Patent Grant
7769794
The present invention relates to file systems, and more particularly, to a file system shell.
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, for a “music” folder, a user may choose to organize the music files in an artist/album 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 which are difficult to organize. Some users implement a rigid sense of placement for 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 further 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 same 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.
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 return 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 with 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 computer, 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 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 or having any of various properties. 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 files. 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, documents, 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 WINDOWS® EXPLORER™ 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 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 of infotips 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 metadata 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 still 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 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 for 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.
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.
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 folders, 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 the 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 metadata property.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a plurality of items is represented on the display, and a filter term is dynamically generated based on the metadata properties of the items. When 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 term.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a plurality of items is represented on the display, and a filter area is provided in which a user can select a filter term by selecting a checkbox control. When a checkbox control is selected 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 a graphical user interface is provided including a plurality of display objects, each display object representing one or more items and a property control corresponding to a property that is shared by a plurality of the items. Selection of the property control causes a list of filter terms to be presented on the display. In one aspect the filter terms may be presented in a drop down menu in which each filter has a corresponding checkbox control.
In another aspect of the invention, selection of a first check box control may cause the items that are represented on the display to only include items that satisfy the filter term corresponding to the first check box control. Selection of a second check box control when the first check box control is currently selected causes the items that are represented on the display to include items that satisfy either the first respective filter term corresponding to the first check box control or a second respective filter term corresponding to the second check box control. In other words, the filter terms cause a logical OR operation to be performed on the items in the view.
In still another aspect, the second check box control may be deselected causing the items represented on the display to include only items that satisfy at least one respective filter term corresponding to a currently selected check box control.
In another aspect, selection of a property control may cause a list of arrangement commands to be presented on the display separated from the list of filter terms. The selection of an arrangement command may cause the items to be rearranged on the display. Illustrative arrangement commands including sorting, stacking or group by the property associated with the selected property control.
In yet another aspect, the property control may be a split button. According to this aspect, selection of a first button portion may cause the list of filter terms to be presented on the display and selection of the second button portion may cause the display objects to be sorted by the property.
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, in response to the query items are drawn from the physical locations as defined in the scope, and the items that are drawn 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 made 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 items to be searched by a query. Once a query is received, both non-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.
According to another aspect of the invention an address bar is provided for selecting content stored in a physical or virtual location. The address bar may comprise a plurality of segments. Each segment may correspond to a filter or selection criteria for selecting stored content. A segment may include more than one filter or selection criteria, where the content corresponding to each of the filters or selection criteria in a segment may be represented. In this instance, a logical “or” operation referred to as “OR” filtering occurs where content corresponding to separate selection criteria from two or more different locations, whether virtual or physical, can be accessed. Collectively, the corresponding filters of the segments in the address bar represent an 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 address of the address bar. Selecting a segment in the address bar causes those segments subsequent to the selected segment to be removed from the address bar.
According to one aspect, selecting a child control associated with a segment in the address bar causes a list of selectable child filters or selection criteria to be displayed to the user. The child filters or selection criteria are children of the filter(s) or selection criteria included with the segment. Selecting one of the child filters or selection criteria from the list of child filters or selection criteria causes the current (child) filter or selection criteria of the segment displayed in the address bar, if different from the selected child filter or selection criteria, to be replaced with the selected child filter or selection criteria. Additionally, those segments subsequent to the segment of the replaced child filter or selection criteria are removed from the address bar.
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.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a graphical user interface is embodied on a computer-readable medium and is executable on a computer. The graphical user interface includes a first screen area which displays a set 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 metadata.
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 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.
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 more of the multiple item types. The shell browser is configured 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 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 computer-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-implemented 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.
Another aspect of the invention provides a method of specifying a scope of items on a computer system or network via a graphical user interface dual-component control by displaying a first component including a tree-like display of a plurality of hierarchically arranged items, where each item can be explicitly selected by a user for inclusion and/or exclusion from the scope. The GUI also displays a second component including a basket, or list, identifying the items explicitly included in and/or explicitly excluded from the scope. When the user explicitly selects a specific item, the control changes a state of the specific item from a previous state to a new state, and changes a state of each descendant of the specific item to a new implicit state based on the new state of the specific item.
In an illustrative embodiment, a state of each item of the plurality of hierarchically arranged items may indicate any of an unselected state, an explicitly included state, an implicitly included state, an explicitly excluded state, and an implicitly excluded state. The list of items may identify an explicitly included item corresponding to each explicitly excluded item.
According to an aspect of the invention, one or more computer readable media store computer executable instructions which, when executed, cause a computer system to provide on a video display a graphical user interface control for specifying a user-defined scope. The GUI control exhibits certain behavior, including displaying a plurality of hierarchically arranged items, e.g., in an expandable/collapsible tree-like manner, where each item of the plurality of hierarchically arranged items can be explicitly selected by a user for inclusion and/or exclusion from the scope. When the user explicitly selects an item for inclusion in or exclusion from the scope, the control implicitly selects all descendants of the explicitly selected item for inclusion in or exclusion from the scope, respectively. The control also displays, separately from the plurality of hierarchically arranged items, a first list of items explicitly included in the scope and a second list of items explicitly excluded from the scope, where each item in the second list corresponds to an item in the first list.
According to another aspect of the invention, when the user explicitly selects an unselected or implicitly excluded item, the control changes a state of the explicitly selected item to be explicitly included in the scope, and changes a state of each descendant of the explicitly selected item to be implicitly included in the scope. When the user explicitly selects an implicitly included item, the control changes the state of the explicitly selected item to be explicitly excluded from the scope, and changes the state of each descendant of the explicitly selected item to be implicitly excluded from the scope.
In some illustrative embodiments, the control may present a first inclusion indicator corresponding to each displayed explicitly included item, a second inclusion indicator, less prominent than each first inclusion indicator, corresponding to each displayed implicitly included item, and an exclusion indicator corresponding to each displayed explicitly excluded item.
Advantageously, various examples of the invention provide a tool for creating integrated collections. With some implementations of the invention, the tool may include a “basket” control that receives objects to be included in a collection. The basket control, also referred to as a list pane, may, for example, include interfaces for receiving and displaying the data objects that are selected by a user to be included in a collection. A user may thus build a collection of data objects simply by providing the data objects to the basket control. A collection creation component then provides a collection with one or more data items corresponding to the objects submitted to the basket control. With various aspects of the invention, a collection can be compiled with any desired data objects, including discrete data (such as text), data files, pointers to data files, queries or exclusions for identifying data files based upon designated criteria, both virtual and physical folders containing one or more data objects, and even other collections of data objects.
The basket control may be employed by itself to make collections, or it may be hosted by another software object. For example, various implementations of the invention may additionally include a “listmaker” control that conveniently contains both the basket control and one or more user interfaces that a user can employ to provide data objects to the basket control. For example, the listmaker control may include a viewing graphical user interface (such as a file browser) for viewing data objects and a navigation toolbar for navigating the viewing graphical user interface. The listmaker control may then be hosted as desired by software developers in a variety of software applications.
One or more aspects of the invention may be directed to computer systems, stored software, and/or methods for creating a static list of data objects stored on a computer system. Aspects of the invention may display on a computer display device a graphical user interface (GUI) frame, e.g., an explorer frame, comprising a primary view pane and a list pane. The primary view pane displays data objects stored on the computer system in a first predefined location, e.g., a virtual or physical folder identified by a user, and the list pane displays information corresponding to items in a static list associated with the list pane. Each item in the static list corresponds to a data object, and includes information pertaining to the data object, e.g., a pointer to the data object, the item's order in the list, annotations regarding the item, etc. A user may provide input identifying a first data object displayed in the primary view pane to be added to the static list such that an item corresponding to the first data object is added to the static list. Information about the first item, e.g., icon, name, annotations, etc., may be displayed in the list pane. The user can specify a second predefined location, causing the primary view pane to display data objects stored in the second predefined location without changing the static list with which the list pane is associated.
According to various illustrative aspects of the invention, each static list may have a persistence model where the contents of the static list are discarded unless the user has expressed an intent, explicit or implied, to save the static list. Implied intent can be indicated by the user renaming the static list from a default name to a user-defined name.
Aspects of the present invention provide a system and method in which the user is given a preview representation of a file that is about to be created. The preview may appear as part of a save file dialog, and may show an indicia corresponding to the new to-be-created file, and may show how the new file may be visually represented in the GUI after the save is performed. The preview may exhibit certain behaviors, such as having a unique appearance, always appearing as a first element, to be easily noticed by the user. Users may also interact with the preview to manage the file and/or edit its properties even before the file is saved. The preview may also intelligently guide the user through the save process by, for example, refusing to allow the user to save the file to an invalid location, or automatically populating metadata fields based on user navigation through the GUI.
Another aspect of the present invention may provides a system and method in which the user is given an improved file browsing interface by specializing an explorer or shell browser view. The browsing interface may vary depending on the contents to be displayed. In some instances, the browsing interface may customize the user interface options presented in the browser panel in accordance with the contents to be displayed. The browser may rearrange, remove, and/or add displayed properties in accordance with the contents. Other aspects of the browser's features, appearance, and/or organization may be customized based on the contents. One or more templates may be provided and/or created to provide a predetermined set of criteria for generating a browser panel. Software interfaces may be provided to allow development of additional browser panels by users and/or applications. User interaction with such a browser may cause further alterations in the browser's appearance and/or functionality.
According to other aspects of the present invention a shell browser with an integrated page space control provides navigational tools for storage systems of computers, their operating systems, networks, and the like. In accordance with at least some examples of the invention, navigation tools and/or their corresponding user interfaces and displays may be provided in multiple different windows, application programs, and the like. In at least some examples of this invention, navigation tools or and/or their corresponding user interfaces and display panel(s) may include windows or panes that include “links” to various different files, lists, folders, pages, and/or other storage elements. If desired, navigational tools in accordance with at least some aspects of this invention may be customized for different application programs, for portions of applications programs, for portions of operating systems, by different users, and the like (e.g., by independent software providers from those providing the computer operating system) to be better suited or targeted for navigating information relating to that set of files, etc., and/or to that user. The navigational tools in accordance with at least some examples of this invention also may provide useful ways of organizing and/or displaying information regarding the user's files, e.g., by hierarchical properties, lists, auto lists, folders, etc. Systems and methods according to at least some examples of the invention also may make it easy for users to assign properties to files, change assigned properties associated with files, and the like, optionally with the use of hierarchical properties. Additionally, in accordance with at least some examples of the invention, navigational tools may be provided for searching, locating, and viewing information relating to stored or accessible files, e.g., in a query-based file and/or retrieval system.
Additional aspects of the invention relate to computer-readable media including computer-executable instructions stored thereon for performing various methods and/or operating various systems, including systems and methods having navigational tools for organizing, searching, locating, and/or displaying information relating to files located in a computer storage system and/or accessible through a computer system as described above (and as will be described in more detail below).
One or more illustrative aspects of the present invention provide a method and system of creating and customizing multiple roots in a navigation pane or panel or page space control. With such a system, a user may be able to bypass needless navigation by allowing direct access to relevant documents, applications and other data through such alternative roots. A user may customize a navigation pane by dragging a desired root or structure to a specific position in the navigation pane. The user may organize and reorganize the roots in a navigation pane by clicking and dragging the roots to particular positions relative to the other roots on the pane. Dragging the roots to the desktop may further create a shortcut to that root. Users may further have the option of adjusting the properties of each root, allowing further customizability.
According to an aspect of the invention, the multiple roots system permits roots to comprise other types of nodes beyond the typical physical locations (i.e., physical folders) used in current systems. More specifically, the multiple roots system allows users to define lists and autolists as roots in the navigation pane. These lists and autolists may comprise files or other data that satisfy a specified set of rules or filters. Additionally, roots may comprise custom extensions that correspond to a user's email (e.g., MSN® Hotmail Drive). These enhancements to the navigation system permit the user significantly greater flexibility in customizing a preferred set of navigation controls in a variety of applications.
Aspects of the present invention may provide a system and method for user modification of properties (or metadata). In one aspect, a shell browser is provided which includes a display of file properties that may include multi-value properties. The user may edit the multi-value property, and the system may intelligently assist the user in editing the multi-value property. The system may tokenize the multi-value property values, and may provide persistent prompt text within a multi-value property field as a reminder to the user of the field's options.
The system may display aggregated property values, and may incorporate visual differences to associate aggregated values with the files to which they apply. Editing of the aggregated values is possible, and when editing aggregated multi-value properties, the system may intelligently assist the user in selecting (or avoiding) entries based on a variety of factors, such as the entries already in use and the context in which the property values are used. When aggregating multi-value properties for multiple selected files, the system may also take steps to help preserve the order in which particular values appeared in the various files. Values that tended to appear more often in the beginning of a file's multi-value property will tend to appear towards the beginning of the corresponding aggregated multi-value property.
Another aspect of the invention provides a method and system for dynamic navigation of data based on user navigation. The method automatically dynamically scrolls data in a second dimension while a user is manually navigating in a first dimension. The method includes displaying a view of content in a predetermined viewable area in a window pane. The method further includes determining whether a user input will result in a relevant node being at least partially obscured. The method also includes automatically dynamically horizontally scrolling a view of content for a predetermined distance so that a relevant node is entirely visible, or has increased visibility. In various embodiments of the invention, the relevant node may be a node in a tree control (e.g., navigation pane, navigation panel, page space control, or the like) that has input or view focus or a node that is closest in proximity to a user's mouse pointer or other input indicia. While it is understood that the invention may be implemented as a method, it may also be implemented as a system for user navigation in a folder tree control or for navigation of other data, as described herein.
Various aspects of the invention may communicate with other code modules via one or more programming interfaces or other interfaces for accessing data files. For example, and aspect of the invention provides a file dialog having a dedicated extensibility region for inclusion of one or more user interface (UI) controls. The controls which can be included in an extensibility region are selectable from a predefined collection of UI control types. When an application requests the OS to display a file dialog, the application can request inclusion of one or more controls of the types in the predefined collection. The OS then places the requested controls in the extensibility region of the displayed dialog. The application need not provide data explicitly indicating the positions within the dialog of the identified controls. The application may also request that the controls be placed in groups and/or that separators be included between groups.
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:
a-b depict an example flow diagram of a process that may employ features described herein.
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
In summary,
As noted above,
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.
With reference to
A number of program modules may be stored on the hard disk 39, magnetic disk 29, optical disk 31, ROM 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 serial bus (USB). A display in the form of a monitor 47 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
When used in a LAN networking environment, the personal computer 20 is connected to the local area network 51 through a network interface or 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. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary, and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers may be used.
As implemented on a system of the type illustrated in
As illustrated in
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 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. This is what allows non-file items to behave akin to files. 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 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 row 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 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 view 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 property 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 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. Thus, 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 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.
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 issuing a different query or “pivot”). For example, a user could issue a “show all artists” 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 “artist” 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” albums will navigate the view to see all of the Beatles' songs. 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 for 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 one-, two-, or a three-star rating.
The results of each query depend on which physical or virtual 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 on 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 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 workers each tend to have a different method for organizing documents, virtual folders can be used to accommodate these different preferences.
As illustrated in
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
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 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 filter term. The “by date” indicator 622 directs a user to the fact that by selecting a date from 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 according 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 example, 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, the “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 line 640 and information line (address bar) 641, a control line 642, a backspace control 643, and information lines 644 and 645. The information line 640 and address bar 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 address bar 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 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
As shown in
Another example of direct manipulation is right clicking an item and selecting delete. In one embodiment, when 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 just to be removed from 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.
The back button 643 may be utilized by a user to back through the filtering process. As described above with respect to
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 filtering navigation. This additional means involves allowing the user to directly access and modify the address bar 641, which correspondingly changes the filter navigation. In other words, by directly accessing and modifying the address bar 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 application Ser. No. 10/420,040, filed Apr. 17, 2003, which is commonly assigned and hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
A timer may also be utilized in conjunction with a user typing in filter terms such as those shown in
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
As described above with respect to
In general, the filters may be configured to apply to different properties of the files 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 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 count, 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
As shown in
As shown in
In another aspect of the invention, a graphical user interface is provided where a different type of filter control is implemented. According to this aspect, metadata property controls corresponding to properties that are shared by a plurality of the items is provided in the listview mode. It will be appreciated that the description above applies to the following discussion where applicable and without specific reference thereto.
In the Microsoft Windows XP brand operating system by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., users are provided with different views for viewing display a list of folders and files that are currently identified in the tree structure. The views include a details view, icon view, thumbnail view, list view and tiles view. The objects identified in these views can be sorted or grouped by a number of different metadata properties.
Aspects of the present invention build upon some of the core functionality of the user interface in the Windows XP brand operating system. Certain aspects of the invention provide and arrange and filter control that enables a user to filter a view using properties shared by a plurality of items. The filter control in some aspects allows a user to easily add, change or remove a filter term from an address bar, such as address bar 641 shown previously in, for example,
According to aspects of the invention, a property header appears as a set of labels along the top of the listview in each of the view modes. The view modes may include any view of the physical or virtual files including the icons view, details view, list view, tiles view and thumbnail view. Each of the properties in the property header functions as a property control and may be invoked by user selection, such as by clicking on the property control to access associated control functionality. There will likely be numerous properties that may be available to the user. As such, it may be practical to display a relevant subset of properties that is most useful to the user. In this regard, the set of properties displayed in the display header may be customizable by the user, may be part of a default template or may be a function of the query on the address bar. One way to select a set of properties to be displayed is on an individual shell folder (i.e., page) basis, so that for each virtual folder (autolist), list, file folder, etc. where the set of properties may be customized by default. For example, for a virtual folder called “Recent Documents” that shows all documents viewed recently, the “Date Last Accessed” property would be useful, whereas in other virtual folders, it may not be useful. Also, properties may be reordered within the property header or removed by, for example, dragging and dropping.
Each property control in the respective header may include a split button divided into a main portion 14110 and a split portion 14112 as shown in details view in
Positioning the cursor 14120 over the main portion 14110 of the property control and selecting (e.g., clicking) causes the display objects to be sorted in accordance with the property associated with property control. In the example shown in
As shown in
In the example of
The filter terms may be preset or dynamically generated based on evaluation of the property corresponding to the property control and the items displayed in the view.
For the property date, assuming today's date is Friday, Nov. 19, 2004, dates may be categorized in the following categories: Long Time Ago; Two Years Ago; Last Year; 2004 January; 2004 February; . . . ; 2004 August; 2004 September; Last Month; Three Weeks Ago; Two Weeks Ago; Last Week; Sunday; Monday; Tuesday; Wednesday; Yesterday; Today; Tomorrow; Two Days From Now; Later This Week; Later This Month; Next Year; Some Future Date. Other properties such as “Size” and “Type” may have the same bucketization as found in the Windows XP Brand Operating System.
According to one aspect, the list of filter terms in filter portion for properties relating to dates (e.g., date created, date modified, etc.) include an additional filtering option, which may be at the top of the list of filter terms referred to as “Pick a Date”. Selecting this filter term causes a calendar picker control 14400 to be displayed from which a user can select a specific date or date range.
Certain properties may not be divided or bucketized such as Filename, Comment, Description. For these properties, there may be no useful breakdown of the property into discrete buckets for grouping, stacking and filtering purposes. In this instance, the only option presented in the arrange and filter drop down menu may be sort.
Each filter term in the arrange and filter drop down menu may include a corresponding indicator that provides an indication as to the number of items which satisfy the respective filter term. As shown in
The filter portion 14135 also may include a checkbox control corresponding to each filter term in the list of filter terms. For example, the checkbox control 14140 corresponds to the filter term “Illustrator Artwork.” Selecting the checkbox control next to a filter term causes that filter term to be added to the current selection by placing a check in the selected checkbox control, and leaves the checkbox controls corresponding to the other filter terms in the filter portion 14135 of the arrange and filter drop down menu in their previous state, selected or unselected. Also, selection of the checkbox control may show a live preview of the filter operation in the area containing the display objects. Thus, selection of the checkbox control causes the items that are represented on the display to include items that satisfy the filter term corresponding to the check box control. If no other checkbox control is selected, then only display objects which satisfy the selected checkbox control will be represented on the display. It will be appreciated that selection or de-selection of a check box control may occur in any number of ways including using a pointing device, a keyboard input, voice input, and combinations of the same. For example, if a user holds down the <SHIFT> key, she can select a range of filter terms similar to how the Windows XP brand operating system allows multiple selections.
