of the
segments in the virtual address bar 1700 of FIGURE 46. The:eafter, the process
undertaken for adding segment 1706 "2002" determines that the added filter
does not
conflict with any current filters in the virtual address 1702. Thus,, no
existing filters are
removed from the virtual address 1702.
As shown in FIGURE 46C, another filter is added to the virtual address 1702,
represented by segment 1708 "Author A." The process undertaken for adding this
new
filter determines that the new filter, "Author A," would conflict with the
filter represented
by segment 1704 "Author A-F" because the new filter, "Author A," is narrower
than the
existing filter. Accordingly, segment 1704 "Author A-F" is removed from the
virtual
address bar 1700, and segment 1708 "Author A" is added to the end of the
segments in
the virtual address bar.
FIGURE 46D illustrates the results of adding segment 1710 "2003" to the
virtual
address bar 1700 of FIGURE 46C. Filters in a virtual address 1702 are
restrictive, not
cumulative. Each filter further restricts the selected content. Thus, mutually
exclusive
filters would prevent the virtual address 1702 from selecting any files or
content, and
therefore, create a conflict. As illustrated in FIGURE 46D, segment 1706
"2002"
(FIGURE 46C) is removed from the virtual address bar 1700 because of a
conflict as it is
mutually exclusive with the newly added segment 1710 112003."
When a virtual address bar, such as virtual address bar 1800 (FIGURE 47A),
cannot completely display the virtual address due to size limitations of the
virtual address
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bar, a portion of the virtual address is displayed according to the size of
the virtual
address bar. However, the undisplayed portions of the virtual address may
still be
accessed by the user. More specifically, the virtual address bar displays
actionable visual
indicators to scroll the virtual path within the virtual address bar. FIGURES
47A
and 4713 illustrate an exemplary virtual address bar 1800 displaying a virtual
address
where the virtual address exceeds the virtual address bar's display capacity.
As shown in
FIGURES 47A and 47B, scroll icons 1802 and 1804 indicate. the direction the
virtual
address bar 1800 may scroll. in order to display the previously undisplayed
portions of the
virtual address. However, while the illustrative diagrams demonstrate the use
of scroll
icons, it is for illustrative purposes only, and should not be construed as
limiting on the
present invention. Those skilled in the art will recognize that there are
numerous other
ways of scrolling the virtual address in a virtual address bar, all of which
are
contemplated as falling within the scope of the present invention.
FIGURE 48A is a block diagram illustrating a virtual address bar 1900 having
segments referencing both virtual and actual locations in a file system. As
previously
discussed, a virtual address in a virtual address bar 1900 may contain
segments
referencing specific locations within a computer file system hierarchy, and
also contain
segments referencing virtual, or logical, locations within a computer file
system. Files or
content referenced by a virtual segment may be distributed among many physical
locations. A virtual address bar 1900 may contain segments referencing
physical
locations and segments referencing virtual locations. For example, virtual
address
bar 1900 includes segment 1902 "Local Disk (C:)"" referring to files or
content contained
in a specific area in the computer file system, in particular drive "C."
A.Iternatively,
segment 1904 "Case Files" of itself refers to files or content stored in
multiple folders in
the computer file system hierarchy associated with case files. However, in
combination
with segment 1902 "Local Disk (C:)", segment 1904 "Case Files" references only
those
case files found on local drive "C." Additionally, segment 1906 "Contains
"Fax'"' further
filters the files on local disk C: and associated with the case files
according to whether
they contain the word "Fax."
As shown in FIGURE 48B, a virtual address bar 1900 may be configured to
function as a conventional address bar. For example, with reference to FIGURE
48A, by
placing a cursor 1908 in the empty space of the virtual address bar 1900 and
clicking
there, the virtual address bar 1900 switches from displaying segments
representing a
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virtual address, to functioning as a conventional address bar displaying a
conventional
address 1910, as shown in FIGURE 48B. The conventional address 1910 in the
virtual
address bar 1900 of FIGURE 48B approximates the virtual address displayed in
the
virtual address bar 1900 of FIGURE 48A. However, those filters ire the virtual
address
bar 1900 of FIGURE 48A that do not correspond to physical locations in a
computer file
system cannot be displayed and are removed from the conventional address 1910.
