System and method for managing data using static lists

• US 20050091235A1
• Filed: 10/24/2003
• Published: 04/28/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Guzak, Chris J., McKee, Timothy P., van Dok, Cornelis K., Belt, Jeffrey C., De Vorchik, David G., Moore, Jason F., Banks, Richard Malcolm, Ivanovic, Relja, Smith, Walter R.
• Granted Patent: US 7,181,463 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/10 File systems; File servers
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99942 Manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A method and system are provided in which static lists facilitate arbitrary grouping of items of data independent of their locations and in ways that are meaningful to the user. A static list is a set of items defined by a root item, a direction, and the entry relationships with that root item in that direction. The static list also defines the properties that each entry relationship in the list is required to have. Verbs are provided to manage a static list. A verb is an action that may be performed on the items in the static list, and includes, among others, move, copy, add, remove, and delete. A view is provided to specify characteristics for displaying data from a static list, including visibility, order, and formatting, among other characteristics.

Claims

1. A method for managing data in a list, the method comprising:

creating a list having an item type and a relationship type; and

adding an item to the list by generating an entry in the list in accordance with the relationship type, the entry representing an association between an item and the item type.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising changing a location of the item and updating the entry to refer to the changed location.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the status of the item changes when the item is deleted, and updating the entry includes removing the entry from the list.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising defining a property for the relationship type, wherein generating an entry in the list in accordance with the relationship type includes generating a value for the property.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising moving the item to a new list, wherein moving includes deleting the entry from the original list and generating an entry in the new list and copying the value for any property that the new list'"'"'s relationship type has in common with the original list'"'"'s relationship type.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising copying the item to a new list, wherein copying includes generating an entry in the new list and copying the value for any property that the new list'"'"'s relationship type has in common with the original list'"'"'s relationship type.

7. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising deleting an item, wherein deleting includes removing the entry from the list and removing any other entry in other lists, where the other entry also represents an association with the item.

8. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising applying a view to the list, wherein applying the view includes retrieving entries in the list having properties that match properties specified in the view and applying a display characteristic to the values of the matching properties.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the list is a file in XML format, wherein the entry is a non-holding reference to the item associated with the item type and the property is a metadata associated with the item, and updating the entry includes serializing a shell link to the reference.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the list is a file system container, and the entry is a holding reference to an item, the holding reference reflecting a current status of the item.

11. A system for managing data, the system comprising:

a storage medium for storing items of data and a list entry template;

a processing unit for operating a process to generate a list of selected items in response to a user input, wherein each entry of the list represents a reference to the item independent of the item'"'"'s location in the storage medium, and wherein each entry includes a property value generated in accordance with the list entry template; and

a display unit for displaying a view of the items in the list, the view including a display of the property values of the entry in accordance with a display characteristic.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the stored items of data are moved to a new location and the process to generate the list of items includes a process to update the entry to refer to the new location.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the process to update the entry includes removing the entry from the list when the item is no longer stored on the storage medium.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the process to generate the list includes a process to copy the item to a new list comprising making an entry in the new list and copying the property value from the original entry to the new entry in accordance with the new list'"'"'s entry template.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the process to generate the list includes a process to move the item to a new list including the process to copy the item to the new list plus a process to delete the entry from the original list.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the processing unit is to further operate a process to delete an item from the storage medium that includes removing all entries that refer to the item.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the generated list is a file in XML format, and wherein the entry in the list is a non-holding reference to the item and the property is a metadata associated with the item, and updating the entry includes serializing a shell link to the reference.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the generated list is a file system container, and the entry is a holding reference to the item, the holding reference referring to a current location of the item.

19. A computer-accessible medium having a computer-executable component for:

defining a list having an item type and a relationship type;

adding an item to the list by generating an entry in the list in accordance with the relationship type, the entry representing an association between an item and the item type; and

updating the entry whenever a status of the item changes.

20. The computer-accessible medium of claim 19, wherein the computer-executable component updates the entry to refer to a current location of the item, regardless of an actual location of the item.

21. The computer-accessible medium of claim 19, wherein the computer-executable component automatically removes the entry from the list when the item is deleted.

22. The computer-accessible medium of claim 19, wherein the computer-executable component further defines a property for the relationship type, wherein generating an entry in the list in accordance with the relationship type includes generating a value for the property.

23. The computer-accessible medium of claim 19, wherein the computer-executable component further moves the item to a new list, wherein moving includes deleting the entry from the original list and generating an entry in the new list and copying the value for any property that the new list'"'"'s relationship type has in common with the original list'"'"'s relationship type.

24. The computer-accessible medium of claim 19, wherein the computer-executable component further copies the item to a new list, wherein copying includes generating an entry in the new list and copying the value for any property that the new list'"'"'s relationship type has in common with the original list'"'"'s relationship type.

25. The computer-accessible medium of claim 19, wherein the computer-executable component further applies a view to the list, wherein applying the view includes retrieving entries in the list having properties that match properties specified in the view and applying a display characteristic to the values of the matching properties.

26. The computer-accessible medium of claim 19, wherein the list is stored in XML format, wherein the entry is a non-holding reference to the item associated with the item type and the property is a metadata associated with the item, and updating the entry includes serializing a shell link to the reference.

27. The computer-accessible medium of claim 19, wherein the list is stored in a file system container, and the entry is a holding reference to an item, the holding reference reflecting a current status of the item.