Referring to
After selecting a checkbox control, selecting an <enter> command or otherwise issuing a command outside the arrange and filter drop down menu (e.g., clicking elsewhere on the graphical user interface) causes the arrange and filter drop down menu to close and applies the currently selected filter(s). Also, selecting a filter term or an icon associated with a filter term deselects any other checkbox controls, closes the arrange and filter drop down menu and applies the filter term. In these instances, the address bar (similar to address bar 641 shown in other figures such as
While a checkbox control is selected (checked), selection of another checkbox control corresponding to a second filter term adds that filter term to the current selection. Selection of the additional checkbox control causes the additional checkbox control to be presented as a checked checkbox control, and causes only those items which satisfy each of the filter terms corresponding to checked checkbox controls to be presented on the display. Referring to
De-selection of a checkbox control causes the checkbox control to be presented as unchecked, and causes those items which satisfy filter terms corresponding to the remaining checked checkbox controls to be presented on the display. When checkbox controls are selected (checked) in the arrange and filter drop down menu, each selected check box may be unchecked by selecting the command “Don't filter by <PROPERTY NAME>” in the arrangement portion of the arrange and filter drop down menu. Referring to
When a user closes the arrange and filter drop down menu corresponding to a first property when at least one checkbox control is selected, the first property control may provide an indicator that the view of display objects on the display has been filtered. Referring to FIG. 142C, a symbol 14250 appears in the property control corresponding to the property “Type” to indicate that the view of display objects has been filtered by the property “Type”.
When a user closes the arrange and filter drop down menu corresponding to a first property when at least one checkbox control is selected corresponding to a respective filter term by selecting a second property control from the property header, an arrange and filter drop down menu corresponding to the second property control is provided. In this instance, the set of filter terms in the arrange and filter drop down menu is the subset of possible filter terms for which at least one item in the view satisfies the filter term for the second property control as well as the filter for the first property control. Also, the set of filter terms may include any filter that was already selected from the arrange and filter drop down menu associated with the first property control. For example, if a user were to select the checkbox control for the filter term “PowerPoint” from the arrange and filter drop down menu associated with the first property control “Type” and then select the second property control for the second property “Author” causing the arrange and filter drop down menu for “Author” to appear, the filter terms “Hamlet” and “Horatio” would both appear if “Hamlet” and “Horatio” each were an author on one or more “PowerPoint” files. However, if “Horatio” did not author any “PowerPoint” files, then “Horatio” would not appear in the arrange and filter drop down menu. If both “Horatio and “Hamlet were proper filter terms the if the checkbox control for each were then selected, the view would be updated with items that satisfied the logical operation: Type=PowerPoint AND (Author=Hamlet OR Author=Horatio). If the <enter> command were selected, the aforesaid logical operation would be applied and the address bar would be modified to include the segment “PowerPoint” followed by the segment “Hamlet, Horatio” and the view would be updated to reflect the items which satisfy the query. Generally speaking, values from different properties are combined with a logical AND operation when added to the query in the address bar.
According to another aspect, if all the property columns in the property header cannot be seen, then the columns that do not fit on the property header are truncated and may be accessed through an overflow control such as a chevron, as is common with toolbars. Selecting the chevron button displays a menu providing the truncated property controls.
The arrangement commands present in the arrange and filter drop down menu include “Stack by <PROPERTY>” and “Group by <PROPERTY>” as well as the “Don't Filter by <PROPERTY>” command discussed above. In the examples of the arrange and filter drop menus shown in
When items in view are not stacked by the property associated with arrange and filter drop down menu, the “Stack by <PROPERTY>” command is enabled. Selection of the “Stack by <PROPERTY> command causes stacks of items to be created in the view according to the categorization applied to generate the filter terms. Thus, with respect to the property “Type”, stacks may include “Microsoft Word Documents,” “PowerPoint,” “Excel Worksheet,” and other filter terms included in the list of filter terms in the filter portion 14135 of the arrange and filter drop down menu. Illustrative stacks may take on an appearance similar to, for example, items 651-655 shown and described above in
Also, a “Stop Stacking by <PROPERTY> command may be available when items are stacked by the property of the currently activated property control. Selection of this command causes stacking by the current property to be stopped.
When items in view are not grouped by the property associated with arrange and filter drop down menu, the “Group by <PROPERTY>” command is enabled. Selection of the “Group by <PROPERTY> command causes groups of items to be created in the view according to the categorization applied to generate the filter terms. The appearance of items grouped may be similar to grouping in the Windows XP Brand operating system. Also, a “Stop Grouping by <PROPERTY> command may be available when items are grouped by the property of the currently activated property control. Selection of this command causes grouping by the current property to be stopped.
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
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 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.
Similar to a conventional address, such as address 1304 of
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 to the computer file 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 may 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 illustrative embodiment, a label displayed on a segment is user configurable.
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.
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 system hierarchy. A further discussion of virtual address segments referencing specific file system locations is given below in regard to
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
It will be appreciated that a logical combination of filters or selection criteria may occur within one or more segments in the address bar. If a segment were added to succeed segment 1520 in
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 applied to a given segment in the virtual address bar. For example, with reference to
To illustrate alternatively selecting a segment, with reference to
In order to select an alternative peer filter, as shown in
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a user may also wish to navigate to, or select, child filters or selection criteria of current segments in a virtual address. In a file tree structure, a parent node (or parent filter) has children represented by child nodes. Each child node is a child filter or selection criteria and further restricts the parent node or parent filter or selection criteria. Each segment in a virtual address bar may have child filters or selection criteria. In
An example of selecting a child filter or selection criteria will be described in connection with
In order to select a child filter or selection criteria, as shown in
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
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 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.
As shown in
When a virtual address bar, such as virtual address bar 1800 (
According to another aspect, if an overflow condition occurs such that the address bar is too small to fit all the interactive segments that comprise the address, the interactive segments displayed are the most specific. For instance with reference to
As shown in
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 the 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.
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
Turning to
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
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
Referring next to
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.
In the event a user selects multiple items at 2704, the displayed metadata 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 metadata 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 metadata 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.
The present invention enables a number of scenarios which 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 looking 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 view all of the “Summer 2003 Campaign” files grouped together. Many other scenarios which take advantage of the present invention would be apparent to those skilled in the art.
A user can select any one of the thumbnail images, which will cause a larger preview image of the user thumbnail selection image to be displayed within the preview control area. In addition, user selection of a thumbnail image will also allow the user to select and perform any one of the tasks 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.
Turning to
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention contemplates the presence of optional features within the window 3300. For example, the metadata control 3208 and the task control 3210 are not essential features for purposes of the present invention. Moreover, other non-essential features which are not shown in
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. Similarly, “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 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 3300. For example, the preview pane 3302 is shown above the view area 3304 in
Referring next to
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
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. The 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, games, scanners, video cameras, document files, spreadsheet files, slide presentation 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 QuickTime™ preview control, which would be displayed when the user selects a QuickTime™ file in the shell browser. This preview 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 QuickTime™ movie and/or offering buttons and controls for the user to launch the QuickTime™ 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.
The context menu 3714 in
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 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.
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 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 3810 then associates the selected previewer with the particular item type at 3818. The selected previewer will remain in use until a different 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
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 (ISVs) 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 an 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 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 preview control which can operate on those user input events.
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 any 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 invention.
**Defining a Scope with Explicit Exclusions: As discussed above with reference to
According to an illustrative aspect of the invention, with reference to
The operation of scope selection control 6701 will now be described with further reference to
The hierarchical selection tree 6703 may include an expand/collapse widget 6803 next to each folder having at least one subfolder, as is known in the art. Clicking on or otherwise selecting an expand/collapse widget 6803 expands or collapses the corresponding node of the tree. Clicking on or otherwise selecting any other location of a row may toggle selection of that location from the current scope, as described herein. Double clicking on a row may both select the node for inclusion/exclusion and may expand its children by one or more levels. The user may also select a checkbox 6805a-6805k corresponding to the selected item to toggle the status of the item.
When a user explicitly selects a row for inclusion the scope selection control 6701 may indicate the selection in the hierarchy by presenting a first inclusion indicator indicating the item is explicitly included, for example, by drawing or rendering an indicator or graphic on the display screen. For example, in
Explicitly selecting ‘2003’ also results in the implicit selection of all children and descendants of ‘2003.’ Implicitly selection for inclusion may be represented by presenting a second inclusion indicator indicating an item is implicitly included. For example, in
When the user explicitly selects an item, the item may also be added to the basket 6705 in the appropriate location, i.e., either included items 6707 (inclusions) or excluded items 6709 (exclusions). The control preferably may maintain a 1-to-1 ratio between explicitly selected items and entries in the basket. For example, in
According to an aspect of the invention, a folder may be considered implicitly selected even when the user originally explicitly selected the folder for either inclusion or exclusion, under certain circumstances. For example, assume a user first explicitly selects the folder Vacation. The Vacation folder becomes explicitly selected, and the Fiji and Europe subfolders are implicitly selected. Assume the user subsequently explicitly selects the 2003 folder. The 2003 folder is marked as explicitly selected, and all subfolders, including the Vacation subfolder, are marked as implicitly selected. That is, any time a user explicitly selects an item, all sub items may be marked as implicitly selected, regardless of their previous selection state. However, according to an aspect of the invention, the fact that the user previously explicitly selected an item may be stored for future use. For example, suppose the user later de-selects the 2003 folder, realizing the 2003 folder was selected by accident in the first place. Each of the sub items of the 2003 folder may revert to their previous states, and thus the Vacation folder returns to an explicitly selected state. Once the user is done editing the scope and desires to save the scope for future use, the scope may be saved including each selection, or the scope may be saved without information regarding selections that are irrelevant to the final saved scope. For example, in the above example, the fact that the user first selected the Vacation folder may be discarded when the scope is saved, because the previous selection of the Vacation folder may be irrelevant to the final saved scope.
With further reference to
Explicitly selecting ‘2003’ for exclusion also results in the implicit exclusion of all children and descendants of ‘2003’ from the scope. Implicit selection for exclusion may be represented by presenting a second exclusion indicator indicating an item is implicitly excluded. For example, in
When the user explicitly excludes an item, the item may be added to exclusions 6709 of basket 6705, visually depicting each explicit exclusion as a property of an explicitly included item (each exclusion also may optionally be stored as a property of an inclusion). For example, in
If a user explicitly selects an explicitly included item, the control 6701 may interpret the explicit reselection of the item to indicate the user changed his or her mind regarding that item's inclusion in the scope. However, instead of explicitly excluding the reselected item, the control 6701 may simply remove the explicit inclusion status from the reselected item as well as the implicit inclusion status of any descendants, without marking the reselected item or any of its descendants as either explicitly or implicitly excluded. The items revert to the unselected state. Correspondingly, the item is removed from basket 6705, the check box corresponding to the item in tree 6703 may return to its initial blank state, and any highlighting may be removed. Thus, according to an illustrative aspect of the invention, only a previously implicitly included item can be explicitly excluded from the scope.
With further reference to
In addition to interacting with tree 6703, a user may similarly interact with basket 6705 to view or modify the scope. The basket preferably displays an item name, location, and icon for each explicitly selected item (although different information may be displayed as desired). The path may be truncated if the physical display size of the basket precludes displaying the entire path for an item, e.g., with ‘ . . . ’ as displayed in
Selection of a folder in basket 6705, e.g., may result in the tree 6703 automatically expanding and/or scrolling to display the selected folder, if not already visible in the current view of the tree 6703. The tree may also automatically expand the selected folder to display any subfolders of the selected folder. Explicit exclusions may be defined as multi-value properties (MVP) of explicitly included items, where multiple exclusions corresponding to the same explicitly included item result not in an additional row in the basket, but rather in another value added to the exclusions corresponding to the explicitly included item. For example, the view in
When the user completes his or her definition or modification of a scope, the user may save the scope for future use, e.g., to storage medium 22, 24, 39, 30, or the like. Saving scopes may be useful when the user repeatedly performs searches over the same scope, with varying match criteria. When a scope is saved, it may be saved as an ordered list of explicit inclusions, with each entry in the list of explicit exclusions having zero or more associated explicit exclusions as an MVP. Thus, the list may store all explicit selections by the user. However, an item might not be included in the list when a user first explicitly selects the item and then subsequently explicitly deselects that same item (for example, realizing it was selected by accident in the first place). In this manner, the proper scope can be recreated based on the ordered list, and any new folder, which is a descendant of an explicitly included or excluded item, added between uses of the scope will be properly taken into account when the scope is reused.
For example, according to an illustrative aspect of the invention a scope may be stored as an extensible Markup Language (XML) file. The below XML illustrates a scope identifying explicit inclusions and explicit exclusions, wherein each exclusion is stored as a property of an inclusion, and wherein order is inherently maintained by the order in which data is stored in the XML file:
In step 7209 the scope selection control 6701 determines whether the previously included item is previously explicitly included or previously implicitly included. If the item was previously implicitly included, then in step 7211 the scope selection control 6701 explicitly excludes the explicitly selected item, and implicitly excludes all descendants of the explicitly selected item. Next in step 7213, the scope selection control 6701 adds the explicitly selected item to exclusions 6709 in basket 6705, corresponding to the nearest explicitly included ancestor of the explicitly selected item.
If in step 7209 the explicitly selected item was previously explicitly included, then in step 7215 the scope selection control 6701 removes the inclusion status for the explicitly selected item and reverts all descendants of the explicitly selected item to their previous state. In step 7217 the scope selection control removes the explicitly selected item from inclusions 6707, along with any corresponding exclusions 6709. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that behavior when an item is unselected may vary. For example, an explicitly included or excluded item might not revert to the unselected state when an ancestor is unselected.
After any of steps 7206, 7208, 7213, or 7217, in step 7219 the scope selection control determines whether any more modifications are desired. This determination may be implicit, in that the user does not specifically request to make more modifications, but instead simply continues to step 7201 to make another modification or, on the other hand, the user selects a ‘Save’ or ‘Search’ button in step 7221 to indicate to the computer 20 that the user has completed defining the scope, and the computer 20 may use the scope for whatever purpose the user defined the scope. The scope may be said to be the resultant ordered list of explicitly included items, with corresponding explicit exclusions, defined by the basket.
It will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that one or more steps may be optional, and steps may be rearranged to produce similar results. In addition, where the above description indicates that the scope selection control 6701 performs some action or makes some decision, the scope selection control 6701 may be operating in accordance with or under the control of control logic, such as software or hardware instructions, stored on computing device 20 and executed by processor 21.
**List Pane for Manipulation of Static Lists: As described above with reference to
Thus, for example, a user may create a to-do list and open the to-do list in the list pane 7303, add several items to the to-do list while browsing the system shell via primary view pane 7305, and then close the list pane 7303, optionally saving the revised to-do list. As another example, a user may select certain photos stored across multiple folders viewed sequentially in primary view pane 7305, place the selected photos in the list pane 7303, and print the collection of photos by selecting all the photos in the list pane 7303 by selecting print from a context menu or menu bar 7311. The user can close the list pane with or without saving the new collection of photos, as desired.
A user may open the list pane by selecting a Window menu in menu bar 7311, then selecting List Pane from the Window menu (not shown). Selecting Window>List Pane again may toggle the display status of the list pane 7303, equivalent to Window>List Pane. In some embodiments a keyboard shortcut may be used, e.g., Ctrl-K, to toggle the list pane 7303. The act of a user selecting Window>List Pane from the menu bar 7311, or inputting Ctrl-K via a keyboard may be ambiguous as to whether the user desires to create a new persisted static list, or whether the user desires to gather a few items for an immediate task at hand, then close the list pane without saving the list. Thus, according to an embodiment of the invention, when a user opens the list pane 7303, any objects in the list pane 7303 are at least temporarily stored. If the user closes the list pane 7303 without explicitly saving the static list, then the contents of the static list are discarded. However, the user may save the static list to persist the static list, e.g., to reuse the static list later, to or share the static list with others, etc. In one embodiment, the temporary storage location may be LocalAppData\Windows\Temporary List.wpl. Each explorer window opened by the user may have a unique temporary storage location associated with it for the purpose of storing the temporary static list until the user optionally affirmatively saves the static list.
The user can use the temporary list in the same manner that any other list in the basket is used. Items can be added, removed, re-ordered, etc. When the list pane 7303 is open, the user can right-click on any item in the primary view 7305 and choose “Add to List Pane” from a context menu (not shown) or view the menu bar 7311, which will insert that item as a new last item in the list in list pane 7303. The user may also drag and drop items into list pane 7303. However, as this is a temporary list (similar to the “now playing” items in Windows® Media Player), the contents of this list are discarded when the user closes the frame 7301 or closes the list pane 7303. The system may optionally notify the user if there are unsaved contents in the list pane before closing the list pane 7303 or frame 7301.
If the user desires to save the temporary list, the user may select the title textbox 7317, inputting a name for the list identified by the contents in list pane 7303, and selecting the Save icon 7319. Selecting the Save icon 7319 may invoke the common file dialog to allow the user to select the location in which to store the static list. Alternatively, the user may context-select (e.g., right-click), in the list background, and select “Save . . . ” from the context menu, to invoke the common file dialog.
The user may also open the list pane 7303 by selecting File>New>List from the menu bar 7311, which will open the list pane 7303 if it is previously closed. If the list pane is already open, selecting File>New>List results in the system discarding any items currently in the list pane 7303 and creating a new temporary list. The new temporary list behaves just as a list created by the user selecting View>List Pane, and has the same persistence model (i.e., it is discarded when closed, unless the user first saves it).
The navigation pane 7307 may include a lists node 7321, which may be representative of all static lists created by the user, or of all static lists created by the user and stored in a specific location. A user may also be able to create a new list by context-selecting the lists node 7321 and selecting “New List” from the context menu, which results in the frame 7301 opening the list pane 7303 with an empty list with a default title, e.g., “New List” or “New List (n)” where multiple default named new lists have been created. Optionally, in the navigation pane 7307 the list name of the newly created list may automatically be in edit mode and/or the user may edit the list name in title text box 7317 in the list pane 7303. The new list is created in the default save location for the given explorer frame 7301.
According to aspects of the invention, the list title may always be editable to input a new name for the list in list pane 7303, which results in the system renaming the list on the storage device. If the user selects save button 7319 for an already persisted list (i.e., the list is already saved), the system may perform as if the user selected a “Save as . . . ” option. Additionally, when the user selects File>New List from the menu bar 7311, there might be no change to the state of appearance of the navigation pane. That is, if the lists node 7321 is presently expanded, the new list appears hierarchically underneath the lists node 7321, provided there is space available or its alphabetic insertion allows it to be viewable. However, if the lists node 7321 is not presently expanded, then there is no visible change to the navigation pane 7307. When the list in list pane 7303 is empty, the list pane 7303 may display a message indicating to the user how to create a list, e.g., “Add files to this list by dragging them in here.”
A user may double-click or otherwise select the list pane header 7320 to close the list pane 7303 and present the list contents in primary view 7305. The user can alternatively press Shift+double-click to open a new explorer window rooted in the list displayed in list pane 7303. The user can select the ‘X’ (or equivalent) in the uppermost right corner of the list pane 7303 (not shown) to close the list pane 7303 without any navigation in the primary view 7305. When persisted lists are edited in the basket, there may be an explicit save model, where when the user closes the list pane 7303 or the explorer frame 7301, or navigates the list pane to another list, the system presents an explicit dialog box to ask the user whether the user desires to save any changes.
Items in the list pane 7303 may exhibit similar behavior as items in primary view 7305. For example, clicking or selecting any given item in the list pane 7303 selects that item. When focus shifts between the primary view 7305 and the list pane 7303, both the primary view 7305 and the list pane 7303 may continue to reflect their selection state (using the soft-select state for whichever pane does not have input focus). However, only one pane truly has focus, which is reflected in the view as a visual cue to the user as to what the arrow keys will do. When focus is in the list pane 7303, the same selection and keys may work as in the primary view 7305—Ctrl+A to select all, arrow keys to move, etc.
Using the system described above, a user can drag and drop to and within the list pane 7303, allowing the user to add, delete, re-order, and otherwise manipulate objects in a static list. When dragging into the basket, the system may provide various visual cues to the user. First, the explorer frame may highlight the outer edge of list pane 7303 to indicate that the list pane 7303 is an active drop target. The list pane may also provide an insertion bar (not shown) if there is more than one item in the list. As the user navigates the primary view 7305, the list pane 7303 remains rooted in a given list, which provides the user an efficient and simple mechanism by which to build up contents of a collection by navigating a file system in primary view 7305 without requiring the user to engage in a plentitude of tedious cross-window drag-drops.
With further reference to
According to an aspect of the invention, a static list may have a task associated with it, e.g., “Print photos,” “Burn CD,” “Make movie from video clips,” etc. In such an embodiment, selection of the task may open a blank list with task-specific controls. Alternatively, when a user opens a static list with which a task is already associated, the list pane 7303 may automatically display task specific controls dependent on the specific task. User interactions with the list pane 7303 remain the same, however, there is an overall optimized task the user is pushed toward while in a task-based mode.
Thus, for example,
Task-based lists may also be temporary, and be discarded when the pane 7303 or frame 7501 is closed unless the user first saves the collection as described above. After the user completes the main task (burn, print, etc.) the task control 7601 may automatically switch to be a “Save” button to re-emphasize that the user will otherwise lose the task-based list when the user closes the list pane 7303 or frame 7501.
The list pane 7303 may be displayed in a countless number of ways with endless variations to display details, formats, etc., while still providing the functionality described above. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the below description of an illustrative view is merely an example, and does not limit the scope of the invention as defined in the claims. Variations are possible depending on artistic design, allotted space, and the like. In one illustrative embodiment, the view state of the list pane may display tiles including 32×32 point icons with two rows of corresponding metadata. The icon size may optionally be locked (Ctrl+mouse may thus be disabled), or variable by the system and/or user. The list pane 7303 may optionally limit horizontal resizing such that tiles are never shown side-by-side, which also assists the user to cognitively maintain the order of items in the collection by viewing their vertical order. Also, the list pane preferably only sorts and displays items by their order in the static list.