Specifically, segment 1904 "Case Files" and segment 1906 "Contains 'Fax " are
not part
of the conventional address 1910 (FIGURE 48B)
In order to reconfigure a virtual address bar 1900, functioning as a
conventional
address bar, to function normally as a virtual address bar, the user must so
indicate in a
manner other than clicking on the empty area of ,,,.he bar. When configured to
function as
a conventional address bar, a virtual address bar must permit the user to
click in the
empty area for address editing purposes. Clicking in the empty area of a
conventional
address bar places an editing cursor at the end of the address/path for
editing purposes.
Accordingly, to reconfigure the virtual address to again function in its
normal manner as
described above, a user must press a predefined key or key sequence, such as
the :Esc or
Tab key, or by place the focus on another area of a window or view by clicking
on
another area of the window or view. Those skilled in the art will recognize
that other user
actions may also be utilized to reconfigure the virtual address bar 1900 to
again function
in its normal mode as described above, all of which are contemplated as
falling within the
scope of the present invention.
FIGURE 49 is a flow diagram illustrative of a peer filter selection routine
2000
for selecting a peer filter for an identified segment in a virtual address
bar. Beginning at
block 2002, the routine 2000 detects a peer filter selection activation.
Activating the peer
filter selection process is described in above in regard to _FIGURES 45A-45D.
At
block 2004, the segment for which the peer filter selection has been requested
is
identified. At block 2006, the peer filters for the identified segment are
determined from
a predetermined list of peer filters. At block 2008, the peer filters are
displayed to the
user. At block 2010, the user's peer filter selection from peer filters
displayed is obtained.
At block 2012, the virtual address is truncated by removing the identified
segment from
the virtual address bar, and any additional segments that follow the
identified segment.
At block 2014, a segment representing the selected peer filter is appended to
the
remaining segments in the virtual address bar. Thereafter, the routine 2000
terminates.
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FIGURE 50 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary add filter routine 2100
for
adding a filter to a virtual address in a virtual address bar. Beginning at
block 2102, the
exemplary routine 2100 obtains the filter to be added to the virtual address.
For example,
as previously discussed in regard to FIGURE 43, filters may be added to the
virtual
address according to user actions external to the virtual address bar, or
alternatively, may
be directly added to the virtual address bar by typing in the name of a
predefined filter.
At block 2104, a determination is made whether the new filter conflicts with
an
existing filter already in the virtual address. As previously discussed in
regard to
FIGURES 46A-46D, a new filter may conflict with an existing filter by
substantially
narrowing or broadening the scope of the existing filter. Alternatively, a new
filter may
conflict with an existing filter because a new filter is mutually exclusive to
an existing
filter. If, at decision block 2104, the new filter conflicts with an existing
filter, at
block 2106, the existing filter is removed from the virtual address.
Alternatively, at 2104,
if the new filter does not conflict with an existing filter or, after removing
the existing
conflicting filter in block 2106, at block 2108, the new filter is added at
the end of the
virtual address. Thereafter, the exemplary routine 2100 terminates.
FIGURES 51-57 are diagrams related to a system and method in accordance with
another aspect of the invention that provides an improved user experience
within a shell
browser. More specifically, a system and method are provided by which users
can more
readily identify an item based on the metadata associated with that item.
Turning to FIGURE 51A, a window 2200 represents a screen-size display area for
a graphical user interface of a shell browser. The window 2200 contains a
preview pane
area 2202 and a view area 2204. The preview pane 2202 may include a preview
control 2206, a user interfacee. (UI) or edit control 2208, and a task control
2210.
Typically, the preview control 2206 will provide the user with an image or
other visual
display of the item being previewed (e.g., a selected file). The preview
control. 2206 may
also present the user with controls such as iterator buttons which allow the
user to shift
the focus from one item to the next by clicking sl mouse button. Metadata
corresponding
to one or more items and/or metadata corresponding to the item container may
be
displayed in a variety of locations within the window 2200. For example, the
edit control
and metadata may be co-located within edit control area 2208 so that the edit
control area
not only includes a display of key properties of the previewed item but also
presents the
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user with the option of making edits to the retadata. The task control 2210
contains
tasks relevant to the namespace and/or the selection.
For purposes of the present invention, the terms "metadata" and "user
modifiable
metadata" exclude the shell item name. The term "shell item name" refers to
the property
which is used for purposes of sorting and displaying the item within the shell
browser.
As mentioned above, one unique aspect of the present invention is the ability
of a user to
edit metadata within a shell browser.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention
contemplates the
presence of optional features within the window 2200. For example, the preview
control 2206 and the task control 2210 are not essential features for purposes
of the
present invention. Moreover, other non-essential features -which are not shown
in
FIGURE 51A, such as a toolbar which includes iterator buttons or a show/hide
button so
the user can open/close the preview pane, are also within the scope of the
present
invention. Nevertheless, these and other optional features may assist the user
in readily
locating a particular item in the shell browser.
The view area 2204 provides a listview of one or more items 2212, such as file
system files or folders. The term "listview" refers to an enumeration or list
of items
within a container. The terms "item" and "shell item" are used interchangeably
herein to
refer to files, folders and other such containers, and other non-file objects
which can be
represented in a listview. Examples of non-file objects may include, but would
not be
limited to, contacts, favorites and. email messages. The terms "shell browser"
and "`file
system browser" are used interchangeably herein to refer to a browser which
allows a
user to navigate through various namespaces including files and other non-file
items.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention
contemplates
many possible designs and layouts for the window 2200. For example, the
preview
pane 2202 is shown above the view area 2204 in FIGURE 5 IA, However, other
layouts,
such as placing the preview pane 2202 and the view area 2204 side-by-side, are
clearly
within the scope of the present invention. The location of the edit control
2208 is also
independent of the location of the displayed metadata and independent of the
location of
any other controls. There are also many possible view types for the items
depicted in
listview area 2204, such as details., slide show, filmstrip, thumbnail, tiles,
icons, etc.
FIGURE 51 E is similar to FIGURE 51 A, except that the view area 2204 is
replaced by a view area 224- which displays the items 2212 in details mode. As
is
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typical for shell items displayed in details mode, the items 2212 are aligned
in a column
at the left-hand side of view area 2214, and one or more column headings 2216
form the
top row of a set of columns containing metadata 2218 relating to the
corresponding item
located in the same row. Importantly, the present invention contemplates the
ability of a
user to explicitly change a metadata value to another value through
instantiation of one or
more edit controls 2208 anywhere within the window 2200. For example, an edit
control
may be provided within the preview pane 2202 and/or within the view area 2214.
For
example, an edit control which is :riot initially visible to a user may be
provided within the
view area 2214. Such a control can be instantiated, for example, when the user
hovers
over the metadata 2218 and then clicks on it to enter an editing .mode.
Referring next to FIGURE 52, a schematic illustration is provided of a welcome
pane 2300 in a shell browser. A welcome pane is sometimes :referred to as a.
"null select"
pane because it represents a narrespace or container as opposed to a
selection. If the user
has not yet made a selection, a preview pane 2302 displays metadata 2304 and
key tasks
relating to the folder or s ell library. If desired, the tasks may be
separated into
premiered tasks 2306 and other relevant tasks 2308. The welcome pane 2300 also
includes a view area 2310, in which multiple files or other items 2312 may be
viewed.
The welcome pane metadata2304 may include information such as properties of
the
container (e.g., MyPictures), in which case the metadata display may be
static.
Alternatively, the welcome pane metadata 2304 may include information such as
a
sampling of metadata from each of the items within the container, in which
case the
metadata display may change frequently. For example, the metadata display may
be
limited to properties of one item at a time by cycling from one item to the
next every 30
seconds.
FIGURE 53 is a schematic illustration of a selected pane 2400 in a shell
browser.
As opposed to a welcome pane, a selected pane represents a selection by the
user. If the
user selects a container or folder, the selected pane need not be identical to
the welcome
pane for that container or folder. In FIGURE 53, the selected pane 2400
includes a
preview pane 2402 which contains a preview control 2404, a metadata display
2406 and a
tasks display 2408. Like the welcome pane 2300 (in FIGURE 52), the selected
pane 2400 also includes a view area 2410, in which multiple files or other
items 2412
may be viewed. In FIGURE 53, however, the user has selected one of the files.
Consequently, the preview control 2404 displays a preview image of the
selected file, the
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metadata display 2406 shows properties of the selected file, and the tasks
display 2408
provides a menu of relevant tasks for operating on the selected file.
FIGURE 54 is a schematic representation of the selected pane of FIGURE 53 but
which also includes a context menu 2500 to enable a user to modify metadata in
a shell
browser in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The context
menu 2500 in FIGURE 54 presents the user with several options for changing the
selected metadata. The generic text shown in the menu 2500 is of course merely
one
example of the type of options which may be presented to a user for editing
the displayed
metadata. A context menu can be provided in any window, including a welcome
pane, to
-.0 improve the user experience. As those skilled in, the are, will
appreciate, any, number and
variety of context menus could be supported by the present invention. For
purposes of
the present invention, one means for enabling user modifications to displayed
metadata
within a shell browser is to provide a context menu such as editable metadata
context
menu 2500. A user may suzmzmon the context menu, for example, by clicking on
the
corresponding text or object in the preview pane.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention
contemplates
means other than context menus for enabling user modifications to displayed
metadata
within a shell browser. Another such means for is for the user to click on the
metadata to
enter an editing mode. By contrast, a user could enter an editing mode by
hovering over
the relevant text or object in the preview pane. Numerous alternative means
are available
and within the scope of the present invention.