Various additional optional features may be included in one or more illustrative embodiments of the invention. For example, when the user closes the explorer frame and the list pane is open on a named list (e.g., one that has an explicit name and not the temporary default name), when the user next re-opens a like explorer frame the list pane may remain open to the list the user was previously viewing. If a temporary to-be-discarded list is in the list pane when the frame is closed, that list is discarded but the list pane may remain open (and empty) when the explorer frame is re-opened.
The list pane preferably opens as the rightmost pane, and may open by default to be 200 pixels wide. The cursor may become a resize grabber when hovering over the border between the list pane 7303 and primary view 7305. The list pane can be resized to a minimum width, e.g., 33 pixels, and the list pane size is preferably persisted per explorer frame. The list pane can also be resized to a maximum size, e.g., as large as the primary view 7305 allows the list pane to grow (e.g., the list pane cannot be made larger than the smallest size of primary view 7305). Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the default size may be other than 200 pixels, and that the list pane may be presented in a position other than the rightmost pane. For example, on a system wherein the language reads right-to-left (instead of left-to-right as in most western countries), the list pane may appear as the leftmost pane instead of the rightmost pane.
**Preview representation of saved files: An aspect of the invention relates to a system and method for providing an improved user experience when creating files by offering users a preview representation of a file that is about to be created on a system.
View 7701 may depict a preview representation 7703, or ghost, representing the file that is about to be saved on the system, where the ghost shows the user where the new file will appear in the GUI should the save operation be performed, and identifies the location or view in which the new file will be found if saved. In the
The ghost 7703 may be treated as any other indicia in the view 7701. Users may select, highlight, modify, drag and drop, etc. the ghost 7703 as they would any other indicia.
Ghosts are not limited to GUIs and views in which large indicia are used. To the contrary, they may appear in other types of views as well, such as a listing as shown in
The ghost may be incorporated into the GUI for a system file panel or common file dialog, such as the Save File dialog 8001 shown in
The user can interact with the ghost 8002 to change the metadata of the file that is about to be saved. The user may drag and drop the ghost 8002 onto different views to change the new file's properties to match those of the new view in which the ghost 8002 is dropped. For example, if a file type is to be changed, by clicking and dragging the ghost 8002 from the worksheet view 8003 to the presentation view 8004, the system may automatically update the metadata 8006 to reflect that the new file will be of type “presentation” instead of type “worksheet.” Similarly, other changes in metadata may be made by moving the indicia. For example, if one view corresponds to items having a first priority, and a second view corresponds to items having a second priority, moving the indicia from the first to the second may change the document's priority level to match the second view.
Changes made to the metadata may also be automatically reflected in the ghost 8002. For example, should the user enter in a different file name or type in metadata 8006, the ghost 8002 may automatically change and/or reposition itself to reflect the new metadata, changing the title to the new name, and repositioning itself into the correct view based on the new file type (e.g., into view 8004 if the user changes the type to a presentation). As another example, if a view shows a first priority, and the priority is changed in the metadata, the indicia may be moved to a different view showing documents having the new priority. In some instances, this may cause the ghost to completely disappear from the user's current screen, if the ghost 8002 is repositioned to a view or location that is not currently displayed on the screen.
The Save File dialog may also include a Save button 8007 and cancel button 8008 for performing or aborting the save process.
In step 8102, the system may check to determine whether the user has changed the current view to cause the new file to conform to the properties of the new view. Changing the view may simply refer to navigating through a display space, or changing the criteria of a given display, and may be done by entering different criteria (e.g., requesting to view files of type *.wav) and/or GUI navigation (e.g., dragging and dropping the ghost into a new view, or just clicking on a folder indicia to enter the folder). For example, if the user requests to see a different view of files, such as files of a different type, a different location, a different project, etc., as discussed above, then the process may proceed to step 8103 to determine whether the new view represents a valid save location (physical location or logical location) for the file. For example, the user might not have privileges for saving files to certain locations, or to certain views, or the file to be saved is incompatible with the other files in the new view (e.g., the user has changed views to a spreadsheet view, and the new file is an incompatible image file). As another example, ghosts from a common file dialog might be prohibited from being moved to a location outside of the dialog. Changing views does not necessarily always result in changing the new file's properties. In some instances, the user may have simply changed views to view different files, with no desire to update the properties of the new file to match those of the changed view. For example, the user may have simply wanted to see what other documents exist for a particular priority, without necessarily changing the priority of the file being saved. If no such updating of the properties is desired when the view is changed, the process may move from step 8102 to step 8106.
If the new location is invalid, the system may move to step 8104 and take steps to alert the user that an invalid location has been selected. For example, the preview ghost may simply disappear from the view. Furthermore, a message may be provided to the user. If this occurs, the system may simply remain in this state until the user selects a different view representing a valid location for the file. Alternatively, the user may abort the process by, for example, pressing a Cancel button 8008.
If the new view is a valid location, the system may move to step 8105 and carry the change through. This may involve a step of relocating the preview ghost so that it appears in the new view. The file's metadata may also be automatically updated to reflect the metadata required (if any) of the newly-selected view. For example, if the user chooses a new view of all files in a given project, then the “Project” metadata property may be revised to reflect the new project.
In step 8106, the system may check to determine whether the user has requested that the new file replace an existing file. This may be done by, for example, dragging and dropping the ghost preview indicia onto an indicia of an existing file. If this occurs, in step 8107 measures may be taken to retain the original set of metadata properties, for example, by saving them to memory. The displayed metadata properties may be replaced by the properties of the file to be replaced, to reflect the fact that the new file will assume the same properties as the file it is replacing. Saving the original properties may be helpful should the user change his/her mind about the replacement. Of course, dragging-and-dropping onto an existing file is not always required, and in those instances where such functionality is not desired, step 8106 may be skipped.
In step 8108, the system may wait to see if the user executes the save process (for example, by pressing a Save button 8007). If the user executes the save process, then the new file replaces the old in step 8109. The previous properties retained in step 8107 may be discarded.
If the user decides not to execute the replacement process, such as by selecting the ghost again, then the process may turn to step 8110, in which the ghost may be displayed in its previous state. The original metadata properties saved in step 8107 may be used to repopulate the metadata fields of the ghost preview. Alternatively, the new file may retain the properties of the file that was previously to be overwritten. This alternative may make it easy for users to duplicate an entire set of metadata properties without entering each one separately. For example, the properties of the item that was (but is no longer) to be replaced may be retained as a “stamp” or new default set of properties that may be applied in the future to new saved files.
In step 8111, a check may be made to determine whether the user has edited a metadata property value using, for example, a metadata display area 8006. If the user has edited the metadata, the system may automatically move the ghost preview in step 8112 to a new location commensurate with the new property and, if necessary, update the appearance of the ghost preview to reflect the new metadata property (e.g., selecting a different indicia if the file type has changed, or revising the file name under the indicia).
In step 8113, the system may check to determine whether the user has requested to execute the save, such as by pressing the Save button 8007. If the user has requested the save operation, then the new file is saved in step 8114, and the ghost preview is dismissed (the new file now appears as a normal indicia).
If the user has not yet finalized the save, a check may be made in step 8115 to determine whether the user has aborted the save operation by, for example, pressing Cancel button 8008. If the user has canceled the save operation, the ghost may be removed in step 8116. The ghost's property data may also be deleted from the system.
**Specialization of explorer views: According to an aspect of the invention an explorer (shell browser) window (e.g., as described above with respect to
Each available browser may be defined by a template stored in memory of the computer system. The template could simply be a file identifying the contents of the view, the organization, the features to display, etc. The template may also specify the actual files that are to be displayed in the browser view.
Display 8301 may include a list panel 8303 showing the available browser panels. The list may include a listing of all available views on the system, which may be presented in a nested menu/sub-menu format to conserve display area. This range of views may be referred to as a pagespace. The list 8303 may alternatively list a subset of browser panels that are associated with the current panel, resulting in a smaller pagespace. For example, if the current display 8301 is a music panel, the list 8303 may display Playlist and Genre view options, or specific playlists and/or genres that have their own panels.
Display 8301 may include a files panel 8304, which may contain a listing of the files that meet the criteria established for the current browser panel. The files panel 8304 may include indicia representing data files (such as an icon and/or text), and one or more properties of the files (e.g., their names, authors, file sizes, file types, project affiliation, date of creation/modification, etc.). The properties may be arranged, such as in columns, and may be rearranged and/or modified depending on what is appropriate given the criteria used for the selected display 8301. For example, a music browser might choose to list the “Song Title” as the first property, with “Artist” and “Album” next, whereas a browser for project XYZ might list the “Edit Date” first, with “File Size” and “File Type” to follow. Certain browser types may wish to omit undesired properties (e.g., the “Album” property may not be very useful for a spreadsheet document). Each browser display 8301 may have a customized arrangement of files and associated properties. Column width, row size, indicia appearance (e.g., size, color, etc.), grouping, stacking, and any other display properties may be included in this customization. For example, some browsers may display their files as thumbnails (e.g., picture browsers may do this), while other browsers may simply display the files in a text listing of the files and their properties.
Display 8301 may also include a preview panel 8305 that provides a preview of the content of one or more selected files from the files panel 8304. There may also be a properties panel 8306 that displays properties for one or more selected files from the listview data 8304. The properties panel 8306 may provide greater detail and/or amounts of properties than that shown in listview 8304. Display 8301 may include other types of display and user interface elements as well, such as navigation commands, panel sizing commands, etc.
Each of the various portions of display 8301 may be implemented as distinct software modules. For example, there may be a Commands module that is responsible for defining the user interface elements that are to go into Commands display 8302, a Listview module for processing the display elements in the files panel 8304, a Preview module for generating the content of the preview panel 8305, etc. These modules may expose application program interface (API) elements to facilitate interoperability with other applications, and the various modules may be provided with parameters such as the criteria for a given view, its position, its size, etc. Having distinct modules may simplify the process of defining new panels with different layouts and arrangements.
Each browser display 8301 may also have differences beyond just having different contents in the display areas discussed above. For example, each browser may have its own customized arrangement of display areas, such that certain areas may be resized/added/removed based on the criteria and/or contents of the particular browser. For example, a music browser might wish to do away with preview panel 8305, and offer music commands (e.g., play, pause, cue, add to playlist, burn to CD, etc.) in command area 8302. The other display areas may be rearranged and/or resized to take advantage of the space previously occupied by the preview panel. The particular layout of the browser may be set, for example, in the template defining the browser view. For example,
In step 8502, the criteria may be used to identify the various files on the system that satisfy or meet the criteria, and which are to be included in the browser display. These files may be identified through a search of the system's memory, or they may simply be identified from the template information if the template already identifies the files to be listed.
When the files are identified, the system may assemble a specific browser view or panel in step 8503. Assembling the panel may include consulting a predefined template to determine the various elements/modules that are needed in the panel. In some instances, the panel may be further customized and/or modified when the files identified for display satisfy a different set of criteria from the ones established for the template, or if the identified files are suitable for display in a different template that has narrower criteria. For example, if the user requests a browser for all files associated with a given project, such as XYZ Project, the system may be expected to provide a project browser panel. Such a panel may have been defined with the possibility that a project may include files of multiple types, and may have separate display regions to segregate files based on file type. However, if a particular project only happens to have files of one type, then the system may dynamically customize the browser panel for the current display. The further customized panel may offer extended command options applicable to the file type, or remove display areas and/or elements that normally would have been used to display files of other types. The browser views may be dynamically modified based on the identity of files that meet the criteria used to establish the panel. Other types of custom assembly may be performed. The browser may adjust the panels depending on the number of files to be displayed, so that a portion of a first display area's screen space may be transferred to a different display area (e.g., a smaller listview is shown, but a larger properties area is shown). The browser may adjust the panels based on the search criteria used to identify the files for display (e.g., the criteria may be incorporated into a predetermined portion of the display, or the results may be arranged based on the criteria and how well the files matched them).
In step 8504, the browser view may be generated on a display device associated with the computer system. Then, in step 8505, the system may check to determine whether the user has performed an interaction, or supplied an input, to the browser view. User interaction may include editing text, navigating through the pagespace by selecting a different view, and/or interacting with any of the displayed elements on the browser. If the user has given an input, then in step 8506 the system may revise the browser in response. The revision to the browser may include removing, adding or modifying one or more of the displayed elements in the browser view, and may result in a dramatically different display. For example, the user viewing a Music browser view may select one of the music files and request to view a Project browser for a project associated with the selected music file—the Project browser may have a completely different display format. The browser displays may be dynamically modified to add and/or remove any of the features described above, which results in a browser interface that continuously provides users with a high level of contextually-appropriate information.
When changing or revising a particular browser, the system may provide visual effects to smooth the transition. For example, animation may be used to show a repositioning of a displayed element, fading can be used to show the addition/deletion of elements, and morphing effects may be used to show one element changing into another one. Although different views are possible, a user (or the system or its applications) may also specify that certain features (e.g., display elements, available commands, menus, etc.) or formats are to remain constant in multiple browser views, to help minimize user confusion.
In step 8507, which occurs after step 8506, or if no user input has been received in step 8505, the system may check to determine whether the browser is to be closed, or left, and if so, the browser process for this browser may end. If not, the process may return to step 8505 to await further user input.
The page description 8607 may include a reference to a browser page structure 8608. The browser page 8608 structure may include a variety of properties that ultimately define the view. For example, there may be a view property 8609 defining the basic attributes to be contained in this view (those attributes may be the same preview pane, left pane and task pane in the basic view frame 8603. The page 8608 may also have a data source property 8610, which may identify a location from which the data that populates the particular view may be obtained. The source 8610 may, for example, include a static list of data. The page 8608 may also include a command property 8611, which may identify the various commands that are to be supported by the view. Each command may be implemented by a separate application and/or routine, and may include commands for handling preview pane tasks, context menu options, etc. Of course, the above is just one example of how the various browser views may be managed and implemented.
The discussion above refers to “browsers,” but the features described herein need not be limited to system shell browsers. Any application wishing to offer customized views of data files may take advantage of the features described herein.
Alternative embodiments and implementations of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which it pertains upon review of the specification, including the drawing figures. For example, the various steps in the described processes may be rearranged, modified, and/or deleted as desired to implement a selected subset of features described herein. Additionally, in the above, references to certain features being found in one or more “aspects” or “embodiments” of “the present invention” are made simply to illustrate various concepts that may be advantageously used alone or in combination with other concepts, and should not be read to imply that there is only one inventive concept disclosed herein, or that all of the described features are required in any of the claims that follow. Rather, each of the following claims stands as its own distinct invention, and should not be read as having any limitations beyond those recited.
**Page Space Control: Tremendous volumes of information are stored on and/or available through computer systems and networks, and this information can be made available to computer users for a variety of different purposes. Although computers can provide this wealth of information to users, the information is only valuable and useful to users if users can reliably locate and retrieve the desired information from the system or network. The stored information is of little or no value to users if it cannot be readily located and/or retrieved without substantial searching time, effort, and/or frustration. Thus, various aspects of the invention relate to systems, methods, and computer-readable media for storing, searching, navigating, and/or retrieving electronic information in and available through computing systems and/or networks. This section is divided into sub-sections to assist the reader. The sub-sections include: Terms; General Description of Various Aspects of the Invention; Example Systems, Methods, and Computer-Readable Media According to the Invention; and Conclusion.
Page Space Control: Terms: The following terms may be used in this section and throughout this specification and, unless otherwise specified or clear from the context, the terms have the meanings provided below:
“Hierarchical Property”—A type of property whose value may include an ordered collection of categorizing unique strings. Each string may be made unique, for example, by the path through which it is specified, and this path also may be used to define the categories to which each property value belongs.
“Parent Property Value”—A property value that has one or more possible children property values.
“Child Property Value”—A property value that is a child of another property value.
“Auto lists”—Lists of files or other data resulting from queries for information over a fixed scope matching a pre-selected set of filter conditions. Examples of “auto lists” include, but are not limited to: file creation dates, file creation time, last edit date, last edit time, file rating data, file author list, last use=yesterday, last use=last week, etc. A “navigation panel,” as described below, may include one or more “auto lists.”
“Lists”—Shortcuts or “links” to auto lists, files, file collections, folders, and the like. A “navigation panel,” as described below, may include one or more “Lists.”
“Page”—A specific folder, virtual folder, list, auto list, or the like. A “page” may constitute a node in a hierarchical table to which users can navigate, e.g., by selecting items from a menu, from the navigational tool according to aspects of the invention, etc. Individual “pages” or listings of “pages” at various levels in a storage system and/or available through a computer system or network may appear in a navigation panel and/or a display panel, as described in more detail below.
“Computer-Readable Medium”—any available media that can be accessed by a user on a computer system. By way of example, and not limitation, “computer-readable media” may include computer storage media and communication media. “Computer storage media” includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information, such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. “Computer storage media” includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology; CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage devices; magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices; or any other medium that can be used to store the desired information and that can be accessed by a computer. “Communication media” typically embodies computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and includes any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media, such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media, such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the above should also be included within the scope of “computer-readable media.”
Page Space Control: General Description of Various Aspects of the Invention
Page Space Control: General Description of Various Aspects of the Invention: Storing Properties in a Hierarchical Relationship
Aspects of the present invention relate to computer-readable media having data structures stored thereon. The data structure in accordance with at least some examples of this invention may include: (a) a first data set containing at least some of content of an electronic file; and (b) a second data set containing property data associated with the electronic file. This second data set may include a first flat path string indicating a first property associated with the electronic file, wherein the first flat path string indicates a hierarchical structure of the property data. Optionally, if desired, the second data set may include multiple flat path strings of data indicating multiple properties associated with the electronic file, e.g., in a hierarchical structure. The second data set may be provided in any desired manner, for example, as metadata included in and/or associated with the first data set. Of course, if desired, a third data set (or even more data sets) containing additional property data may be included in and/or associated with the electronic file, wherein the third data set (or additional data sets) includes another flat path string indicating another property associated with the electronic file, and wherein the additional flat path string indicates a hierarchical structure of the property data in the third (or additional) data set.
Additional example aspects of this invention relate to systems and methods for storing electronic data including hierarchical property information. Such systems and methods may include: (a) creating an electronic file including electronic data for storage on a computer-readable medium (e.g., using one or more computer processing systems); (b) receiving input data indicating a first property value to be included as part of the electronic file or associated with the electronic file (e.g., via a mouse, pen, digitizer, keyboard, network connection, disk drive, etc.), wherein the first property value includes a first data set including a first flat path string indicating the first property value, and wherein the first flat path string indicates a hierarchical structure of the first property value; and (c) storing the electronic file with the first flat path string included therein or associated therewith (e.g., in an electronic memory device), wherein the first flat path string is stored or associated with the electronic file in any desired manner, e.g., through linking information, as part of the file, as metadata, etc. Optionally, systems and methods in accordance with at least some examples of this invention further may receive input data indicating a second property value to be included as part of the electronic file or associated with the electronic file, wherein the second property value includes a second data set including a second flat path string indicating the second property value, wherein the second flat path string indicates a hierarchical structure of the second property value, and wherein the storing of the electronic file includes storing the electronic file with the second flat path string included therein or associated therewith. Any number of property values may be stored in and/or associated with an electronic file in this manner in accordance with the invention.
Still additional example aspects of this invention relate to systems and method for processing electronic data that includes hierarchical property information associated with it. Systems and methods according to at least some examples of this invention may include: (a) receiving data on a computer system or network (e.g., into the computer system's or network's memory) indicating a hierarchical structure of plural defined property values, wherein each defined property value has an unique flat path data string associated with it as compared with all other defined property values in the hierarchical structure; (b) receiving user input indicating a new property value to be included at a user desired location in the hierarchical structure (e.g., via a mouse, pen, digitizer, keyboard, network connection, disk drive, etc.); and (c) based on the user desired location in the hierarchical structure, determining whether the new property value would have a flat path data string that differs from all other flat path data strings existing in the hierarchical structure. The flat path data string for the new property value may include, for example, at least a first parent property portion and a first child property portion (optionally, at least one of the first parent property portion or the first child property portion may be identical to a portion of at least one other defined property value in the hierarchical structure). The method further may include adding the new property value to the hierarchical structure at the user desired location when the flat path data string for the new property value is determined to differ from all other flat path data strings for properties existing in the hierarchical structure.
In use of various systems and methods in accordance with examples of the invention, a user may enter input into the system indicating a search query, wherein the search query includes selection of a search property that includes a property value in the hierarchical property structure. Once the search query is entered, systems and methods in accordance with at least some examples of the invention may determine which electronic files stored on or available through a computer system or network (optionally with a search scope that limits the scope of files to be searched) meet the search query, wherein the electronic files determined to meet the search query include the first search property stored therein or associated therewith. As another example, the search query may include user selection of multiple properties in the hierarchical structure, and determination of which electronic files stored on or available through the computer system or network (optionally within a limited search scope) meet the search query may include identification of electronic files that include at least one of the selected properties.