FIGURE 55 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 2600 for enabling a user to
modify metadata displayed in a welcome pane within a shell browser in
accordance with
an embodiment of the present invention. The method 2600 includes displaying a
welcome pane and metadata associated with the welcome pane at 2602. Then, at
2604,
the method provides a control for user modification of the displayed
inetadata. When the
user manipulates the control to modify the displayed metadata at 2606, the
method then
associates the modified metadata with the welcome pane at: 26O8 so that the
modified
metadata will be displayed the next time the welcome pane is displayed.
FIGURE 56 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 2700 for enabling a user to
modify metadata displayed in a selected pane within a shell browser in
accordance with
an embodiment of the present invention. At 2702, the method 2700 first
displays a
number of items, such as items in a welcome pane or items it a selected
container. When
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the user selects one or more of the items at 2704, the method displays
metadata associated
with the selected item(s) at 2706. At 2708, the method Provides a control for
user
modification of the displayed metadata. When the user manipulates the control
to modify
the displayed metadata at 2710, the method then associates the modified
metadata with
the selected item(s) at 2712 so that the modified metadata will be displayed
the next time
the selected item(s) is/are displayed.
In the event a user selects multiple items at 2704, the displayed raeta.data
may
include intersecting properties of the selected items, a union of properties,
or perhaps a
new property relevant to the selected items. Alternatively, the displayed
metadata may
include a rotating sample of ietadata from each of the selected items (e.g.,
cycling from
one selected item's metadata to the next selected item's metadata every 30
seconds). It is
possible for the display of mnetadata which would result from a selection of
all of the
items to be identical to the display of metadata which would result from a
null select.
FIGURE 57 is a block diagram of a data structure 2800 containing user
modifiable metadata associated with an, item displayed in a shell browser. The
data
structure 2800 includes a title field 2802 which indicates the name of the
item. In the
case of non-file items, the title field 2802 may contain the name of whatever
property is
used to alphabetize that item in a listview. The data structure 2800 includes
a user
editable properties field 2804 containing one or more properties associated
with the
displayed item, wherein the user editable properties are displayed in the
shell browser
with the displayed item. The data structure 2800 may optionally include a read-
only
properties field 2806 which contains any read-only properties associated with
the
displayed item and worthy of display in the she'll browser. Given the size
constraints of
the metadata display in the shell browser, the number of properties in fields
2804
and 2806 may be limited. Consequently, the data structure 2800 may optionally
include
an all properties field 2808, which contains a link or pointer to a location
(e.g., a property
page) which contains all of the properties or metadata associated with the
displayed item.
Of course, the all properties field 2808 would not be necessary in the event
that
fields 2804 and 2806 contain all of the properties associated with t1e
displayed item. The
data structure 2800 is stored on one or more com. lputer-readable media, such
as in a file
system or shell, to provide rich storage views, and thus an improved user
experience,
within the shell browser.
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The present invention enables a, number of scenarios wh_ic h. were not
possible with
conventional shell browsers. As a first example, a student can manage her
projects using
the preview pane. When she obtains new documents as part of a project she is
working
on, she can select those documents in her document library and enter the name
of the
document author and the name of the project into keyword fields using the edit
control.
Now the new documents will show -up in her favorite view: "Documents Grouped
by
Keyword and Listed by Author," A second example of a new scenario enabled by
the
present invention involves an employee ookng for materials for an upcoming ad
campaign. As he browses through. his employer's stock collection of photos
using the
shell browser, he selects a couple of pictures and, from the preview pane,
adds a new
keyword "Summer 2003 Campaign." Having updated the metadata for a multiple
selection, the employee then pivots by keyword and can vies.v all of the
"Summer 2003
Campaign" files grouped together. 1% any other scenarios which take advantage
of the
present invention would be apparent to those skilled in the ar.
5 FIGURES 58-66 are diagrams related to a system and method for extending the
functionality of an object previewer in a shell browser configured to display
a plurality of
items representing multiple i.ttem types. As will be described in more detail
below, a shell
browser is provided which includes a default previewer and a .n extensibility
mechanism..