The property data included in the computer-readable media, systems, and methods according to examples of this invention may be stored in any suitable or desired manner without departing from the invention, e.g., in a manner so as to indicate a hierarchical structure of the property data in the property data set. As examples, the property data structure may take on one of the following formats: parent property value-delimiter-child property value; parent property value-delimiter-child property value-delimiter-grandchild property value; child property value-delimiter-parent property value; and/or child property value-delimiter-parent property value-delimiter-grandparent property value. Of course, any number of levels in the property hierarchical structure and the data structure in the flat path data string may be provided without departing from this invention.
Additional aspects of the invention relate to computer-readable media including computer-executable instructions stored thereon for providing hierarchical property data and/or using hierarchical property data, e.g., for storing, searching, navigating, and/or retrieving electronic files and related information, including computer-readable media for performing the various methods and/or operating the various systems described above.
Page Space Control: General Description of Various Aspects of the Invention: Multiple Property Selections: Other aspects of the present invention relate to methods and systems for processing input data that include multiple user selections, including multiple selections of electronic file property data. Such systems and methods may include, for example: (a) selecting a first search parameter from a hierarchical structure including plural search elements (e.g., through a user input device, such as a mouse, pen, digitizer, keyboard, network connection, disk drive, etc.); (b) selecting a second search parameter from the hierarchical structure (e.g., through a user input device, such as a mouse, pen, digitizer, keyboard, network connection, disk drive, etc.); and (c) determining whether the first search parameter is located within the same element set in the hierarchical structure as the second search parameter (e.g., using a computer processing system). Various displays may be generated (e.g., on a computer display device) by the computer processing system depending on whether the first search parameter is determined to be located within the same element set as the second search parameter. In accordance with at least some examples of the invention, search results indicating a union of electronic files meeting the first search parameter or the second search parameter may be displayed when the first search parameter is determined to be located within the same element set in the hierarchical structure as the second search parameter. Additionally or alternatively, search results indicating an intersection of electronic files meeting both the first search parameter and the second search parameter may be displayed when the first search parameter is determined to be located outside the element set in the hierarchical structure of the second search parameter.
In accordance with at least some examples of this invention, the hierarchical structure(s) of the various search elements may include plural properties arranged in a hierarchical manner. At least one of the search parameters may include one of these defined property values. Optionally, in at least some examples, at least one of the search elements will constitute a folder element, a list element, an auto list element, or any other desired element in the hierarchical structure. Still additional features of at least some examples of the invention may include determining or defining a scope for the search activities, optionally based, at least in part, on the hierarchical structure of the search elements and/or user input selecting portions of the hierarchical structure for the search scope.
Additional aspects of the invention relate to computer-readable media including computer-executable instructions stored thereon for performing various search methods and/or operating various searching systems, including systems and methods like those described above.
Page Space Control: General Description of Various Aspects of the Invention: Grouping and Stacking in the Display Panel: Still additional example aspects of the present invention relate to computer displays providing user interfaces for searching electronic files stored on or available through a computer system or network. User interfaces in accordance with at least some examples of this invention may include: (a) a navigation panel (also referred to as a page space control) displaying a hierarchical structure of search elements (page space), wherein at least some individual search elements in the hierarchical structure may be expanded, optionally in response to user input, to display one or more child search elements in the hierarchical structure, and wherein the navigation panel receives user input directed to one or more search elements; and (b) a display panel displaying information relating, at least in part, to search results obtained from searching the electronic files, wherein the search results are determined, at least in part, based on the user input received through the navigation panel. Once expanded, the individual search elements in the hierarchical structure of the navigation panel may remain expanded to display the child elements in the hierarchical structure irrespective of the manner in which the search results are displayed in the display panel (e.g., in a stacked manner, in a grouped manner, in a combined grouped and stacked manner, etc.). The various search elements in the hierarchical structure may include, for example, property values, list elements, auto list elements, folder elements, etc., and the hierarchical structure may be, at least in part, defined by individual user input.
In accordance with at least some examples of the user interfaces in accordance with the invention, user input selecting child search elements or otherwise changing search elements in the hierarchical structure of the navigation panel will produce and/or drive corresponding changes in the search results displayed in the display panel of the user interface.
Additional example aspects of the invention relate to systems and methods for navigating electronic data stored on or available through a computer system or network. Such systems and methods may include: (a) providing a navigation panel (e.g., using a computer processing system) displaying a hierarchical structure of navigation elements, wherein at least some individual navigation elements in the hierarchical structure may be expanded, optionally in response to user input, to display child navigation elements in the hierarchical structure; (b) receiving user input, through the navigation panel, selecting one or more of the navigation elements (e.g., through a user input device, such as a mouse, pen, digitizer, keyboard, network connection, disk drive, etc.); and (c) displaying information relating, at least in part, to search results obtained from searching the electronic data, e.g., on a display device, wherein the search results are determined, at least in part, based on the user input received through the navigation panel (e.g., using the computer processing system), and wherein the information is displayed on a display device simultaneous with display of the navigation panel. Additionally, systems and methods in accordance with at least some examples of this invention further may include: receiving new user input, through the navigation panel, selecting one or more new navigation elements from the hierarchical structure (e.g., via an input system as described above); and changing the information displayed (e.g., using a computer processing system), at least in part, based on the new navigation element or elements selected, wherein the changed information is displayed on the display device simultaneous with the navigation panel. The new user input may constitute, in at least some examples, a child navigation element in the hierarchical structure from the navigation element initially selected to thereby filter down the information displayed. Again, the various search elements in the hierarchical structure may include, for example, property values, list elements, auto list elements, folder elements, etc., and the hierarchical structure may be, at least in part, defined by individual user input.
Still additional systems and methods in accordance with at least some examples of this invention may include systems and methods for displaying information regarding electronic data stored on or available through a computer system or network. Such systems and methods may include, for example: (a) providing a navigation panel displaying a hierarchical structure of navigation elements, e.g., on a display device (generated using a computer processing system), wherein at least some of the individual navigation elements in the hierarchical structure include folder elements; (b) receiving user input, through the navigation panel, selecting at least one folder element (e.g., using a user input device as described above); and (c) displaying information on the display device relating, at least in part, to search results obtained from searching the electronic data, wherein the search results are determined (e.g., using a computer processing system), at least in part, based on the user input received through the navigation panel, wherein the information is displayed simultaneous with display of the navigation panel, and wherein the information is displayed such that any sub-folders provided under the selected folder element are displayed as stacks. Additional features of at least some systems and methods in accordance with examples of this invention may include: receiving new user input (e.g., via a user input device), through the navigation panel, selecting one or more new navigation elements from the hierarchical structure; and changing the information displayed, at least in part, based on the new navigation element or elements selected (using a computer processing system to generate the display). The new user input may be used to select a property value in the hierarchical structure, and the information displayed, at least in part, may correspond to electronic data having the selected property value associated with it.
Still additional aspects of the invention relate to computer-readable media including computer-executable instructions stored thereon providing user interfaces, performing various searching and/or displaying methods, and/or operating various searching and/or displaying systems including use of the hierarchical searching and navigation elements, including providing the user interfaces, performing the various methods, and/or operating the various systems like those described above.
Page Space Control: Example systems, methods, and computer readable media according to aspects of the invention: In modern computer operating systems and application programs useful on them, many file navigation, searching, listing, and/or retrieval operations occur via query operations, as the systems attempt to locate items (such as stored electronic files or other data) that meet the various query parameters. Aspects of the present invention provide navigational tools that, in at least some instances, also can be used for item placement and file storage, which assists the user in these file navigation, searching, listing, and/or retrieval efforts.
In accordance with example aspects of this invention, users may use navigational tools in accordance with this invention, e.g., to navigate to and/or locate information relating to any page in a navigational control menu; to add pages to the navigational control menu or listing; to add items to any set (such as a property set, an auto list set, a list set, a folder set, etc.); to see the content of existing and/or system folders (e.g., a “My Documents” folder, etc.); to see expanded sub-folders within folders; to add properties or other data to files or other items (e.g., optionally in a hierarchical manner), even to files or items stored in an auto list or a system generated list; and the like. Additionally, in accordance with at least some example aspects of this invention, users and/or independent software vendors will be able to customize the system navigational tools for use in different application programs, in different views, in different modes of operation, and/or the like. If desired, users also can be given various tools to restore the navigational panel to a previous state or to its original state.
As more specific examples, if desired, navigational tools in accordance with examples of the invention may be designed or customized with lists and/or auto lists that allow users to quickly locate and view information relating to pages of interest. For example, if desired, systems may have lists or auto lists named “Documents Stacked by Author” (or the like) to allow users to quickly jump to a view showing “stacks” of files collected together based on the underlying authors named for the various documents (the user can further drill down into the stacks, if desired, e.g., to locate specific documents by specific authors), and/or based on properties associated with the files when they are created, stored, edited, downloaded, modified, or the like. Other potential groupings or listing of stacks may include listings such as “important documents,” “recent documents,” “good music,” “recently used,” “recently obtained,” etc.
More detailed descriptions of various aspects of the invention follow. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that this description merely includes examples of various aspects of the invention and does not limit the invention.
Page Space Control: Example systems, methods, and computer readable media according to aspects of the invention: Storing Properties in a Hierarchical Relationship: As described above, certain example aspects of the present invention relate generally to systems and methods for storing and using “properties” in conjunction with individual stored files or data on and/or available through a computer system or network. In general, when saving new files to a computer system or network, such as a PC, a network of PCs, a server, or the like, users typically can assign “properties” to the files. Examples of such “properties” include: Comments, AuthorID, Keywords, and the like. While this capability is useful and may be adequate in some instances (for example, when only a small set of properties is involved), this conventionally available “flat” property structure can become difficult to manage and/or use over time (e.g., as the overall number of available properties increases). Also, with this flat property data structure, users must separately enter and/or associate each desired property with an individual file. This can be a time consuming task. Additionally, the failure to accurately and/or completely associate properties with respective files may limit a user's ability to search for, locate, and/or retrieve the desired data at later times. For example, as the number of different individual available properties increases, it becomes more difficult for users to reliably retrieve items when they must correctly name, in a search query, one or more of the individual properties associated with the file.
At least some example aspects in accordance with this invention provide users the ability to assign and store at least some file “property” data along with an electronic file, e.g., as metadata, wherein the assigned property data is part of a hierarchical structure. As more and more properties become available to users (e.g., through user designation and/or user definition of new properties), providing the properties in a hierarchical structure in accordance with examples of this invention will allow users to quickly assign multiple properties to a file through a simple one property assignment action. The availability and use of hierarchical properties in accordance with examples of this invention also will allow users to have more control over ordering their property values (e.g., in a display of the hierarchy, to provide the most common or important elements high in the hierarchy, etc.), and it will allow users to express relationships between the values of a property and have these relationships reflected when retrieving items or assigning values to items. The availability and use of hierarchical properties in accordance with examples of this invention also will give users compelling ways to organize the values generated in a property and to browse through and retrieve their items using this organization. The use of hierarchical properties in accordance with examples of this invention, as will be explained in more detail below, may allow users to more easily navigate through files across different properties, locate desired files, and/or retrieve files using a single property (even, at least in some instances, when the property searched with was not explicitly assigned to the file by the user but was simply part of the hierarchy of a property assigned by the user).
Additional aspects of the present invention relate to systems and methods for entering or capturing a hierarchy that may exist between properties (e.g., a user defined hierarchy, an automatically generated hierarchy, etc.). If desired, this hierarchical property information may be stored, e.g., as metadata contained in and/or associated with the electronic file itself, as a flat path, similar to the manner in which hierarchical folders are stored in various commercially available systems and methods (such as systems and methods with folders available in various operating systems and application programs available from Microsoft Corporation). More specifically, systems and methods according to at least some examples of this invention will store one or more hierarchical properties for an electronic file as a flat path string (akin to a known flat folder path string), which allows the shell operating system to correctly stack, filter, group, and/or otherwise navigate or process information relating to the stored files using the hierarchical properties in the same or a similar manner to which a folder hierarchy may be navigated and/or processed today in various conventional systems and methods that utilize folder structures. Similarly, providing a hierarchical data structure for properties gives users the ability to drill into a sub-property to get to lower child property levels in the hierarchy, in a manner similar to the manner in which users can drill into sub-folders in the known and conventional folder systems.
In the data structure (e.g., in data sets or fields, such as in metadata associated with a file), the various property values may be differentiated by paths, such as the flat path strings described above. In this manner, an individual value (e.g., an individual node name) can appear multiple times in a hierarchy, provided the paths to the identical node names or values are different at each place the name appears.
Additional example aspects of the invention relate to processes to disambiguate between properties in different branches of a hierarchical structure that utilize the same name or node value. In the example described above in conjunction with
The hierarchical structure 8750 illustrated in
Property values may be assigned to and/or associated with an individual file in any desired manner and/or at any desired time without departing from this invention. For example, users may be given an opportunity to assign property values to a file when a new file is downloaded to and/or saved onto a user's computer system or network.
In accordance with at least some examples of this invention, when a file or other item is assigned a property value that is a child of another property value (e.g., the value “Playoffs” in
As will be described in more detail below, in accordance with at least some examples of this invention, a list files, search, or other query including a parent property value as a search element or parameter will return all items tagged with both the designated parent property value and any of its children property values. In this manner, storage systems and methods in accordance with examples of this invention allow users to easily tag items with a relatively few highly specific descriptive properties (e.g., at lower levels in the hierarchy), but by arranging the properties under increasingly broader parent nodes in the hierarchical structure, the tagged items may be made to readily appear, even in response to relatively broad search queries. If desired, in accordance with at least some examples of the invention, when the search results, list files results, or file preview results are displayed in response to a search query, the primary value assigned to the file (e.g., the actual value assigned by the user) will be highlighted and/or made known or available to the user in some manner.
The available (e.g., previously defined by the user, system, or another) and/or stored hierarchical properties may be displayed by systems and methods in accordance with examples of this invention at any desired time and/or at any desired location without departing from the invention. For example, as shown in
The property information may be entered and/or associated with individual files at any desired time and in any desired manner without departing from the invention. In addition to including the property information with the files at the time they initially are saved onto the computer system or network, properties associated with individual files may be added to, deleted from, and/or modified at other desired times, such as whenever a file is opened, edited, or used, in response to an “edit profile” or “edit properties” command, and the like. The properties may be entered via typing (optionally with “auto-completion” of matching strings, optionally from any level in the hierarchy), through drag-and-drop operations, through “right-click” operations, through pen “press-and-hold” operations, etc. Any tools useful for setting, editing, and/or deleting properties associated with a particular file also may be accessed and used in the preview screen 8900 without departing from the invention.
Additionally, the actual content of the properties in the hierarchical arrangement may be changed by the user at any desired time and/or in any desired manner without departing from the invention, including, for example, in the manner that conventional “folder” structures are added to, deleted from, and/or otherwise edited in conventional application programs and operating systems. As examples, new properties may be added under an existing property and/or existing properties may be deleted via “right click” mouse button actions (which may display an appropriate user interface, e.g., a menu including “insert new property,” “delete existing property,” “change node level or position,” cut, copy, paste, or other appropriate actions) or in any other desired manner. As another example, if desired, the locations of existing properties in a hierarchical structure may be changed, e.g., moved via “drag and drop” operations, as illustrated in
In at least some instances, depending on the specific characteristics of systems and methods in accordance with the invention, errors may be generated during this repositioning action, for example, if the same property name appears more than once in the new path or position for the moved property. Systems and methods according to examples of this invention may handle such situations in any desired manner, e.g., by not completing the desired move, by providing an interface to enable the user to change a name within the path, by displaying a dialog box to advise the user of the problem with various options for rectifying the problem, etc. As another example, if desired, systems and methods may be developed that will allow multiple uses of a single name within a path (e.g., Location>New York>New York), such that this error would not appear unless an attempt is made to produce multiple nodes having the same overall flat path string names.
Users that take advantage of the hierarchical property characteristics in accordance with examples of this invention may develop a relatively large hierarchical structure for properties such that the overall hierarchical structure, when fully expanded, spans longer than the available space in the navigation panel 8802 and/or the height of their display screen. This situation can be handled in any desired manner without departing from the invention, for example, by providing scroll bars within the navigation panel, by allowing children nodes to collapse under their parent nodes (and to be fully expanded or collapsed based on user input, e.g., in a manner similar to the way that hierarchical folder structures expand and collapse in conventionally available systems and methods), etc. When opened, navigation panels 8802 of the type illustrated in
If desired, systems and methods in accordance with at least some examples of this invention may include a basic hierarchical structure when shipped, and this basic structure may be used by users as a starting point to build a more complete, richer hierarchy, e.g., one that is more targeted and customized to their own uses. Examples of such a pre-determined basic hierarchical structure, e.g., for storing digital picture, audio, video, or other user data, may include base nodes such as: Keywords, Events, Places, People (e.g., potentially with child nodes, such as Author, Photographer, Subject People, etc), Dates, My Pictures, My Music, My Documents, My Videos, etc. Any desired information may be included in this basic hierarchy without departing from the invention.
Any desired form or format may be used for storing or representing the hierarchical properties with individual files without departing from this invention. For example, if a child property value is assigned to a file, the path to that property value through the hierarchical structure may be stored as part of and/or associated with the actual file (e.g., as metadata included in and/or associated with the file). As an example, the representation or data structure of the hierarchical structure may include, at least: (Parent property value) [delimiter] (child property 1) [delimiter] (child property 2) . . . . Returning to the more specific example illustrated in
Properties listed in a navigation panel, e.g., panel 9102, at least in part, may behave in a manner similar to the way conventional folders behave in various known operating systems and application programs. For example, the manner of expanding and/or collapsing hierarchical properties in the navigation panel 9102 may be similar to expanding and/or collapsing folders in similar folder navigation panels or controls. As more specific examples, in order to view and display child property values under a parent property, a user can click on a “widget” provided to the left of the property (note, for example, the widget with the “+” sign therein for the “Summer” keyword in
Systems and methods in accordance with at least some examples of this invention may support still other ways for users to change, modify, and/or use the hierarchical property structure. As one example, in situations when a property value in the navigation panel 9102 is selected via a right-click action when no items in the display panel 9106 are selected, the user then may be given an option (e.g., via an interface) to add a new hierarchical property as a child under the right click selected node (e.g., a new node with an editable textbox may appear at the location of the new property value in the hierarchical structure to enable the user to type in (or otherwise enter) the new property value). A “delete” function or option may be provided, e.g., via a right mouse button click, to enable the user to delete any desired portion of the hierarchy, such as an individual node, a node and all of its child nodes, etc. “Promote” and “demote” functions may be provided, e.g., to allow a user to select a property value and move it (optionally along with all of its own child values) up or down a level in the hierarchy, respectively (e.g., promotion makes the selected node move to a level so that it now appears as a peer to its former immediate parent node). As still another example, a “rename” function may be provided, e.g., via a right mouse button click, that will enable users to give any property value or node a different name (optionally, with limitations if the same name is used twice in a path and/or if two identical flat path names are presented, as described above). Potential functions that may be provided in accordance with examples of this invention, e.g., via a right mouse button click when a file is selected in the display panel 9106, include a “remove property” function and an “add property” function, which may be used to remove and/or add one or more properties from/to the metadata or other data stored with and/or associated with the file. Of course, other functions and/or other ways of performing the above functions may be provided without departing from the invention. Where necessary, all files or items tagged with a given property and/or path that is changed via the various functions described above may have their corresponding property data and/or path information updated to reflect the user made changes to the paths and/or properties.
Additional features in accordance with at least some examples of the invention relate to sharing hierarchical properties, e.g., when existing files including hierarchical property data are sent to another user having a system or network that supports hierarchical property data but does not necessarily have the same available hierarchical property structure corresponding to the newly received file(s). Systems and methods in accordance with at least some examples of this invention may be constructed to allow sharing of files (or other items) with hierarchical property values in a manner similar to the manner in which files (or other items) having flat property values are shared. In accordance with at least some examples of systems and methods according to this invention, the default behavior for when a file or other item comes into a system with hierarchical property values will be as follows: (a) the hierarchy of the new file will be displayed in all areas where hierarchical keywords typically are displayed by the system or network, e.g., in the same manner as if the newly received file originally had been created on the target system or network; (b) if the same hierarchy as that required for the new file already exists on the new recipient's system or network, the new file item will associate itself with the hierarchy already on the system or network; (c) if only part of the path necessary for the new file exists on the recipient's system or network, the remaining parts of the hierarchy to accommodate the new file will be created on the recipient's system or network; and/or (d) if none of the path necessary for the new file exists on the recipient's system or network, the new hierarchy to accommodate the new file will be added to the recipient's system or network.