The default previewer provides a. standard level of functionality for multiple
item types.
The extensibility mechanism enables functionality beyond the standard level
provided by
the default previewer for one or more of the item types.
FIGURE 58 is a schematic diagram of a prior art graphical user interface for
browsing pictures stored in a folder within a shell browser environment which
is used for
viewing other non-pictorial files and folders. As stated above, the need to
readily identify
items that are stored in a computing environment such as a PAC is dramatically
increasing.
With respect to digital pictures, users traditionally had to invoke a third
party software
program in order to view a specific file on the PC. FIGURE 58 illustrates a
prior
solution, a film strip view, which allows users to more readily view and
identify the
image associated with a given file within the graphical operating environment.
The goal
of -lm strip view was to alleviate the need for other software programs when
browsing a
folder of pictures by providing a quick iterative process that allows a user
to preview a
sizeable image of one or more picture files within. the folder.
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FIGURE 58 relates to a system for browsing pictures stored in a folder,
wherein a
series of folder pictures is presented as a single row of thumbnails within an
environment
that is utilized for viewing other :non-pictorial files and folders (i.e., a
shell browser). It
farther allows a user to selectively cursor through the thur;bnails, as it
displays an
enlarged preview image of a user selected thumbnail. FIGURE 59, is a diagram
of a
representative window on a user's screen. As shown, the window 3200 is divided
into
several areas including a header region, a task option area 3206, a preview
control
area 3202, a caption or comment area and a filmstrip area;. 3204. The task
option
area 3205 contains a list of tasks that can be selected by a user in order to
perform a wide
variety of operations relating to the management of files and folders, as well
as other
system choices. Some of these operations are specific to the pictures in the -
filmstrip
area 3204 and the preview control. area 3202. The preview control area 3202 is
a space in
which an enlarged preview image of a user selected picture will be displayed.
This space
can also contain navigational icons to assist a user in iterating through a
series of pictures.
immediately below the preview control area is a caption or comment area that
can be
utilized to display a variety of textual. information. A film strip area 3204,
provides a
space to display a single row of thumbnail images P1, P2, I='3, P4 of the
picture files
contained within a given folder. In addition, tide film strip area 3204 also
contains cursors
to allow a user to scroll through a folder for the picture files. It should be
noted that the
filmstrip area 3204 can contain and display thumbnail images in mixed
orientation. For
instance, as shown in FIGURE ;58, ICI, P2 and P4 are in landscape while P3 is
in portrait.
A user can select any one of the thumbnail images, which will cause a larger
preview image of the user th-Lun b:nail selection image to be displayed-
within the preview
control area. In addition, user selection of a thuraabnail image will also
allow the user to
select and perform any one of the Masks listed in the task option area 3206,
with respect to
the selected image. A first control button allows a user to quickly and
successively
preview an enlarged image of each of the thumbnail images within a given
folder, by
iterating in one direction. In other words, a user would not have to
specifically " click" on
each and every successive thumbnail image in order to preview the Picture.
Instead the
user will merely click on the first control button repeatedly to move through
the folder. A
second control button performs a similar iteration function but only in the
opposite
direction.
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Turning to FIGURE 59, a window 3300 represents a screen-size display area for
a
graphical user interface of a general purpose shell browser. The window 3300
contains a
preview pane area 3302 and a view area 3304. The preview pane 3302 may include
a
preview control3306, an edit or metadata control3308, and a task control3310.
Typically, the preview control 3306 will provide the user with an image or
other visual
display of the item being previewed ('e.g., a selected file). The preview
control 3306 may
also present the user with controls such as iterator buttons which allow the
user to shift
,he focus from one item to the next by clicking a mouse button. The edit
control 3308 not
only includes a display of key properties of the previewed item, it also
presents the user
with a control for making edits to the metadata. The task control 3310
contains tasks
relevant to the namespace and/or the selection.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention
contemplates the
presence of optional features within the window 3300. For example, the
rnetadata
control 3208 and the task control 32'__ 0 are not essential _eatures for
purposes of the
present invention. Moreover, other non-essential features which are not shown
in
FIGURE- 59, such as a toolbar which includes iterator buttons or a show/hide
button so
the user can open/close the preview pane, are also within the scope of the
present
invention. Nevertheless, these and other optional features may assist the user
in readily
locating a particular item in the shell browser.