The following provides a more detailed example of property hierarchy sharing in situations where a file is received and saved to a new user's system or network. In this example, the recipient user has an existing property hierarchy with the path/property values “Family/Brothers/Toby.” A new file is received by a recipient user (e.g., as an email attachment), and this new file, which is saved to the recipient's system, includes metadata from the file sender's hierarchical configuration. Both the file sender and the file recipient operate programs, systems, and/or methods with hierarchical data structures in accordance with an example of this invention. The following table describes the manner in which the recipient user's system may handle receipt of the new file in various different scenarios:
The various property values associated with a file may be displayed at any appropriate time and in any appropriate fashion without departing from the invention. For example, as described above in conjunction with
Also, any desired amount of the property data associated with a file may be displayed in the various locations without departing from the invention. For example, if desired, the entire hierarchical path may be shown for each property (or at least some properties) at any location where one or more of the properties associated with a file are displayed (e.g., in “preview” or “property” panels, like that shown in
As another example of practical use of hierarchical property information, many businesses are arranged with at least some degree of hierarchical structure (e.g., departments, divisions, locations, etc.). More targeted operating systems, methods and/or application programs according to examples of the invention may be developed for such businesses that take advantage of the hierarchical nature of the individual corporation's structure. For example, predetermined hierarchies may be provided for the computer systems, networks, and/or application programs used by corporate employees that include a predefined hierarchical structure for properties in data stored for the corporation. Such systems and methods can enable at least some overall sensible hierarchical structure in the corporation's systems and networks in which its data may be organized and stored.
Aspects of the present invention also relate to computer-readable media including hierarchical property data stored thereon and computer-readable media including computer-executable instructions stored thereon for allowing entry and/or use of hierarchical property data in various operating systems, application program environments, and/or various other systems and methods, including the systems and methods described above. The computer-readable media may constitute computer-executable instructions stored on the various specific examples of computer-readable media described above.
Page Space Control: Example systems, methods, and computer readable media according to aspects of the invention: Multiple Property Selections: As described above, additional aspects of the present invention relate generally to systems and methods for searching information contained on a computer system or network, optionally, taking advantage of the hierarchical property structures described above.
With its Windows® computer operating systems, Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. introduced a real world analogy for saving, organizing, and retrieving electronic information from computer systems or networks, namely folders. This folder system was strictly an end-user concept introduced to give a real world feel to the electronic data and information stored on or available through the computer. Computer users typically think of their computer's hard drive as a big filing cabinet in which their files are organized. However, to the computer system itself, an electronic file is simply a series of bits that are encoded magnetically to a hard drive (or in some other manner), and a “folder” is simply a way for the computer system to reference those sets of files.
With Microsoft Corporation's NT File System (“NTFS”), the ability to support hard links was introduced. This feature enabled users to place electronic files in multiple folders. Of course, physically, this feature does not require that the bits representing those electronic files are duplicated multiple times on the computer's hard drive (or other storage system), e.g., once for each folder in which the file is placed. Rather, the different folders reference back to the same file. However, when initially released, this ability was not exposed to end users because putting a single file into multiple folders did not match the user's real, physical world concept (i.e., the same physical piece of paper cannot be located in two separate physical folders at the same time).
In at least some operating systems in which at least some aspects of this invention may be practiced, a new end-user concept called a “list” is being introduced. As a physical analogy, one may think of a “list” as a container that references sets of items (e.g., electronic files). To better understand “lists,” a more detailed explanation of a “folder” is described. A “folder” may be considered as a “set” or group of items that are considered as related to one another in some manner (e.g., being present in the same “folder” may be one way that items in a set may be considered as “related”). Each item or file in a set or folder may include a property called “PARENTFOLDER” (e.g., in the form of a path, such as “c:\users\usera\documents”). Notably, this path also is an end user metaphor and does not necessarily reflect the physical structure of the computer. In fact, the concept of a drive itself also may be considered a metaphor, as a single physical hard drive may be partitioned into multiple “drives,” such as a c drive, a d drive, etc.
Another way users can define a “set” is through a “list.” “Lists” may be considered as related to “folders” because each may be thought of as defining a set of items. Unlike “folders,” however, “lists” in accordance with at least some examples of this invention do not define this relationship using a “PARENTFOLDER” property as described above. Rather, “lists” will allow the same item (e.g., an electronic file) to exist in multiple locations (e.g., in multiple, independent “lists”). Like “folders,” “lists” are an end-user concept. Putting electronic files or other items in multiple “lists” does not cause the actual physical bits representing the underlying data to be duplicated, but rather, the underlying electronic files or items are referenced by (or “linked” in some manner) to that “list.” To tie this discussion back to a real world example, a person may have a “Shopping List” and an “Urgent ‘To Do’ List” in which they keep track of items they need to purchase and things that they need to do. Both of these “lists” may include an item such as “birthday present for wife.” The user understands that buying a gift is both something that must be done while shopping and something that must be done rather urgently. The user further understands, however, that just because this item is entered in two of his/her lists, this does not mean that they need to purchase two gifts. Rather, the single act of buying the gift allows the user to remove each item from its respective list.
Operating systems in which at least some aspects of the present invention may be practiced further may include “Auto Lists.” “Auto Lists,” like “lists” and “folders,” define sets of items. These sets of items may be generated automatically based on common property values associated with items stored on or available through the computer system. For example, if desired, users can have an Auto List based on the property value: rating=5 star. Using this “Auto List” feature, users can easily locate and see information relating to all of their files that are rated 5 stars regardless of which specific folder or “list” they may appear in. As long as the file or item has a 5 star rating associated with it, systems and methods according to at least some examples of this invention will automatically include this file or item as a member of this dynamically and automatically generated set, e.g., any time a user's query asks to see the 5-star Auto List. Other examples of “Auto Lists” may include, for example: recently created files, recently edited files, frequently used files, Author ID, creation time/date, edit time/date, file type, application name, etc.
One aspect relating to the content of an “Auto List” relates to the list's scope (i.e., the set of files and/or locations that will be searched to generate the “Auto List”). Various limits on the scope of an “Auto List” may be set, depending, for example, on the environment in which the computer is located, user preferences, the manner in which the computer or network is used, and the like. For example, the scope of an “Auto List” may be limited to a particular machine, to a particular user's files on a machine or a network of machines, and/or in any other desired manner without departing from aspects of this invention. As a more specific example, the scope of a “5 star” Auto List may be limited to a set of specific files or folders to search across, such as the files or folders on a given physical computer and/or files or folders created by a given user. If desired, however, users can set an Auto List scope (or other search scope) to search across everything on the computer and/or the network containing the computer, such as to locate all “5 star” files stored on either of the user's desktop or laptop computers.
With the increasing number of files users are saving on their PCs (e.g., documents, music, video, and picture files, etc.) and the increasing use of networked computer systems, the ability for users to select smaller search scopes (e.g., for Auto Lists or other searches) may become important (e.g., to avoid location and display of excessive irrelevant data (e.g., data from other users or other locations), to avoid search delays, etc.). As a more specific example, a graphics designer may want to scope an “Auto List” search to limit its search and returned content to a hard drive portion (e.g., a directory or the like) that contains only Photos (or, optionally, only a specific user's photos). This user would not necessarily want to search everything on the PC and/or everything on the network to which the PC may be connected. Such users may not wish to see other user's files that also may meet the search parameters set for the “Auto List.”
Accordingly, in systems and methods in accordance with at least some examples of this invention, users may select and define “sub-item domains” as part of search scopes. A “sub-item domain” is a set of folders defining a smaller scope for the computer system to search across. This sub-item domain may include a set of folders and/or sub-folders where users store their data, items marked with certain properties, etc.
The content of this settable “sub-item domain” need not be limited to a single folder or even a single common branch of the folder hierarchy. Rather, if desired, in accordance with at least some examples of systems and methods in accordance with this invention, a user may set a search scope (such as an “Auto List” generation search scope) to consider files located in multiple folders, optionally in multiple branches of the network or computer memory.
Additional aspects of the present invention further extend from the aspects described above. In at least some example systems and methods in accordance with this invention, multiple folders and/or properties may be selected by users as the scope for searches and/or displays of information stored on the computer. Such systems and methods may utilize navigation panels that display properties and/or folders in a hierarchical manner, as described above, for example, in conjunction with
In conventional and currently available “folder trees” that display folders of items stored on a computer, users cannot select more than one folder at a time. If a user wants to view the contents of multiple folders, he or she has to open multiple windows (e.g., one for each folder desired) and/or consecutively open and inspect the desired folders. Therefore, the user cannot view all information from multiple folders in a common screen, making it difficult to get an accurate overview of the available information stored on the computer system or network.
The availability of “lists” and “Auto Lists” further exacerbates this problem. As noted above, lists and Auto Lists may comprise sets of property values that help define or categorize files and/or other items stored on the computer system or network. Often, users would like to further narrow down information presented via a list or Auto List procedure (i.e., the relevant files identified as meeting a search criteria) based on the requirement that the displayed information include multiple properties associated with it. For example, users may wish to see all stored pictures from a specific trip locale that also include a specific person (e.g., spouse). Without the ability to use multiple property selection techniques, users may not be able to easily find the sub-set of files that meet these two independent property criteria.
Aspects of this invention relate to systems and methods that allow for conducting searches, interpreting search results, and/or displaying search results when multiple properties are selected as part of the search criteria, e.g., from a hierarchical listing of properties provided in a navigation panel or otherwise made available to a user. Such systems and methods may be used, for example, when navigating, searching, displaying, and/or otherwise interacting with various lists, Auto Lists, and/or folders.
One feature relating to this aspect of the invention relates to the manner in which information or files are determined to satisfy the search, which includes multiple properties and/or other search parameters. More specifically, in some instances users would prefer to see the combined union of all information that satisfies either feature of a multiple property search query (i.e., display information that satisfied either property A “OR” property B), and in other instances users would prefer to see the intersection of only the information that satisfies both features of a multiple property search query (i.e., display information that satisfied property A “AND” property B). As some more specific examples, when users request retrieval of information identifying all files that contain “Maui pictures” taken with a member of the family contained therein, they expect the searching systems and methods just to retrieve those pictures that contain both a family member AND were taken in Maui. With such a query, users typically do not wish to see all Maui pictures (including all pictures without family members contained therein) and all family pictures (including pictures not from Maui). On the other hand, when users request retrieval of information identifying files that are rated either three stars or four stars, they expect the searching systems and methods to retrieve files with either of these ratings (because at least most files would not be simultaneously rated three stars and four stars by the user).
Accordingly, at least some aspects of this invention relate to algorithms that automatically determine whether users likely wish to receive set “union” or set “intersection” information based on the information or multiple search parameters selected, e.g., from a navigation panel of properties and/or folders, e.g., arranged in a hierarchical manner. In general, as will be explained in more detail below, systems and methods in accordance with at least some examples of this invention will return information (e.g., during a “search,” “list files,” or other navigation task) regarding files based on a union of the multiple parameters selected (a logical OR operation) when the searched multiple properties, lists, folders, items, and/or other parameters belong to the same “property” in the hierarchy. On the other hand, systems and methods in accordance with at least some examples of this invention will return information (e.g., during a “search,” “list files,” or other navigation task) regarding files based on an intersection of the multiple parameters selected (a logical AND operation) when the searched multiple properties, lists, folders, items, and/or other parameters belong to or lie across different properties. More detailed examples of operation of this algorithm are described below in connection with
Page Space Control: Example systems, methods, and computer readable media according to aspects of the invention: Multiple Property Selections: Multiple Selections Within a Single Multi-Value Property:
As shown in
Accordingly, from this example, a first rule of a selection algorithm in accordance with at least some example systems and methods according to the invention may be derived. By this rule, information returned from user selection of multiple sets within a single, multi-value property set automatically will be returned in a “unioned” or logical “OR” query language manner. Of course, if desired, systems and methods in accordance with at least some examples of the invention may provide a user with the ability to override this rule and/or this automatic selection action (and thereby run an “AND” operation).
Notably, in the illustrated display panel 9304, the two selected data sets are shown or are available in their entirety and maintained separate from one another (i.e., one sub-panel 9306 for the Person_A pictures and one sub-panel 9308 for the Person_D pictures in this example). Notably, a single list item may appear in each sub-panel 9306 and 9308 (or in others), if appropriate (i.e., the icons representing pictures ABD1, ABD2, ACD1, AD1, and ABD3 appear in each sub-panel 9306 and 9308 in this example). Of course, many other ways of displaying the retrieved information (e.g., in display panel 9304) may be used without departing from the invention, including for example, displaying a compiled listing of files or items without an indication of the source property and/or without providing repeated representations of the same file or item. As another example, if desired, the display portion 9304 could also include a display sub-panel or the like that includes the results of the logical AND operation (i.e., pictures including both Person A and Person D in this example), to make this information readily available to the user, in the event the logical AND operation was desired.
Page Space Control: Example systems, methods, and computer readable media according to aspects of the invention: Multiple Property Selections: Multiple Selections Within a Single-Value Property: As described above, in the example of
In response to this query, search, or “list files” command, systems and methods according to this example of the invention retrieve any pictures rated either as 3 stars OR 4 stars (to be retrieved, the system automatically or some person must have, at some time, associated a rating property with the various files (e.g., as metadata, as discussed above)). Notably, in this example search, systems and methods in accordance with this example of the invention automatically retrieve union information, i.e., information identifying files rated either 3 stars OR 4 stars. In essence, systems and methods in accordance with this example of the invention performed a logical OR operation based on the input parameters specified by the user in the navigation panel 9402. In fact, in this example, because the “Rating” property is a single valued property, it would not make sense to perform a logical “AND” operation, because the “AND” operation would return an empty set in each instance (i.e., because each file contains one and only one rating, no files will be located during the search that contain both a 3 star AND a 4 star rating)
Accordingly, from this example, another rule of a selection algorithm in accordance with at least some example systems and methods according to the invention may be derived. By this rule, information returned from user selection of multiple sets within a single-valued property set automatically will be returned in a “unioned” manner or in a logical “OR” query language manner. Of course, if desired, systems and methods in accordance with at least some examples of this invention may provide a user with the ability to override this rule and/or this automatic selection action.
Notably, in the illustrated display panel 9404, the two selected data sets are shown or are available in their entirety and maintained separate from one another (i.e., one sub-panel 9406 for the 3-star rated pictures and one sub-panel 9408 for the 4-star rated pictures in this example). Notably, in this instance, no single list item appears in both sub-panels 9406 and 9408 (or in others), because each file, by definition in this example, contains a single rating value. Of course, many other ways of displaying the retrieved information (e.g., in display panel 9404) may be used without departing from the invention, including for example, displaying a compiled listing of files or items without an indication of the source property.
Page Space Control: Example systems, methods, and computer readable media according to aspects of the invention: Multiple Property Selections: Additional Logical “OR” Examples: As noted above, the above rules may apply to items in folder structures and/or in a hierarchical property structures.
As shown in the display screen 9500 of
Notably, in this example, the two selected items (i.e., properties) in the hierarchical structure were not located in the same hierarchical level. Nonetheless, the logical OR operation was conducted in this instance because, as noted above, the algorithm's rule requires the OR operation to be performed when the selected properties are located under a common parent property (this common parent property, however, need not be an immediate parent of both or either selected node).
Notably, in the illustrated display panel 9504, the two selected data sets are shown or are available in their entirety and maintained separate from one another (i.e., one sub-panel 9506 for the German car pictures and one sub-panel 9508 for the American car pictures in this example). Again, in this instance, no single list item appears in both sub-panels 9506 and 9508 (or in others), but, because a single picture may include more than one automobile, overlapping pictures may be possible in the sub-panels 9506 and 9508. Of course, many other ways of displaying the retrieved information (e.g., in display panel 9504) may be used without departing from the invention, including for example, displaying a compiled listing of files or items without an indication of the source property, with no duplicated photo listings, etc. Also, if desired, the results of a logical AND operation also may be displayed in display panel 9504, optionally along with the results of the logical OR operation.
As with the various display panels described above, display panel 9604 makes the two selected data sets available in their entirety and maintained separate from one another (i.e., one sub-panel 9606 for all the car pictures and one sub-panel 9608 for the UK imported car pictures in this example). In this example system and method, all of the UK car pictures in sub-panel 9608 also are included within the more generic Cars sub-panel 9606 because all UK car pictures must fall within the Cars parent node (e.g., as described above with regard to the hierarchical properties, when a child property is assigned to a file, that file also automatically is assigned all parent properties to the assigned child property). Of course, many other ways of displaying the retrieved information (e.g., in display panel 9604) may be used without departing from the invention, including for example, displaying a compiled listing of files or items without an indication of the source property, with no overlapping photos displayed, etc.
Page Space Control: Example systems, methods, and computer readable media according to aspects of the invention: Multiple Property Selections: Logical “AND” Examples: The above examples for
In general, this “rule” of the algorithm requires that when the multiple user selections are made across different parent property sets, the “intersection” of the search results will be displayed (or a logical AND operation will be performed and the results displayed). In the example illustrated in
Of course, any way of displaying the search results, e.g., in display panel 9704, may be used without departing from this invention. Additionally, if desired, users may be provided with the ability to override the automatic AND operation produced by systems and methods in accordance with this example of the invention.
Application of the logical AND operation is not limited to use with multi-valued hierarchical properties. For example, if one or both of the user selections in
The algorithm's rule for applying a logical AND operation also applies when selections are made across different hierarchical properties, even when these selections are located at different depths within the hierarchical structure.
This same algorithm rule may apply and similar intersection results may be obtained irrespective of whether one or both of the user selected properties is a single value property or a multi-valued property.
Additionally, the algorithm's rule for applying a logical AND operation also applies when selections are made across different hierarchical properties, even when at least one of these selections does not include a low level item in the hierarchy.
Page Space Control: Example systems, methods, and computer readable media according to aspects of the invention: Multiple Property Selections: Use of Multiple Selections in Hierarchies with Folders, Lists, or Other Structures: As noted above, aspects of the use of multiple user selections in hierarchies also may be applied to hierarchies that include conventional folders (e.g., performance of the OR/AND functions may be determined using the rules above, even if one or both user selected elements includes a folder structure). Conceptually, in accordance with at least some example aspects of this invention, a “folder” may be treated as a single-valued property. More specifically, because an individual file will reside only in a single conventional folder as described above, a folder may be treated as a single-valued property in accordance with these aspects of the invention. Optionally, if desired, the multiple user selections may include a mixture of selections of folder elements and property elements in the hierarchical structure. Various examples follow.
As described above, user files exist in a conventional folder hierarchy at a single location (i.e., a single file or other item cannot exist in two independent and separate folders at the same time). Therefore, a logical OR operation makes the most sense in the situation illustrated in
The same OR/AND logical operation selection features may be applied to list elements in a hierarchical structure, in accordance with at least some examples of this invention. “Lists” may be conceptually considered as simply constituting sets of items, such as files or the like.
The above described OR/AND logical operation selection determination algorithms and rules also may be applied in situations in which a user selects more than two hierarchical elements (e.g., three or more folders, list elements, properties, etc.). In general, in such situations, a logical OR operation (i.e., the union) is performed with respect to any selections made under the same hierarchical parent element set, and a logical AND operation (i.e., the intersection) is performed with respect to selections made across different hierarchical parent element sets. Optionally, operations within a given hierarchical parent element set (i.e., the OR operations), if any, may be performed first.
Specifically, as shown in the display screen 10300 of
The above noted rules and application of these rules in determining whether to conduct a logical OR operation or a logical AND operation to multiple user selections are advantageous because they produce predictable and logical results when users use the hierarchical properties, folders, lists, or other structures for storing, searching, and retrieving information from a computer system or network. Of course, if desired and as noted above, users may be provided an interface to allow them to override these automatic retrieval rules at any time, e.g., if the rules produce the undesired results in any individual instances. As new information is introduced into the computer system or network, the above rules can continue to be applied, including to the newly added information, regardless of whether the new information may be incorporated into the existing hierarchy or requires new/additional hierarchy. Once placed in the hierarchical structure in some manner, the above OR/AND logical operation selection procedures can be carried out by determining whether the various selections are located within a given property or other hierarchy element level and/or whether they span across different top level parent property or other hierarchy element levels.
Page Space Control: Example systems, methods, and computer readable media according to aspects of the invention: Multiple Property Selections: Computer-Readable Media: Additional aspects of the present invention also relate to computer-readable media including computer-executable instructions stored thereon for performing the various multiple property or other value selection methods and/or for use in various systems that include multiple property or other value selection methods, including the systems and methods described above. The computer-readable media may constitute computer-executable instructions stored on the various specific examples of computer-readable media described above.
Page Space Control: Example systems, methods, and computer readable media according to aspects of the invention: Grouping and Stacking in the Display Panel: Today in Windows® based computer operating systems (e.g., available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.), it is possible to organize sets of files (e.g., from a search query or a list files command) into groups. For example, grouping by file “type” may be used to place all PowerPoint® presentations (presentation software available from Microsoft Corporation) within the search domain into one grouping and/or all digital pictures into another grouping. It can be difficult, however, for users to efficiently and effectively deal with large sets of items because they still have to locate the correct grouping to ultimately locate the file that they wish to further consider. For example, if a user has a folder with 100,000 files contained in it, grouping those files may help sort through things somewhat, but it still may be difficult for users to locate the specific file desired (e.g., particularly if keyword searches or other search techniques are not effective to narrow down the grouped files).