The view area 3304 provides a listview of one or more items 3312, such as file
system files or folders. The term "listview" refers to an enumeration or list
of items
within a container. The terms "item" and "shell item" are used interchangeably
herein to
refer to files, folders and other such containers, and other non-file objects
which can be
represented in a listview. Similar y, "shell item" refers to an item in a
shell library.
Examples of non-file objects may include, but would not be limited to,
contacts, favorites
and email inessages. The terms "shell browser" and "file system browser" are
used
interchangeably herein to refer to a browser which allows a user to navigate
through
various narnespaces including files and other non-file items.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention
contemplates
many possible designs and layouts for the window 3300. For example, the
preview
pane 3302 is shown above the view area 3304 in FIGURE 59. However, other
layouts,
such as placing the preview pane 3302 and the view area 3304 side-by-side, are
clearly
within the scope of the present: invention. There are also r :iany possible
views for the
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items depicted in view area 3304, such as details, slide show, file<strip,
thumbnail, tiles,
icons, etc.
Referring next to FIGURE 60, a schematic illustration is provided of a welcome
pane 3400 in a shell browser. welcome pane is sometimes referred to as a "null
select"
pane because it represents a narlespace or container as opposed to a
selection. If the user
has not yet made a selection, a preview pane 3402 displays metadata 3404 and
key tasks
relating to the folder or shell library. If desired, the tasks may be
separated. into
premiered tasks 3406 and other relevant tasks 3408. The welcome pane 3400 also
includes a view area 3410, in which multiple files or other items 3412 may be
viewed.
The welcome pane metadata 3404 may include info rnation such as properties of
the
container (e.g., MyPictures), in which case the metadata display may be
static.
Alternatively, the welcome pane metadata 3404 may include information such as
a
sampling of metadata from each of the items within the container, in which
case the
metadata display may change frequently. For example, the metadata display may
be
limited to properties of one item at a time by cycling from one item to the
next every 30
seconds.
FIGURE 61 is a schematic illustration of a selected pane 3500 in a shell
browser.
As opposed to a welcome pane, a selected pane represents a selection. by the
user. If the
user selects a container or folder, the selected pane need not be identical to
the welcome
pane for that container or folder. In FIGURE 61, the selected pane 3500
includes a
preview pane 3502 which contains a preview control 3504, a nietadata display
3506 and a
tasks display 3508. Like the welcome pane 3400 (in FIGURE 60), the selected
pane 3500 also includes a view area 3510, in which multiple files or other
items 3512
may be viewed. in FIGURE 61, however, the user has selected one of the files.
Consequently, the preview control 3504 displays a preview image of the
selected fale, the
metadata display 3506 shows properties of the selected file, and the tasks
display 3508
provides a menu of relevant tasks for operating on the selected file.
FIGURE 62 is a schematic diagram of a selected pane similar to the selected
pane
of 3500 of FIGURE 61 but with extended controls in accordance with an
embodiment of
the present invention. The selected pane 3600 includes a preview pane 3602
which
contains a preview control 3604 having extended controls 3614, a rn.etadata
display 3606
and a tasks display 3608. The selected pane 3600 also includes a view area
3610, in
which multiple files or other items 3612 may be viewed. The user has selected
one of the
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files 3612, so the preview control 3504 displays a preview image of the
selected file, the
metadata display 3606 shows properties of the selected file, and the tasks
display 3608
provides a menu of relevant tasks for operating on the selected file.
The extended controls 3614 represent a level of functionality beyond what is
typically available from a shell browser. For example, a default preview pane
or preview
control, such as those shown in FIGURES 58 and 61, may simply display a
preview
image of a selected item. If the item is a word processing document or slide
presentation,
the default preview image may be the first page of the document or slide deck.
However,
by extending th- -, functionality of the preview image to make it more
interactive, a user
can quite easily manipulate extended controls 3614 to page through the
document or slide
presentation. This enhanced level of functionality improves the user
experience because
it allows the user to more comprehensively browse the previewed item without
opening
it, which is particularly useful -or- files that are riot readily identifiable
based on the first
page alone.
Extended controls 3614 can be made available to the user as part of an
alternative
previewer in a shell browser. The term "previewer" can refer to a preview
control or to
the a preview pane which includes a preview control. Tile present invention
contemplates
a shell browser which provides the user with a default previewer offering a
standard level
of functionality for multiple item types and one or more alternative
previewers offering a
different level of functionality for particular item types to enhance the user
experience.