In application programs and/or operating systems in accordance with at least some examples of this invention, users may take advantage of the ability to “stack” as a new/additional way for visually organizing files into sets. For example, if systems and methods were to stack by “file type,” users would be able to see all of their files stacked into individual sets, e.g., a set for PowerPoint® presentation files, a set for spreadsheets, a set for digital pictures etc. Each of these sets may be represented, e.g., in a computer-generated display, by a stack icon that conceptually acts as a virtual container for that set of items. Stacking is a very useful way to help users narrow down on a set of items they care about because stacking clearly enumerates and identifies to the user the various available stack options.
Applied to a more concrete, real world example, stacking can be conceptually thought of as going to a car rental location and asking them to tell you what color cars are on the lot. They may advise you that they have blue and red cars available today. Conceptually, this is what happens when users stack their files by a property, i.e., they may obtain stacks for each unique value of that property.
This stacking feature (as well as other display features) may be applied, for example, to user interfaces like those described above in conjunction with FIGS. 91 and 93-103. In such user interfaces, systems and methods in accordance with at least some examples of this invention may show information including things such as Lists, Auto Lists, Folders, and properties, including, for example, user defined properties. Each Auto List may be designed to provide a way for users to view information identifying their files in various ways, for example, by a certain property. As a more specific example, a music Auto List may be stacked for example, by the performing artist, and searching by this performing artist property will allow the user to see stacks identified with all the artists included in the music collection, e.g., Bjork, Madonna, etc. One issue, however, with simply showing a shortcut to this Auto List is that if the computer system has music from many different artists stored on it and available in the view, it still may be difficult for the user to locate the desired individual artist and/or the desired individual album, CD, or song(s).
One aspect of systems and methods in accordance with examples of this invention relates to exposing the stacking structure of the available Auto Lists as sub-nodes in the navigation panel and/or the display panel associated with it. As one more specific example, for the “Artists” Auto List situation described above, systems and methods in accordance with at least some examples of this invention may enable users to expand the “Artists” (or other) nodes in the navigation panel and/or the display panel, to thereby enable them to control and/or see all the unique Artists (or other nodes) saved on the computer, network, or system.
Other aspects of this invention relate to the manner in which information relating to groups and stacks of information is processed and/or manipulated, e.g., in a navigation panel and/or a display portion of a user interface presenting such information. More specifically, aspects of the present invention will treat “grouped” and “stacked” information in the same way and allow Auto Lists that are grouped to represent hierarchy in the navigation panel. In other words, if a user has a view of music files grouped by “Artist” in the display panel, systems and methods in accordance with examples of this invention may be used to generate sub-nodes for the various artists in the navigation panel. In at least some instances, the sub-nodes may in fact constitute another stack, and therefore, when users click on one of these sub-nodes, the set of items in the view would filter down to only those results. This gives users a quick index of the items present in the view and allows them to actually narrow down to a set of files instead of just visually or mentally organizing them.
Still another example aspect in accordance with this invention relates to the ability of users of systems and methods according to at least some examples of this invention to stack in a parent folder and flatten its folder hierarchy. For example, when a user stacks by file type in a hard drive directory or other collection of data (e.g., a “D:\Data” grouping), systems and methods in accordance with at least some examples of this invention will search through all sub-folders and take those items and place them into stacks. This gives users the ability to navigate to any folder and view its contents organized by a desired property value instead of by its folder hierarchy.
In general, aspects of this invention are useful because, in systems and methods according to at least some examples of this invention, grouping and stacking can be used to create a dynamic organizational structure in the navigation panel, and it provides the ability to select a group in the navigation panel or the display panel and narrow down the items in the view to display only that set. Still additional general aspects of the invention relate to treating grouping and stacking as sub-nodes to an Auto List and the ability to select a group in the navigation panel and/or the display panel and, through this selection, thereby further narrowing down the displayed view. More specific examples of these aspects of the invention will be described below.
As noted above, “grouping” and “stacking” are two different ways to visualize a set of items.
In at least some instances, stacks may not constitute the most preferable way of displaying information in the display panel 10404. For example, as shown in
Notably, in the example shown in
Users also can quickly navigate in the hierarchical structure of the navigation panel 10502 to see different groupings of information. An example of potential changes may be seen by a comparison of
A comparison of the display screens 10600 and 10700 of
This “non-collapsing” feature of the navigation panel 10702 may be useful for various reasons. For example, in general, users expect this hierarchy to remain exposed in this manner, e.g., from their interactions with conventional electronic file and/or folder systems. As another example, keeping the hierarchy open, expanded, and available in this manner (e.g., until closed by the user) can be more convenient, e.g., if the user decides to return to the hierarchy, for example, for additional searching, navigation, or previewing purposes, for property assignment to file purposes, and the like. Moreover, by leaving the navigation panel 10702 in an unchanged state as the user navigates and potentially manually changes it, the past locations visited by the user will remain readily available, so that they can quickly return to where they have been, if desired.
If desired, in accordance with at least some examples of this invention, combinations of grouping and stacking may be used in the display panel. An example of this combined use of grouping and stacking may be seen, for example, in the display panel 10804 of the user interface display screen 10800 shown in
By selecting the parent “SuperMusicView” node, the systems and methods in accordance with this example of the invention display information in the display panel 10804 relating to stored music on the system grouped by the various genres (e.g., sub-panels 10806, 10808, and 10810 for the genres “Classical,” “Jazz,” and “Pop,” respectively). Within each individual genre grouping, in this example, the information is stacked, e.g., by the decades in which the albums or musical selections were released. If desired, a user can further “drill down” into the hierarchical structure, e.g., in the display panel 10804 or the navigation panel 10802, to see more detailed information relating to the information stored within the stacks (e.g., individual CD or album titles, in this illustrated example, information stacked by performing groups or artists with the stack including individual albums, etc.). Further drilling into the individual CD or album titles may be used, if desired in at least some examples of systems and methods of the invention, to display information regarding the titles of the individual songs or tracks included on the album or CD. Of course, any number of stacks, groupings, and/or any desired types of information may be included in the hierarchical property structures without departing from this invention.
Notably, in the example navigation panel 10802 and display panel 10804 shown in
As with any of the windows, display panels, sub-panels, and the like contained in systems and methods in accordance with examples of this invention, when the available information more than fills the available display area, user access to undisplayed information may be gained in any desired manner, for example, through the use of scroll bars as shown in display panel 10804, through “next page”/“previous page” buttons or icons, and/or in any other desired manner.
The hierarchical properties and other elements, navigation panels, and displays of groups and/or stacks of information in accordance with examples of this invention may be used in combination with conventional folder structures without departing from this invention. In general, stacking folders (e.g., in a display panel) is not useful to users because individual folders within a hierarchical structure may have vastly different and independent subjects and because users that organize information in folders often do not store many files on any given level of their folder hierarchy. Therefore, in accordance with at least some examples of this invention, stacking in a folder will flatten the folder hierarchy and re-organize the items contained within the folder into sets based on that property.
Of course, other ways of presenting information from the folders in the display panel 10900 are possible without departing from this invention. For example, if desired, rather than flattening the hierarchical structure shown in
Various manipulations also may occur to data once highlighted or selected in a navigation panel and/or information relating thereto is displayed in a display panel.
Of course, many options for grouping and/or stacking in response to user commands, e.g., in a navigation panel of the type described above, and other system actions in response to user commands may be provided in systems and methods without departing from this invention. The following includes at least some additional examples of options that may be included in at least some examples of this invention.
As one example, when grouping or stacking by a property that is multi-valued, systems and methods in accordance with at least some examples of this invention may provide one group or stack for each top level value under the property, and further children property values may not be exposed in the display panel (although, if desired, the underlying information in those lower children property values may be displayed and/or made available for display). In such systems, if desired, the user can expose the children property values by navigating into the various hierarchical level groups, e.g., using the hierarchical navigation panel, drilling down into stacks provided in the display panel, etc.
If desired, in accordance with at least some examples of this invention, no way need be provided to view all keywords (grouped or stacked) as a flat list, and the information highlighted in the navigation panel will control what is displayed in the display panel. If desired, systems and methods according to at least some examples of this invention may allow users to “unstack” at any level, e.g., by providing a menu item (e.g., a button, a right click menu, a tool bar menu, etc.) that allows the user to “expand all stacks,” “expand this stack,” and/or the like.
Other actions also may occur while information is grouped and/or stacked, e.g., operations relating to the hierarchical properties contained in the groups and/or stacks. One example relates to dragging and/or dropping operations. In at least some examples of this invention, when dragging an item from one group to another group, the item may be changed to have the property value(s) of the newly applied group and/or stack applied to it (i.e., changed to also include the property value(s) of the “destination” groups and/or stacks from the drag and/or drop operation, and optionally, at least, to remove the property value(s) of the original source groups and/or stacks, if necessary and desired). Another example operation relates to “paste” operations. When an item is placed in a new group and/or stack by a paste operation, the destination property and its parent property value(s) may be applied to the newly placed item.
Also, many different types of displays or display contents may be provided in response to navigating into a group and/or a stack. As described above, however, in accordance with at least some examples of this invention, all items with the group title property value may be shown in an initial display, as well as all items tagged with children property values of this group/parent property value (if any). If desired, an indicator of some type may be provided in the navigation panel and/or the display panel to indicate that the item in the hierarchy can be further expanded to display children property values (e.g., a “+” sign is used with the icons or widgets in several of the illustrated examples shown in the figures of this specification). This same convention may be used in filtering menus without departing from this invention.
Additional aspects of the present invention also relate to computer-readable media including computer-executable instructions stored thereon for performing the various grouping and/or stacking methods and/or for use in various systems that display information, such as properties, folders, lists, and the like in grouped and/or stacked manners, including the systems and methods described above. The computer-readable media may constitute computer-executable instructions stored on the various specific examples of computer-readable media described above.
**Multiple Roots in Page Space Control: Because known navigation systems only incorporate a single root node, a navigation tree restricts the organization of a user's folders and other structures to a single representation. Such a restriction may pose substantial obstacles to efficiently viewing and navigating folders of comparable relevancy. In one example, a user may have limited space on each of his or her storage drives and is therefore forced to store his or her photographs on two separate drives. In known single root solutions, the user is forced to access both storage areas by expanding the navigation tree significantly at two different storage points. Such a method of navigation hinders viewing both sets of photographs simultaneously. Thus, according to aspects of the invention an application or user may establish multiple roots in the page space control, e.g., a navigation panel described above.
Each root node 11311, 11312 & 11313 and descendent page nodes 11321, 11322, 11323 may further comprise an expansion control widget 11320, an identifying icon 11326 and identification text 11325. Generally, identification text 11325 conveys the general category or description of the pages or files stored therein. For example, root node 11311 may be labeled with “Lyon's Doc Folder” to identify the contents of that page as documents belonging to user Lyon. An identifying icon 11326 may be positioned adjacent to the identification text 11325 to allow a user to graphically differentiate between one or more root nodes 11311, 11312 & 11313 or page nodes 11321, 11322 & 11323. For instance, a user may create a unique icon to mark his or her ownership of certain pages or to indicate a type of files stored at the represented location. Similarly, users may use different icons to represent different types of pages (i.e., folders, lists, autolists). To access a page node and view its contents, a user may either double-click the identification text 11325 or toggle the expansion control widget 11320 associated with the particular node. By using either of these methods, the user may expand the parent page node thereby revealing its descendant nodes. The absence of an expansion control widget 11320 may signal that the page node has no descendants and thus, cannot be expanded. If an expansion control widget 11320 does exist, the control widget 11320 may change to the corresponding page node's current state (i.e., expanded or collapsed). For example, the expansion control widget 11320 may comprise a clear arrowhead 11350 pointing away from the identifying text 11325 when the page node is collapsed (i.e., hiding its descendant nodes). Conversely, if the page node is in an expanded state, the expansion control widget 11320 may comprise a darkened arrowhead 11351 pointing toward the displayed descendants of that page node. The expansion control widget 11320 may be implemented in numerous ways and using a variety of symbols, colors and/or animations, such as ‘+’ and ‘−’, as is known in the art.
Upon receiving a user request for the creation of a new root node, the navigation pane 11215 may identify the page type, acquire the page's physical location, determine the page's descendants and create a root node comprising a pointer to the page's physical location and an expandable/collapsible list of descendants. In contrast to a simple pointer or shortcut, a root node is a dynamic tool that permits a user to not only view a corresponding page by selecting the node, but also to view or hide (i.e., expand or collapse) an associated list of descendants. For example, if a user wants to make the folder “Louie's Documents” a root node in the navigation pane 11215, the navigation pane 11215 will identify that it is a folder page type. Subsequently, the navigation pane 11215 will create a node structure in the pane 11215 with the name “Louie's Documents” pointing to the physical or virtual location of “Louie's Documents.” When a root node represents a static or dynamic list, the root node may store information identifying a location of the definition of the list to which it refers. Additional pages/root nodes may be similarly added to the navigation pane 11215. In one embodiment of the present invention, the list of root nodes is stored in a registry that may comprise data and settings corresponding to system options, hardware and the like. Storage in a medium such as a registry allows a custom list of root nodes in a navigation pane to persist from browsing session to browsing session. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the list of nodes may be stored using an array of other methods and in a variety of other mediums.
The user may remove a preexisting root node 11312 from the navigation pane 11215 by using a remove option available in a context menu. In one embodiment of the invention, the user may access the context menu of a particular root node 11312 by selecting and/or right-clicking (i.e., using a mouse) on root node 11312. Once the user selects the remove option from the context menu, the navigation pane 11215 removes the selected root node 11312 and its associated list of descendants 11412.
Referring to
A user may also add, remove, rename and/or reorder root nodes using a configuration dialog similar to that illustrated in
If the user wants to remove a current root node, the user may select the root node in the displayed pages pane 11505 and choose the remove option 11520. Upon removing the root node, the navigation pane disassociates the node with the corresponding page and removes the node from the pane. Other options permit the user to rename a current root node or set a root node as the home page. A user may reorder a root node in the displayed pages pane 11505 by selecting a node and adjusting its relative position using arrow buttons 11525 & 11526. Should the user make a mistake in adding, removing, reordering or renaming one or more root nodes, the user has the reset option 11530 to reset the changes he or she made to the navigation pane. Selecting reset button 11530 may revert any changes made by the user since the window 11500 was last opened, or may revert to a default state, undoing any changes the user has made.
In addition, a user may change the substance and appearance of the identification text of the page node and the underlying page. This may be accomplished by editing the text within the navigation pane or, alternatively, through the property dialog 11600. The property dialog 11600 may comprise options for adjusting font, font size, style (italics, bold, smallcaps, etc.) and color. For example, a user may increase the font size and alter the font color of a page of particular significance or importance and its representative node. Such features may allow a user to identify to others that the page is of high importance or relevance.
A further option of the page property configuration dialog 11600 may allow a user to hide a page node in the navigation pane so that the page node is not visible when viewing the navigation pane. In one embodiment of the invention, when a page node is hidden, its descendant nodes may be elevated to root node status in the navigation pane. Thus, a hide option permits a user to create several root nodes simultaneously. A navigation pane comprising a hidden page node is illustrated in
**Multi-Valued Properties: Further to the discussion above with respect to
The system may display aggregated property values, and may incorporate visual differences to associate aggregated values with the files to which they apply. Editing of the aggregated values is possible, and when editing aggregated multi-value properties, the system may intelligently assist the user in selecting (or avoiding) entries based on a variety of factors, such as the entries already in use and the context in which the property values are used. When aggregating multi-value properties for multiple selected files, the system may also take steps to help preserve the order in which particular values appeared in the various files. Values that tended to appear more often in the beginning of a file's multi-value property will tend to appear towards the beginning of the corresponding aggregated multi-value property.
In step 11702, a check may be made to determine whether a new association is to be created for one or more previewers. An association may be any criteria and/or request governing the times and types of previewers that are to be used. An association may be created to define the types of previewer(s) to be used for a given user identity (or if a particular user wishes to disable previews altogether), and/or for certain predefined situations based on system conditions (e.g., available resources, memory, current applications running, number of previews generated or to be generated, available power, time of day, status of other applications, etc.) and file type (e.g., a user may prefer to use one type of previewer for home videos, and a different previewer for compressed songs), such that the default previewer used by the system may be user-defined. A user may indicate that certain file types are only to have basic/non-interactive previews, or the system can automatically disable a preview if it experiences a predefined number of failures, crashes, or hangs. An application may be associated with one or more previewers so that previews opened from the application, or previews of files created by the application, may always be previewed using the same previewer. These associations can be hierarchical in nature, such that multiple previews are ranked in order of preference. The step of requesting a new association 11702 may occur at startup, upon installation of an application, upon execution of a predetermined application, and/or by user request.
If a request to create a new association is received, then the association is created in step 11703. The act of creating an association may be accomplished by querying the user for the specific criteria to be met when certain previewers are to be used, or retrieving such criteria information automatically from an application and/or the system itself. When created, an actual association can take the form of data stored in the computer system's memory associating the previewer(s) with any of the criteria identified above.
In step 11704, a check may be made to determine whether a previewer needs to be opened. There are a number of events that can trigger the opening of a previewer. For example, when a user opens a shell browser on the system and begins perusing files and/or folders, the browser may initiate a previewer to display a preview of one or more selected files (or default files, when none is selected). Alternatively, a previewer may be triggered at the request of any other application. A previewer may also be triggered by the creation of common file dialogs that are shared by multiple applications. Common file dialog previews are discussed further below.
If a previewer is to be opened, the system may receive the selection, or selections, that are to be previewed in step 11705. This may involve receiving identifications of the file (or files) that are to be previewed. Such selections may be made by the user, such as by the selection of one or more files by moving a mouse pointer to a listed file and pressing the left mouse button, or clicking and dragging a selection box around multiple file listings. Alternatively, selections may be made automatically. For example, certain applications may default to a predetermined file, and may automatically select that file for previewing upon first opening. A word processing program, such as MICROSOFT WORD™, may default to a previewer that includes text editing features. The system may automatically select files for previewing as a result of conducting a search. A user might enter search criteria, such as a keyword, and the system or application may automatically select one of the search results for previewing. For example, a user might type in “peanut” as a keyword in a system search tool, and the resulting listing of files containing “peanut” may display, with a preview of the first listed file.
Once the file(s) to be previewed are selected, the system then selects and generates the appropriate preview in step 11706. Selecting an appropriate preview may be based on one or more associations that have been created (e.g., a user has selected a particular previewer for previewing all files of a certain type, or for previewing certain files), and may also be based on the system resources that are available (or consumed). Alternatively, the user may be requested to identify which previewer should be used for the current preview by, for example, selecting from a presented list of predetermined previewers that may be appropriate for the selection to be previewed.
In some situations, it may be desirable to generate an initial basic preview that can be viewed while a richer interactive preview is being initiated. For example, if a rich preview of a text document would require a few seconds to load and generate, the user may be presented in the interim with a more basic preview that can be generated sooner. The more basic preview may have some, or none, of the interactive functionality offered in the rich preview, and can at least get the user started in previewing the selection(s).
Selecting a preview may include a prestored sequence of previewers that can be used. For example, a particular application or view may have a hierarchical sequence of available previewers, such as a full rich previewer, a reduced feature previewer, a basic thumbnail preview (which need not be interactive), and a basic icon similar to the desktop icons currently used in MICROSOFT WINDOWS™ operating systems. When a previewer is to be opened, the system may start with one previewer, such as the full rich previewer, and “fall back” through the sequence of previewers to find the most appropriate one. For example, the full rich preview might be the default for a particular view with a previewer that offers paging, zoom and text editing capabilities that allow the user to modify the document from the preview, and if there are insufficient system resources (e.g., due to memory limitations, other applications, other previewers, etc.) to adequately offer that preview, the system may check the next previewer (e.g., a less-featured one) on the list. The next previewer may be slightly less featured, for example, by only offering the ability to navigate through (e.g., paging and zooming) the document, but without the ability to edit. Such a previewer may require less system resources to run, and may be preferred if resources are not available. If there still are insufficient resources to offer that second previewer, the system can check the next previewer (e.g., a basic thumbnail view with little or no interactivity), and so on until a suitable previewer is found given the available resources.
When the preview is generated, the preview may be initiated as a separate and distinct process from the application requesting the preview. For example, if a previewer is provided in a system shell browser, the previewer may be executed as an independent process from the shell browser. With the preview as a separate process, the shell browser might not ever find itself in a position of having to wait for a response from the preview application, thereby avoiding a crash or hang if the previewer encounters difficulty. Such difficulty can come from a variety of sources. The selected file might have corrupt data such that the preview application cannot process it; the preview application itself might have an error or bug preventing its smooth operation; the file may be mislabeled or misidentified such that the wrong preview application is chosen (e.g., the file may indicate that it is an audio file, when actually it is a text file); or the system resources may encounter a problem such as a bad memory sector. Having the previewer as a distinct process provides a degree of crash/hang resistance. If the previewer encounters an error, crashes, or hangs, the problem will be confined to the preview panel itself, and the shell browser will continue to function. In some instances, the system may keep track of the number of times that a particular preview application encounters difficult, crashes and/or hangs, and if a predetermined number is exceeded (e.g., 3), then the system may take steps to reduce the frequency with which that particular previewer is used. For example, the system may lower the priority of that previewer, or create an association that calls for a different previewer.
In step 11707, a check may be made to determine whether the user has interacted with any displayed preview. Interaction can take any form of known computer interaction. For example, an interaction may be a mouse click within the preview panel. An interaction may be a selection of one or more graphical interface elements in the preview panel, such as paging buttons cursor arrows, or the like. Interaction may take the form of keyboard keys, such as cursor movement keys to move a cursor within a preview of a text document.
If an interaction occurs, the appropriate processing will occur in step 11708. Processing an interaction may take the form of any response to a user input. For example, the processing may begin an editing process in response to a user clicking a mouse or other pointer within the preview panel. The editing process may allow the user to view and/or edit the previewed file directly from the preview panel, without requiring the user to leave the view having the preview panel.
In step 11709, a check is made to determine whether the preview panel has been resized. The panel may be resized, for example, by the user entering commands, and/or by clicking and dragging a boundary or resizing tool of the preview panel. If the panel is resized, the new resized panel is displayed in step 11710. If desired, the resized panel may be configured to automatically retain the same aspect ratio found in the original panel. Some file types may be configured, such as through association, to always have the same aspect ratio (e.g., videos may always be 4:3). If properties or metadata were displayed accompanying the preview, then the properties and/or metadata display area may also be resized to correspond to the new preview panel size. For example, the properties or metadata display area may be configured to always have the same height or width as the preview panel. Conversely, the previewer may be resized in response to a resizing of the properties/metadata display area. If desired, the new size may be stored in the system as the new default size associated with the particular file type, current view, application, and/or user, and used the next time a preview is needed.
In step 11711, a check may be made to see whether the new size of the preview panel has passed one or more predetermined thresholds for the preview. As noted above, previewers may have one or more criteria for their use. One such criterion may relate to the amount of display area available to the previewer. For example, different levels of interactivity and/or functionality may be offered for different sizes of preview. Using a word processor, such as MICROSOFT WORD™, as an example, a larger preview may offer more detailed functionality, such as navigating/paging and zooming in the document, changing font size, or editing text using a cursor in the preview, while a smaller preview of the MICROSOFT WORD™ document might still include the navigation and zooming features, but omit the cursor text editing if the display is too small to reasonably use a cursor to edit the text. A previewer may have one or more threshold sizes associated with it, which may be created during association, stored in the computer system's memory, and which may identify a replacement previewer for use when the threshold is met or passed. For example, the previewer might require a minimum of 256 pixels of width to implement certain features, while other features might only be included if there are 512 pixels.
If the new size passes a threshold, such as a minimum or maximum threshold, a replacement preview may be selected and generated in step 11712. The generation of a replacement preview may be identical to the generation of the preview in step 11706. So for example, if a preview panel has been reduced in size beyond a certain minimum size, a replacement previewer may be used that offers a smaller subset of those interactive features that can still be used at the smaller size. Alternatively, if the preview panel has been enlarged beyond a certain maximum size, a replacement previewer may be used that offers more features that can be useful given the larger size, such as a previewer that has more user interface controls, or allows detailed edits within the preview.
In step 11713, a check is made to determine whether a displayed property, or piece of metadata, is to be edited. Such data may be edited by, for example, clicking a mouse or pointer on a piece of displayed metadata, and entering a value using a text entry or menu user interface. In step 11714, the appropriate steps are taken to edit the particular property. The actual steps may depend on the type of data being edited. A date field may bring up a calendar user interface element, allowing a user to view and select a date (and/or time) value for entry. Other types of data may be entered through a text entry box, and other types may be selected from a menu, such as a pull-down menu.
In step 11715, a check is made to determine whether the system is awaiting the loading of a rich previewer. As noted above, a more basic or generic preview may be provided while a rich preview is being initialized on the system. If the system is awaiting a rich previewer, in step 11716, a check is made to determine whether the rich previewer is ready. If it is, then the system will replace the existing preview with the rich preview in step 11717. Step 11717 may also include a query to the user to determine whether the rich previewer is still desired. Although this step shows two previewers, more than two may also be used. For example, the system may display an icon while waiting for a thumbnail preview, and then display the thumbnail while waiting for a rich preview, etc.
In step 11718, a check is made to determine whether a previewer is to be closed, and if so, the previewer is closed in step 11719. Then, the process returns to step 11702 to begin again. Of course, the process shown in
Interactive preview panel 11802 may, for example, display one or more pages of text appearing in selected item 11801a when item 11801a is a file containing textual data, such as a MICROSOFT WORD™ file, or other word processing program. The interactive preview 11802 may allow the user to edit and/or manipulate the displayed text directly in the preview panel. For example, the user may be permitted to click a mouse pointer within the interactive preview 11802 to cause a cursor to appear in the panel, and the user may manipulate the cursor or enter keyboard inputs to add, delete, and/or otherwise modify the displayed text. Other types of controls, such as paging controls, font/format controls, scrolling controls, file management controls, input/output controls, and the like may also appear in the preview panel 11802.
Different types of data files may have different types of interactive previews. For example, the interactive preview for an audio file might include controls to control the play of an audio preview of the selected audio file on one or more speakers (such as speakers 197) of the computer system. A preview of a .wav file or .mp3 file may include such audio commands. There may be controls to play, pause, or cue the playing of the audio file. Some previews, such as previews of pictures, may include zooming/panning controls to allow the manipulation of a displayed image. Video previews may have controls to play, pause, or cue the playing of a video on a display and audio on a speaker of the computer system.
The interactive preview 11802 may also be displayed in conjunction with a plurality of properties 11803 (including metadata), shown in
Other variations on the displayed information are also possible. For example, some labels (such as file name and file type) may be considered optional, or may be omitted from the display altogether. One example from
The properties may be editable from the property display area. For example, a user may simply click on, or hover over, a displayed property value, and begin a process of entering/editing data. The interface for entering/editing the data may be dependent on the particular property or type involved. Some properties, such as dates, may have a calendar display and/or pull-down menu to select a value. For example, the user can simply move a mouse pointer over a date field, and a display of a calendar can appear to help the user enter a date by choosing from the calendar. Pull-down menus or lists of possibilities may be displayed to simplify entry. For example, by clicking a mouse pointer on a month field, the system may display a list of months from which the user can choose to fill in the field. A simple textbox may be displayed with a cursor to allow the user to directly type in and/or edit the property value form the preview display, without requiring a separate dialog box for the data. The textbox may be a fill-in-the-blank box in which the user can type using a cursor and keyboard. Any other form of data entry may be used. To help the user identify properties that may be edited, those properties may be visually differentiated or accentuated in some fashion in the display. For example, a different color (e.g., yellow), font (e.g., bolded letters, or ALL CAPS font), appearance and/or symbol may be used to indicate values that are editable by the user and values that are not. Highlighting can also be used to differentiate or accentuate certain fields. For example, editable fields may have a certain color (e.g., canary yellow) in and/or surrounding them, similar to the effect created when a yellow highlighter is used on a printed document.
Some file types may have more properties than what will fit in a given preview display. In some embodiments, there may be an option, such as an ALL button 11804, that may allow a user to view all properties for a given file, or at least view additional properties.
As noted above in step 11709, the user may be given the option of resizing the preview and/or properties display used in the browser 11800. For example, a resizing tool 11805 may be used in the preview panel 11802, and by selecting and moving the tool, the user can cause the browser 11800 to automatically adjust the display area occupied by the previewer and/or properties area.
As noted above, a change in the size of the preview may, in some instances, cause a change in the type of preview offered, such that different sizes of preview panels result in different types of interactive preview. So preview 11901 may differ from preview 11802 in terms of the level of interactivity and/or the types of features provided. As one example, certain graphic editing features might not make sense if the preview is less than 256 pixels in width. The same type of resizing can occur if the user resizes the area used to display properties. For example, the user could click and drag a mouse pointer on a border of the properties area 11902, and resize it, and cause the preview area 11901 to change sizes to match the new properties area 11902 size.
In addition to resizing the preview panel and/or properties display area, these elements may be rearranged either automatically or by user request. For example, the user may wish to move (e.g., by selecting a preference, by clicking and dragging the preview, or some other user input) the preview 12101 (
To facilitate the rearranging, and the crash/hang resistance noted above for the preview panel, the preview panel and properties/metadata area may be implemented as separate software modules. Each module may be executed as a distinct process on the system's processing unit(s) 120. Alternatively, the preview and property/metadata panels need not be implemented as distinct software or software modules in the system, and may instead be implemented as a common module. The level of integration may be a design choice based on the level of extensibility desired, software memory footprint, and other factors.
As previously mentioned, the preview panel may be incorporated into a computer system's common file dialogs. Common file dialogs may be user interface elements and/or programs offered by the computer system to be shared by the various applications executed on the system. For example, an operating system might offer a common “Open File” or “Save File” dialog that may be used by any application wishing to create a file on the system. Including a previewer in such common file dialogs allows multiple different types of applications to benefit from having previews, and allows applications to effectively provide rich, interactive previews of files that are not natively supported without requiring the application developers to develop their own previewer. Incorporating a previewer in the common file dialog also provides a consistent interface across multiple applications, where user preferences and associations may be consistently used across the various applications. Furthermore, offering the previewer in the common file dialog may allow an application to effectively provide a rich, interactive preview of a diversity of file types—even file types that the application does not natively support. For example, a spreadsheet application may have installed its own rich, interactive previewer to handle previews of data-intensive spreadsheets. A separate word processing application, which might not have any capability for editing the spreadsheet application's data files, may nevertheless offer such a preview by using the common file dialog.
In some instances, a user may wish to select multiple files at once, or have multiple files actively selected at the same time. In those instances, the previewer may operate as described above, providing separate previews for each selected file. Alternatively, the system may alter its behavior. For example, if, in step 11705, the system determines that multiple files are selected, the step of generating a preview 11706 may involve a process of determining which selected file will be previewed, and which ones will not. This determination may be made based on a variety of criteria (e.g., first selection, last selection, newest selection, largest selection, simplest preview, user previewer preference, etc.), such as the associations and preferences discussed above.
The system may also take steps to generate simultaneous previews corresponding to the multiple selections. As depicted in
Alternative displays of multiple previews may also be used. For example, a rotating 3-D carousel of previews, such as that shown in
The preview of multiple selected files (e.g., selected by clicking a mouse cursor on multiple files, holding the SHIFT or CTRL keys and clicking, or clicking and dragging a selection area around multiple files) can also vary depending on the type of files chosen, and different preview sequences may be used for different combinations of selected files. For example the system (e.g., via the operating system, hardware, an application, etc.) may use a stacked presentation when multiple image files are selected, and use a sequential video preview when multiple video files are selected. The system may also scale back or simplify the previews offered when multiple files are selected, in order to conserve resources.
The various features above may be implemented as a single integrated piece of code, or as a collection of subroutines or modules. For example, there may be an iterator module to handle the preview of multiple files, a commands module that is responsible for the user interface commands offered in the previews, a preview module for generating the preview itself, a properties module for handling the properties/metadata portion of the preview display, etc.
As noted above, these preview features may be offered anytime a user is to be shown a listing of files or other data on the system. When the particular listing is generated through the use of one or more criteria, such as when the display is the result of a user-requested keyword search, the previewer may use the search criteria to assemble the preview. For example, an application may wish to notify the previewer of the keywords used in a search, so that the previewer can determine which preview to use, or how to sequence the previews when multiple previews are to be used. This may be an extensible feature, where the previewer is provided with the search criteria.
As noted above, multiple selections may be made, and the displayed preview image may change as a result. These multiple selections may also cause a change in the display of properties and/or metadata. For example,
Many properties and/or metadata for multiple selected files may be aggregated and presented together as a compilation or sum. For example, if one displayed property is file size (e.g., how many kilobytes (kb) or megabytes (Mb) used), and multiple files are selected, the file size property may display an aggregated file size value, totaling the file sizes of the selected files (e.g., 4.3 Mb). As another example, if one displayed property has keywords, the keywords for multiple selected files may be aggregated together and presented as a single keyword property. Some aggregations may result in a larger property display, and may use the same appearance accentuation/differentiation described above to correlate aggregated properties with their corresponding files. Alternatively, the properties may be further differentiated from the selected files (e.g., a different color, font, highlighting, appearance, size, etc.) to indicate that the property is an aggregation of all selected files.
The accentuation and/or differentiation of the aggregated values may, in some cases, be done in a manner to indicate the source of the values. For example,
Accentuation and/or differentiation can also begin with user selections of certain values in the aggregated values. For example, a user may select one of the values in the aggregated list, and cause a subsequent display to appear that indicates which files share the selected value. The indication could come in the form of a common appearance, where the selected value and its corresponding files are displayed in a common manner. For example, by clicking on value 12806, the system may automatically change the font of that property value to a boldfaced font, and may do the same to the file listing 12602 to identify the file whose property was selected.
Although the discussion above addresses properties and metadata displayed with the previews in a shell browser, these features may be used in other contexts as well. Any situation involving the display of multiple properties and/or metadata may benefit from the features described herein.
While some kinds of properties are easier to aggregate because they have numbers (e.g., file size is simply a total of the individual sizes), other types of properties may be more difficult to aggregate. For example, some properties have text words as values (e.g., keywords). Furthermore, some individual properties and/or metadata may have multiple values themselves, known as multi-value properties. For example, a given file's “keywords” property may have none, one, two, three, or any number of distinct keywords as values (e.g., one file may list “peanut”, “food” and “candy” as keywords relating to the file). These multiple values may also be sequenced in a meaningful way for each file, such that the first value listed may be more important (e.g., an article that primarily deals with peanuts, might list “peanut” as the first keyword because it is most important, and may list “food” and “candy” second and third, in descending order of importance). When multiple files, each having multiple keywords, are selected, the process of aggregating those properties is not as simple as just adding numbers. When that occurs, the system may display a listing of the values that are in some form of ranked order based on the order in which they appeared for the individual selected files. Steps may be taken to help ensure that the resulting list of aggregated values corresponds to the relative importance of the values as they appeared for the various selected files. For example, five newspaper articles may have keywords identifying the cities that are discussed in the articles, and ranked in the following order:
In this example, Chicago was given “first place” twice (e.g., Files 2 and 3 discuss Chicago a lot) and “second place” twice” (e.g., Files 1 and 4 don't focus on Chicago, but they do mention it). The resulting aggregation of these properties may remove redundancies, and may display the properties in a sequence that represents the relative importance of “Chicago” (and the other values) to the files, and also take into account the number of times a particular value appeared at all in the files' properties: “Chicago, Boston, Detroit, Austin.” So with this example, the multiple selected files, as a whole, deal mostly with Chicago, and then with Boston, and then Detroit, and least with Austin.
In step 12901, a global integer constant, C, is established either automatically (e.g., the computer system may detect the availability of system resources, and adjust the constant to avoid bogging down the system), or manually (e.g., the user may be given the option to set C as high or as low as they want, depending on how much detail they want in the aggregation of multi-value properties). This constant represents a number of places or rankings for which the process will be carried out, for example, C may be ten (10). A higher constant C will allow greater granularity in the ranking, but would require greater processing power and more time. This value may be dynamically established depending on user preference, system settings, available resources, system load, etc.
In step 12902, a loop begins for each value present among the selected files. In step 12903, a nested loop is executed for the first C places in the voting. In step 12904, for each place, the system tallies the number of votes that the current value received for that place. These two loops result in the system determining, for each value, how many “votes” it received for each of the first C “places.” Then, in step 12905, another loop is begun to process each of the C places, beginning with the top place (first place) and proceeding on through the Cth place.
In step 12906, a check is made to determine whether any single value received the most votes for the place under consideration. If a value received the most votes for this place, that value is awarded this place, and the value is removed from the remainder of the calculations in the vote tabulation process, in step 12907. So in the above example, Chicago received the most votes for first place (two votes).
If, in step 12906, no single value had the most votes for this place, then there is a tie for the current place (either 2 or more values had the same number of votes for this place, or all values had zero votes for this place), and the process moves to step 12908 where a check is made to determine whether the current place being checked is the last place to be checked (Cth place). If it is not, the process moves to step 12909. In step 12909, the system “peeks” ahead one place, to identify the number of votes that the current tied values received for the next place. In step 12910, if one of the tied values had the most votes for the next place, then that value is given the present place in step 12911, and the votes for the current place held by the other tied values are moved, or transferred, to the next place. In other words, the “losers” at step 12911 have their votes for the current place added to their vote total for the next place, so that for every value that received votes in the place under consideration, but was not awarded that place, its votes in the current round are carried over and added to its votes in the next round when computing a winner for that round.
If, in step 12910, none of the tied values has the most votes for the next place, then all of the tied values are ranked in alphabetical order for the current place in step 12913 (and the next several places until the tied values are all given a place), and the process returns to step 12905. Similarly, if, in step 12908, the process happened to be examining the last place (place C) when the tie occurred, then the process also moves to step 12913 to rank the tied values alphabetically, and on to step 12905.
From step 12905, if the last place (Cth place) has been processed, then the process moves to step 12914, where all remaining votes for the remaining unranked values are treated as votes for Cth place, and the remaining values are ranked in order of whomever has the most votes for Cth place, with ties being broken using alphabetical order.
The algorithm shown in
In some instances, the various multi-property values may undergo a normalization process. The normalization process may delete redundant appearances of values in a file's multi-property field. For example, a file may have keywords (Dog, Cat, Dog), and the normalization process may keep the first occurrence of the values, and remove subsequent occurrences of the same value (e.g., resulting in “Dog, Cat”). Un-normalized data may be stored in the system's memory, and the normalized version may overwrite that data, or the normalization data may simply be stored separately in the memory. In some instances, normalization may occur when the user modifies a multi-value property.
In some instances, a user may wish to edit the multi-value properties through interaction with the aggregated display. When that occurs, the system may revise the multi-value properties for each file in response to changes made to the aggregated multi-value properties display. For example, an addition of a new property to the end of the aggregated display may simply cause the new property to be appended to the multi-value property for each of the files. The same thing may occur if a new property is inserted in the beginning of the aggregated multi-value property display, or any other insertion. Some changes, such as reordering of the properties within the aggregated properties display, may cause a corresponding reordering of the multi-value properties for each of the files.
Multi-value properties may also have a unique approach to editing data. For example, fields for such properties may appear in a list, similar to that shown in
The token behavior is not limited to simply selecting the entire word at once. The word may be replaced by alternative user interface elements. For example, a time could be replaced by a graphic image of a clock; a date could be replaced by an image of a calendar. The atomic values may exhibit icon behavior, such that clicking (or right-clicking) on them may cause additional levels of interactivity, such as bringing up command menus, option lists, other pop-ups, etc. Values can also be dragged onto other files and/or properties, and those values may be added to the other files and/or properties.
At the end of the field's list, there may be a prompt string 13003 reminding the user of what data the field contains. In some instances, the prompt string 13003 may appear only when the field 13001 is in an edit state, such as when it is given a keyboard focus for the entry of data, and the prompt string 13003 is not treated as an actual value in the multi-value field (e.g., it is not saved to memory as a value in the field, but is rather generated as part of the user interface).
The prompt string 13003 may have be visually differentiated and/or accentuated using any of the types previously discussed (e.g., it may have a highlighting of a certain color in the area around the letters), and may exhibit some types of default behavior. For example, the prompt string 13003 may automatically appear whenever the field 13001 is in an edit state and an insertion point is at the end of the string of values. Once the user starts typing to insert a new value at the insertion point (e.g., by starting to type in a textbox), and new characters are added, the prompt string 13003 may automatically disappear. The prompt string may reappear automatically should the user complete, or abort, entry of the new value.
In the edit state, the field may also display a dropdown menu 13004 providing the user with a list of potential values to add to the multi-value field 13001, and the user can select an entry from the menu. The dropdown menu 13004 may include an autosuggest feature, which may be implemented according to the process shown in
The field may also have an autocomplete feature, as shown in
The autosuggest and autocomplete features described above may include other types of filtering steps as well. For example, filters may select the most recent values that were selected and/or entered by the user; or filter the possible values based on the context that created the listing of properties. For example, if the selected files were selected for display as part of a project view (e.g., displaying files that relate to a given project), the system may automatically determine that certain possible values are more (or less) likely to be used in that project, and may filter the list accordingly.
When the user is entering data in the field, a check may be made to validate the entry. For example, certain fields may be predetermined to only have a specified range or list of possible values (e.g., day of week), and if the user attempts to enter an invalid entry in the multi-property field, the system may simply reject the entry, providing the user with a message indicating that the entry was invalid.
Alternative embodiments and implementations of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which it pertains upon review of the specification, including the drawing figures. For example, the various steps in the described processes may be rearranged, modified, and/or deleted as desired to implement a selected subset of features described herein. Additionally, in the above, references to certain features being found in one or more “aspects” or “embodiments” of “the present invention” are made simply to illustrate various concepts that may be advantageously used alone or in combination with other concepts, and should not be read to imply that there is only one inventive concept disclosed herein, or that all of the described features are required in any of the claims that follow. Rather, each of the following claims stands as its own distinct invention, and should not be read as having any limitations beyond those recited.