Opening up the development of alternative previewers to independent software
vendors
(ISVs) and other third party developers adds value to the file browsing
experience by
showing relevant aspects of the file in an easily recognizable way. The
present invention
contemplates custom previewers for numerous file types and non-file item types
including, but not limited to, image files, video files, contacts, garrkes,
scanners, video
cameras, document files, spreadsheet files, slide presentations files, drawing
files and
tablet ink files.
The present invention enables a number of scenarios which were not possible
with
conventional shell browsers, some of which have been described above. Third
parties are
allowed to describe and demonstrate their file types by providing code that
can look
inside the file type and provide a meaningful image that a user will
understand. For
example, Apple could implement a QuickTimeTM preview control, which would be
displayed when the user selects a QuickTimeTM' file in the shell browser. This
preview
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control could provide an alternative or extended level of functionality beyond
the default
previewer in the shell of an operating system, including functionality such as
showing the
first five seconds of a Quick T is eT"l
movie and/or offering b-+ toils and controls for the
user to launch the QuickTimeTM' player. An alternative previewer for a music
file could
provide similar extended functionality. As those skilled in the art will
appreciate, the
possibilities for extended functionality in an alternative previewer are
unlimited.
FIGU 63 is a schematic representation of a selected pane similar to
FIGURE 61 but which also includes a context menu 3714 to enable a user to
modify
metadata in a shell browser in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention.
The selected pane 3 700 includes a preview pane 3702 which contains a preview
control 3704, a metadata display 3'706 and P. task control 3708. The selected
pane 3 700
also includes a view area 3710, in which multiple files or other items 3712
may be
viewed. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, for purposes of the
present
invention, the metadata control 3706 and the task control 3708 are not
essential features.
The present invention contemplates the presence of these andior other optional
features
which may assist the user in readily locating a particular item in the shell
browser or
otherwise enhance the user experience.
The context menu 37114 in FIGURE. 63 presents the =.u.ser with several
options,
including the choice of selecting either the default previewer or an
alternative previewer
for the selected item. The generic text shown in the menu 3714 is of course
merely one
example of the type of options which may be presented to a user for selecting
a
previewer. A context menu can be provided in any window, including a welcome
pane,
to improve the user experience. As those skilled in the art will appreciate,
any number
and variety of context menus could be supported by the present invention. For
purposes
of the present invention, one means for enabling user selection of a previewer
within a
shell browser is to provide a context -menu such as context menu 3714. A user
may
summon the context menu, for exarnp:le, by clicking on the cc responding text
or object
in the preview pane.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention
contemplates
means other than context menus for selecting a previewer for the displayed
items from a
plurality of available previewers within a shell browser. Another such means
is for the
user to click on the preview control to enter a selection mode. Similarly, the
user may be
prompted to select a previewer by right-clicking within the preview pane. By
contrast, a
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user could enter a selection mode . by hovering over relevant text or over a
relevant object
in the preview pane. Numerous alternative means are available and within the
scope of
the present invention.
FIGURE 64A is a flow diagram illustrating a method 3800 for enabling a user to
select a previewer in a shell browser which supports multiple item types in
accordance
with an embodiment of the present invention. The method 3800 provides a
plurality of
previewers in the shell browser at 3802. The plurality of previexwwers may
include a
default previewer for multiple item types and one or more alternative
previewers for
particular item types. These alternative previewers may include installed
applications
developed by a third party. M38'04, 3804, the method 3800 presents the user
with a choice of
two or more previewers for a particular item type. The prompt to select a
previewer may
be initiated by the shell browser (e.g., upon displaying a new item type)
and/or by the
user (e.g., by clicking on an object to display a context :menu). Upon
receiving an input
from the user at 3806 indicating a selection of one of the previewers for the
particular
item type, the method 3800 then associates the selected previewer with the
particular item
type at 3808. The selected previewer will remain in use until the user selects
a different
one. However, if the selected previewer is an installed application,
uninstalling the
application will also terminate the use of the selected previewer.
FIGURE 64B is a flow diagrarn illustrating a method 3810 for automatically
selecting a previewer in a shell browser which supports multiple item types in
accordance
with an embodiment of the present invention. The method 3810 provides a
plurality of
previewers in the shell browser at 3812. The plurality of previewers may
include a
default previewer for multiple item types and one or more alternative
previewers for
particular item types. These alternative previewers may include installed
applications
developed by a third party.
At 3814, the system (as opposed to the user) automatically and transparently
selects a default previewer from two or more available previewers for a
particular item
type. The system may select a previewer in response to an event. such as
display of a new
item type or the presence of an alternative previewer. The system is
configured to select
a default previewer based on logical rules. Under exceptional circumstances,
the system
may decide at 3816 to override the rules and select a previewer that would not
have been
selected under the applicable rules.. For example, if the rule is to select a
newly available
previewer over the current default previewer, an installed application may
generally have
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the authority to change the default previewer to the previewer now available
from the
installed application. However, the shell browser, for example, may reserve
the right to
override the change proposed by the newly installed application.. For
instance, an
override may be appropriate when the newly installed application cannot be
authenticated
as a proper owner of the item type in question.
In any event, the method 3310 then associates the selected previewer with the
particular item type at 3818. The selected previewer will remain in use until
a difi'erent
one is selected. However, if the selected previewer is an installed
application,
uninstalling the application will also terminate the use of the selected
previewer.
Referring next to FIGURE 65, a flow diagram illustrates a method 3900 for
enabling the use of third party previewers in a shell browser which supports
multiple item
types in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The method
3900
includes providing a shell browser having a default previewer for the -
multiple item types
at 3902. The method 3900 ether includes providing an extensibility mechanism
for
11 5 third party development of an alternative previewer for at least one of
the multiple item
types at 3904. The alternative previewer may be registered in the shell
browser at 3906.
In the case of an installed application, registration may occur substantially
at the time of
installation. For example, if the application is installed by an OEM, the
alternative
previewer may be registered before the user has acquired the computer.
Alternatively,
the user may install the application locally or remotely.
There are many possible approaches for the extensibility mechanism referenced
above in 3904, One such approach involves exposing a set of application
program
interfaces (APIs) so that independent software vendors (ISI/s) and other third
party
developers may develop alternative previewers. With the API approach, a
registration
mechanism exists which allows an ISV to associate their preview control with
all item
type owned by the ISV. When an item or file of that type is selected in the
shell browser,
the ISV's preview control is instantiated via this registration mechanism and
the
extensibility API. The API provides data to the preview control: data
representing the
selected item(s) in the view and data representing the parent container of the
items in the
33 view. The preview control operates on this data and provides a user
interface through the
API which is presented in the shell browser. The user may provide input with
keystrokes
and mouse events which are passed: by the shell browser to the p =eview
control which can
operate on those user input events.
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Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many approaches are possible in
the
context of the extensibility mechanism of the present invention. In addition
to the API
approach, similar functionality may be achieved via user configuration, a
pointer to
HTML or hosting a flash. Moreover, the extensibility model may require that
only one
application that owns the item type selected may provide only one alternative
previewer.
In other words, the number of available previewers may be limited to a default
previewer
and one alternative previewer to avoid a poor user experience in which
multiple
registered, extended previewers are in competition with one another. However,
another
model would be to allow any application that can handle the selected item type
to provide
one additional previewer, An alternative model would allow airy running code
to provide
one additional previewer for any item type. It may also be desirable under
certain
circumstances to allow replacement or removal of the default previewer. Many
other
models are possible and are contemplated by the present invent'
FIGURE 66 is a block diagram of a data structure 4000 which is stored on one
or
more computer-readable media and which contains information indicative of a
plurality
of previewers in a shell browser. The data structure 4000 includes a default
previewer
field 4002 containing information indicative of a default previewer which
supports
multiple item types. An alternative previewer field 4004 contains information
indicative
of an alternative previewer for a first item type. Another alternative
previewer field. 4006
may contain information indicative of a second alternative previewer for the
first item
type, or it may contain infor matiion indicative of an alternative previewer
for a second
item type. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in some cases there
may only be
one alternative previewer field, and in other cases there may be two or more
alternative
previewer fields. The selected previewer field 4008 contains information
indicative of
whether to invoke the default previewer or an alternative previewer when items
of a
particular, item type are displayed in the shell browser. In the event that
field 4006
contains information indicative of an alternative previewer for a second item
type, a
selected previewer field 4010 may contain information indicative of whether to
invoke
the default previewer or the alternative previewer when one or more items of
the second
item type are displayed in the shell browser. The information contained in
fields 4002, 4004 and/or 4006 may comprise the previewer code which is
configured to
run when a user selects an object of that type.
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While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and
described, it will be appreciated that various changes can be made therein
without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For exarnp'le, it will
be appreciated
that the locations of the various TT E features that are shown herein are
illustrative and may
be altered, and that different placements of the various I features will still
fall within the
spirit and scope of the invention. Furthermore, the different aspects of the
invention
described herein may be formed in various combinations, also without departing
from the
spirit and scope of the invention.
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