**Dynamic Scrolling: Various aspects of the present invention may be used to enhance navigation through a conventional folder tree control (e.g., a navigation pane, navigation panel, page space control, or the like) or navigation of other data. The traditional folder tree control 13600 in
In
A folder tree control enables a user to navigate across hierarchically arranged data, as is known in the art. In
According to an illustrative aspect of the invention, when a user navigates along one dimension (e.g., vertically), the folder tree control may automatically scroll in another dimension (e.g., horizontally) to ensure that a node relevant to the user is within the visible area of the window 13700. The relevant node may be a current node, a node having input focus, or an otherwise selected node. The relevant node may be a node in the tree structure, for example, that is horizontally alongside the mouse pointer's position. When the user scrolls, expands, or collapses any node of the folder tree control, thereby causing the relevant node to no longer to be fully and/or partially visible, the folder tree control may automatically horizontally scroll the folder tree such that the relevant node is visible within the window 13700.
Those of skill in the art will appreciate that, while the present illustrative embodiment performs automatic horizontal scrolling, other embodiments may automatically scroll vertically in response to horizontal scrolling by a user, e.g., where the user is navigating other types of data which lend themselves to horizontal arrangement rather than vertical. For example, various aspects of the invention may be implemented in a system where a substantial percentage of user input indicative of navigation is in the horizontal dimension. In that case, one skilled in the art may implement various aspects of the invention such that there is automatic dynamic vertical scrolling.
For example, at the instance of
One skilled in the art, after being provided with the teachings disclosed herein, will appreciate that the predetermined distance for automatically scrolling a navigational control (e.g., a folder tree control) may vary among embodiments of the invention. In one example, the predetermined distance for automatically scrolling is equal to the distance necessary to align a relevant node 13706 with a right edge of the predetermined viewable area 13700. In a second example, a relevant node is wider than the predetermined viewable area 13700, and the predetermined distance for automatically scrolling may equal the distance necessary to align a relevant node 13706 with a left edge of the predetermined viewable area 13700. In a third example, the predetermined distance for automatically scrolling may equal the distance necessary to align a relevant node 13706 in the center of the predetermined viewable area 13700. These examples are merely illustrative of an appropriate predetermined distance to be used for approximately aligning the relevant node 13706 in the predetermined viewable area 13700, and they should not be narrowly construed to limit the scope of the claims.
In accordance with various aspects of the invention, the dynamic horizontal scrolling discussed may be delayed by an appropriate time period. For example, the horizontal scrolling may be set to occur immediately, or may be set to occur 100 ms after a user first positions the mouse pointer alongside a relevant node. At least one benefit of implementing a time delay is to create or provide the appearance of smooth movement. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the amount of time delay set may be varied as appropriate.
In
The view of the navigational control is dynamically scrolled horizontally by an appropriate distance after it is determined that scrolling (e.g., horizontal scrolling) is desired. One skilled in the art will appreciate that at least one advantage of the instant invention is that it does not require the display of a horizontal scroll bar, thereby resulting in additional viewable area on a limited display screen for displaying data of the folder tree. Although a horizontal scroll bar is not required, the instant invention does not preclude a horizontal scroll bar from being included and/or used. For example, it is conceivable that a horizontal scroll bar could be beneficial to a user to visually indicate the current horizontal position of the displayed view in relation to the folder tree.
In accordance with various aspects of the invention,
In step 13902, a user is presented with an initial view of content. The content may be displayed in the form of a hierarchical folder tree control with multiple levels of nodes.
In step 13906, the user scrolls content in a first dimension and/or interacts with the content. These acts are just some examples of user inputs indicative of navigation of the content. Various user inputs scroll the relevant content by moving its position in the predetermined viewable area. For example, a form of user navigation that results in vertical scrolling of content is when a user drags a floating vertical scroll bar control 13606 towards the top or bottom of a window pane 13600 containing a folder tree control. Meanwhile, various non-scrolling user inputs interact with the relevant content by updating the designation of which content is relevant to the user. An example is when a user presses the “up arrow,” “down arrow,” “page up,” or “page down” button on an input device 115 while the folder tree control window is active. Moreover, an example of a non-scrolling user input may be illustrated in
In step 13908, if the relevant content is fully visible, then no automatic scrolling may be necessary. If the relevant content is not fully visible (or is at least partially obscured) in the predetermined viewable area, then the relevant content may be scrolled in a second dimension to a state where the relevant content has increased visibility. By way of just one example, the relevant content in
In step 13910, the performance of step 13912 is delayed for a predetermined amount of time. In various embodiments of the invention, the amount of the predetermined time period of delay can be zero or any other value greater than zero. For example, in
In step 13912, the content is automatically dynamically scrolled in a second dimension for a predetermined distance. For example, in the case of the folder tree control in
Furthermore, one should recognize that the use of the modifier, “second,” should not be construed to mean that a first dimension is necessary or required. For example, if in step 13906 a user interacts with the content displayed in
Finally, in step 13914, the user is provided with an updated view of the content in the predetermined viewable area. For example,
**Common File Dialog: Various aspects of the invention may communicate with other programs, systems, modules, or the like via one or more programming interfaces. A programming interface (or more simply, interface) may be viewed as any mechanism, process or protocol for enabling one or more segment(s) of code to communicate with or access the functionality provided by one or more other segment(s) of code. Alternatively, a programming interface may be viewed as one or more mechanism(s), method(s), function call(s), module(s), object(s), etc. of a component of a system capable of communicative coupling to one or more mechanism(s), method(s), function call(s), module(s), etc. of other component(s). The term “segment of code” in the preceding sentence is intended to include one or more instructions or lines of code, and includes, e.g., code modules, objects, subroutines, functions, and so on, regardless of the terminology applied or whether the code segments are separately compiled, regardless of whether the code segments are provided as source, intermediate, or object code, regardless of whether the code segments are utilized in a runtime system or process, regardless of whether they are located on the same or different machines or distributed across multiple machines, and regardless of whether the functionality represented by the segments of code are implemented wholly in software, wholly in hardware, or a combination of hardware and software. By way of example, and not limitation, terms such as application programming interface (API), entry point, method, function, subroutine, remote procedure call, and component object model (COM) interface are encompassed within the definition of programming interface.
A programming interface may be viewed generically as shown in
Aspects of a programming interface may include the method whereby the first code segment transmits information (where “information” is used in its broadest sense and includes data, commands, requests, etc.) to the second code segment; the method whereby the second code segment receives the information; and the structure, sequence, syntax, organization, schema, timing and content of the information. In this regard, the underlying transport medium itself may be unimportant to the operation of the interface, whether the medium be wired or wireless, or a combination of both, as long as the information is transported in the manner defined by the interface. In certain situations, information may not be passed in one or both directions in the conventional sense, as the information transfer may be either via another mechanism (e.g. information placed in a buffer, file, etc. separate from information flow between the code segments) or non-existent, as when one code segment simply accesses functionality performed by a second code segment. Any or all of these aspects may be important in a given situation, e.g., depending on whether the code segments are part of a system in a loosely coupled or tightly coupled configuration, and so this description should be considered illustrative and non-limiting.
The concept of a programming interface is known to those skilled in the art. There are various other ways to implement a programming interface. Such other ways may appear to be more sophisticated or complex than the simplistic view of
Factoring. A communication from one code segment to another may be accomplished indirectly by breaking the communication into multiple discrete communications. This is depicted schematically in
Redefinition. In some cases, it may be possible to ignore, add or redefine certain aspects (e.g., parameters) of a programming interface while still accomplishing the intended result. This is illustrated in
Inline Coding. It may also be feasible to merge some or all of the functionality of two separate code modules such that the “interface” between them changes form. For example, the functionality of
Divorce. A communication from one code segment to another may be accomplished indirectly by breaking the communication into multiple discrete communications. This is depicted schematically in
Rewriting. Yet another possible variant is to dynamically rewrite code to replace the interface functionality with something else but which achieves the same overall result. For example, there may be a system in which a code segment presented in an intermediate language (e.g. Microsoft IL, Java ByteCode, etc.) is provided to a Just-in-Time (JIT) compiler or interpreter in an execution environment (such as that provided by the Net framework, the Java runtime environment, or other similar runtime type environments). The JIT compiler may be written so as to dynamically convert the communications from the 1st Code Segment to the 2nd Code Segment, i.e., to conform them to a different interface as may be required by the 2nd Code Segment (either the original or a different 2nd Code Segment). This is depicted in
It is also noted that the above-described scenarios for achieving the same or similar result as an interface via alternative embodiments may also be combined in various ways, serially and/or in parallel, or with other intervening code. Thus, the alternative embodiments presented above are not mutually exclusive and may be mixed, matched and combined to produce the same or equivalent scenarios to the generic scenarios presented in
A “file dialog” may refer to a dialog created for the purpose of opening, saving or otherwise indicating a file is to be processed and/or how a file is to be processed. Although embodiments of the invention will be described by reference to examples of dialogs for opening and for saving files, the invention is not limited in this regard. Other examples of file dialogs include dialogs for inserting file attachments, for importing files, etc. As used herein, the word “file” is given a broad meaning and generally refers to a collection of information accessible by a computer. A file may include text, programming instructions and/or various other types of data. A file may be identified to a user as document, a photograph, or some other type of item for which the file contains data. A file may also be fragmented or otherwise stored in one or more physical locations on a disk or other storage medium.
The invention is not limited to files stored in conventional hierarchical file tree structures. In at least some embodiments, files may have multiple metadata attributes (alternatively referred to as “properties”) as described above. Using values for those attributes, files may then be grouped into collections of interest to a user. By way of illustration, files on one computer may have metadata attributes such as file author, a customer to which the file pertains, and file type. User A then creates spreadsheet, word processing and slide show presentation files regarding customers X, Y and Z and stores all of those files in a directory subfolder “C:\Users\User_A\”. User B creates spreadsheet, word processing and jpeg image files for those same customers. User B stores spreadsheet and word processing files in “C:\Users\User_B\”, but stores image files in “C:\Media\Photos\”. All of these files are then accessible based on lists. For example, a “Client X” list groups all spreadsheet, word processing, slide show and jpeg files for client X, regardless of author. By specifying the Client X list, the user is able to see a grouping of those files without having to separately navigate through multiple subdirectories. These “author,” “customer” and “file type” metadata attributes are provided for purposes of illustration. Other examples include properties such as rating, comments, project, etc. A very large number of metadata attribute types can be implemented, and the invention is not limited by type of metadata attribute.
Shown in
Open File dialog 14600 is divided into four regions 14607-14610. Browser region 14607 includes a places bar subregion 14611 and a pagespace subregion 14612. Entries in places bar 14611 correspond to lists, directory locations or other groupings of files, and represent “places” to which a user may navigate to locate files. Selecting one of the entries in places bar 14611 causes a corresponding display in pagespace region 14612. In some cases, that display may be a collection of icons corresponding to files in the selected place (e.g., the selected list or other grouping). In some cases, and similar to the WINDOWS EXPLORER component of the WINDOWS XP OS, selecting a particular places bar entry may display a collection of file icons together with icons for one or more folders, directories or other locations to which a user might navigate. One or more entries in places bar 14611 may be expandable to show sublists or other subgroupings of documents. For example, the “People” entry in
In the example of
After selecting one of the files displayed in pagespace 14612, more detailed information for that file is provided in infopane region 14608. Displayed in infopane region 14608 is a larger preview (or “ghost”) 14614 of the selected file, together with values 14615 for various metadata attributes. Although the example of
Returning to navigation bar 14605, the user is provided with information indicating the “trail” which the user followed to reach the current pagespace display. In the example of
Below browser region 14607 and infopane region 14608 is an extensibility region 14609. As explained in more detail below, an extensibility region of a file dialog may contain any of a wide variety of user interface (UI) controls which may be specified by the developer of the software program which instantiates the dialog 14600. As used herein, a “UI control” includes various types of graphical elements which a user can select (by, e.g., hovering a cursor over the control and pressing a mouse button) so as to interact with the application (or other computer program) that instantiated the dialog. UI controls include, but are not limited to, push (or “command”) buttons, “radio” buttons, check boxes, text input (or “edit”) boxes, etc. UI controls also include graphical elements which only provide information to a user (i.e., which do not offer a user the chance to select something or otherwise provide input). Examples of such information-only UI controls include a block of text or a spacer dividing other UI controls.
Below extensibility region 14609 is command region 14610. Command region 14610 includes a text entry control 14616 which permits entry of the name of a file a user wishes to open. Although not shown, command region 14610 could also include a control allowing a user to input (or select from a drop-down list) the type of file which the user wishes to open. This control would be useful if, e.g., two files of different types have the same title (e.g., “report.DOC” and “report.PDF”). A view control 14617 allows a user to change the way in which files are shown in pagespace 14612. Instead of a collection of icons, for example, a user may instead wish to see files identified in a “details” mode (not shown) providing a table of file names, types, sizes, etc. In at least some embodiments, the view mode is based on a default view associated with the list or other location to which a user has navigated in browser region 14607. A developer can set the default view mode for any location, and a user may be permitted to override the view mode settings. When in “details” mode, the columns displayed are also based on the location to which a user has navigated, but a developer can specify (and a user can override) which columns are visible.
Control 14618 allows a user to change the appearance of dialog 14600 such that infopane region 14608 is not displayed (see
Shown in
Save File dialog 14800 further includes an infopane region 14808. In at least some embodiments, and as shown in
Also shown in infopane region 14808 are fields 14815 for various metadata regarding the file being saved. In some cases, a user may select one or more of these fields to add a metadata value. For example, the user might select the “keywords” field and add words which might make the file easier to find in a future keyword search. In other cases, a value for one of the metadata fields may be populated (at least initially) by an application instantiating dialog 14800. In still other cases, a value of a metadata field might be automatically populated based on the selected storage location for the file. If, for example, a user saves a file in a “project X” list, a metadata field for “project” (not shown in the drawings) would be automatically populated with “X”. As with Open File dialog 14600, the metadata categories and values shown in infopane region 14808 for a file can vary.
Below infopane region 14808 is an extensibility region 14809. Similar to extensibility region 14609 of Open File dialog 14600, the extensibility region of a Save File dialog may contain any of a wide variety of user interface (UI) controls which a software developer may specify. Although a pair of check boxes are shown in
Below extensibility region 14809 is command region 14810. Command region 14810 contains a command button 14819 for saving a file to a selected location, as well as a command button 14820 for canceling Save File dialog 14800. Text for these buttons can be changed by a developer (e.g., changing “Save” to “Check In”). Also included in command region 14810 is a control 14821 for hiding browser region 14807. By selecting this control, and as shown in
As seen by comparing
In at least some embodiments, metadata fields are displayed in an infopane region of both Open File and Save File dialogs based on a predetermined order. In particular, system-required metadata attributes (e.g., file name, file type, location for saving) are shown first. Next shown are metadata attributes required by an application instantiating the dialog, but which are not necessarily required in all applications (e.g., compression ratio, file protection). Remaining properties are then shown. The infopane region (and the entire dialog, if necessary) is automatically resized so as to show all system- and application-required properties. In at least some embodiments, an application program cannot specify what metadata is required, but the application can “promote” metadata types to have a priority such that corresponding fields will be displayed in a default-sized dialog.
Shown in
Shown in
In some embodiments, a drop-down menu UI control can be included in a command region, as shown in
In at least some embodiments, arrangement and appearance of UI controls in an extensibility region is automatic. The application instantiating the dialog simply identifies to the OS (via one or more programming interfaces) the UI controls and/or groups desired. The OS then controls the arrangement and appearance. A control not explicitly added to a group is treated as its own group. The OS places each group in the extensibility region based on the order in which the UI control or group is first identified in the programming interface(s).
In addition to specifying UI controls for inclusion in an extensibility region (and in some cases, a command region), an application developer can customize a file dialog in various other ways. Using appropriate programming interfaces (as discussed below), a developer can override the dialog titles (e.g., “Open File” title 14604 in
An application developer can also specify the initial browser mode. In some embodiments, for example, a Save File dialog automatically opens with the browser region hidden unless an application requests otherwise. In certain embodiments, Open File dialogs are always displayed with a browser region. An OS generating a file dialog in response to an application request may also render the dialog at a default size and in a default location on the screen. For example, the OS may automatically locate the dialog in the center of the display and limit the dialog and/or various regions of the dialog to certain sizes. An application developer can override these default values by specifying a size and/or location for the dialog. This may occur by explicitly supplying values for size and/or location. This may also occur implicitly. For example, an application may specify more controls for an extensibility region than can be contained within a default size.
As with other windows in a display, a user may also be able to move and/or resize the dialog. Similarly, a user can resize the browser region (if shown) and the infopane region. As the infopane region is expanded (by, e.g., selecting the edge of the infopane region with a mouse and pulling the edge across the screen), additional metadata property/value pairs become visible. As the infopane region is contracted, fewer property/value pairs can be seen. User changes to size or position of a dialog or dialog region (as well as changes to view mode, visible columns in a details view mode, etc.) can be persisted until the user completes or cancels the dialog. In some embodiments, some or all of such user changes may be persisted in subsequent dialogs.
If an application developer wishes to customize a default dialog so as to include custom UI controls, additional steps are needed. Specifically, the developer must create a custom template for the portion(s) of the default dialog that define the region(s) to hold the customized UI controls. A pointer to that template is then included in the DialgStr structure. The OS retrieves data from the custom template and uses that data to create the customized controls within a child window of the default dialog.
At first glance, the procedure of
The procedure of
Based on the methods called (shown as arrows from the dialog object in
In addition, a number of dialog object methods can be called by the OS to inform the application of various events. The application can then perform desired actions in response. For example, user selection of a control corresponding to password protection of a specified file could result in the application taking appropriate steps to protect that file (either directly or via a programming interface to the OS or to another application). Set forth below are examples of events about which the OS can inform an application via calls to such methods.
Although specific examples of carrying out the invention have been described, those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are numerous other variations and permutations of the above described systems and techniques. As but one such variation, some or all of the UI controls in the extensibility region or elsewhere in the dialog may be selectable using a keyboard. For example, a user might press a tab key to highlight a particular control and then activate that control by pressing the “Enter” key. As another example, a particular control may have a corresponding key combination (e.g., “Alt+S”). In at least some embodiments, an application developer can modify aspects of how a user accesses a dialog via a keyboard. There might also be multiple simultaneous instances of file dialogs for a given application. Embodiments of the invention also include a computer-readable medium having instructions recorded thereon which, when executed by a processor, perform steps of a method and/or that implement a software architecture. As used in the claims, the phrase “data indicative of” includes pointers or other references to data located elsewhere, as well as the actual data itself.
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 example, it will be appreciated that the locations of the various UI features that are shown herein are illustrative and may be altered, and that different placements of the various UI 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. In addition, the various steps in the described processes may be rearranged, modified, and/or deleted as desired to implement a selected subset of features described herein. Also, in the above, references to certain features being found in one or more “aspects” or “embodiments” of “the present invention” are made simply to illustrate various concepts that may be advantageously used alone or in combination with other concepts, and should not be read to imply that there is only one inventive concept disclosed herein, or that all of the described features are required in any of the claims that follow. Rather, each of the following claims stands as its own distinct invention, and should not be read as having any limitations beyond those recited.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/440,431, filed May 16, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,409,644, of the same title. This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/566,502, entitled “Metadata Editing Control,” and filed Apr. 29, 2004, and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/950,075, entitled “Metadata Editing Control,” and filed Sep. 24, 2004 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,421,438, the specifications for which are hereby incorporated by reference. This application is a continuation-in-part of, and claims priority from, co-pending application Ser. No. 10/684,263, filed Oct. 12, 2003, and having the title “Extensible Creation and Editing of Integrated Collections.” This application is a continuation-in-part of copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/395,533, filed Mar. 24, 2003, entitled “System and Method for User Modification of MetaData in a Shell Browser,” and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/395,560, filed Mar. 24, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,234,114, entitled “Extensible Object Previewer in a Shell Browser,” the specifications for which are hereby incorporated by reference. This application is a continuation-in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/440,035, filed May 16, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,466, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/403,341, filed Mar. 27, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,627,552. This application is a continuation in part of prior U.S. application Ser. No. 10/420,040, filed Apr. 17, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,240,292, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20060036568 A1 | Feb 2006 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60566502 | Apr 2004 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10440431 | May 2003 | US |
| Child | 11111978 | US | |
| Parent | 10950075 | Sep 2004 | US |
| Child | 10440431 | US | |
| Parent | 10684263 | Oct 2003 | US |
| Child | 10950075 | US | |
| Parent | 10395533 | Mar 2003 | US |
| Child | 10684263 | US | |
| Parent | 10395560 | Mar 2003 | US |
| Child | 10395533 | US | |
| Parent | 10440035 | May 2003 | US |
| Child | 10395560 | US | |
| Parent | 10403341 | Mar 2003 | US |
| Child | 10440035 | US | |
| Parent | 11111978 | US | |
| Child | 10440035 | US | |
| Parent | 10420040 | Apr 2003 | US |
| Child | 11111978 | US |
