System and method for displaying stack icons

• US 20050240880A1
• Filed: 04/23/2004
• Published: 10/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Cummins, Charles, Lam, Jenny T., Ivanovic, Relja B., De Vorchik, David G., Banks, Richard M., Gusmorino, Paul A., Moore, Jason F.
• Granted Patent: US 7,657,846 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/836
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a method and system for use in a computing environment for representing files stored in stacks. The method includes providing a set of stack icons, each icon in the set having a stack height representing a range of stack sizes. The method additionally includes determining a stack size for a selected stack and selecting and displaying an appropriate stack icon from the set of stack icons based on the determined stack size. The selected stack may be stored within one of multiple libraries. Accordingly a distinct set of icons relevant to each library may be stored for each library. The icons may visibly convey information pertaining to the relevant library. Accordingly, the method may include representing a selected stack by determining an appropriate library and an appropriate stack height and displaying a corresponding icon. The system may additionally include an empty stack icon, a generic stack icon, property based icons, and custom thumbnail icons.

Claims

1. A method for representing files stored in stacks, the method comprising:

receiving an identification of a plurality of files to be represented by a stack icon;

determining a stack size for the plurality of files; and

generating a stack icon based on the determined stack size.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a plurality of predefined stack icons, each of said stack icons corresponding to at least one stack size wherein said step of generating includes a step of selecting one of said predefined stack icons.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising providing a unique empty stack icon that displays an image distinct from other icons in the plurality of predefined stack icons.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of assigning a first size range to one of said icons and selecting the icon if the stack size is included in said first size range.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the steps of identifying one of said icons as a maximum size icon, and assigning a size minimum to said maximum size icon, and selecting said maximum size icon if said stack size exceeds said size minimum.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein one of said stack icons displays a stack having two items.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising providing a unique empty stack icon that displays an image distinct from other icons in the plurality of predefined stack icons, and selecting the empty stack icon if the stack is empty.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of generating further comprises the step of generating different stack icons to represent files in different distinct libraries, wherein each of said stack icons displays information corresponding to a distinct library.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein said generated stack icon visually identifies a file type of the plurality of files.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the visual identification of file type is an overlay on the icon.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said generated stack icon includes a thumbnail image displaying contents of one of the plurality of files.

12. A computer readable medium storing the computer executable instructions for performing the method of claim 1.

13. A method for representing a plurality of files, wherein the files are associated with one of multiple libraries, the method comprising:

receiving an identification of a plurality of files to be represented by a stack icon;

identifying a library with which said files are associated, said files in said library being of a common type, said type being one of word processing, image, address list contacts, and audio; and

generating a library-based stack icon, said icon including information associated with said library and a stack height corresponding to a size of said plurality of files.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said information associated with said library identifies said common type of said library

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising generating a unique empty stack icon representing a stack having no files.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein said step of generating further comprises the step of selecting a predefined stack icon from a plurality of predefined stack icons associated with said library, where each of said predefined stack icons represents a different size of stack items.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising the steps of assigning a first size range to a first one of said predefined stack icons, identifying a second one of said predefined stack icons as an empty stack icon, assigning a minimum size to a third one of said predefined stack icons, said third one of said predefined stack icons being a maximum size icon, wherein said step of selecting comprises the step of comparing a size of said plurality of files with said first range or said minimum size.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein said stack height depicts two items when said plurality of files contains two files

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising selecting the empty stack icon in response to a user request to display a stack having no files.

20. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of adding an overlay to said icon, said overlay identifying a file type.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein said step of generating further includes the step of including a thumbnail in said stack icon said thumbnail depicting contents of one of said plurality of files.

22. A computer readable medium storing the computer executable instructions for performing the method of claim 13.

23. A system for representing a selected stack of files, the system comprising:

one or more computer-readable media storing sets of default stack icons, each stored set of default stack icons representing and portraying information relevant to a corresponding library, wherein each stored set of default stack icons includes multiple icons, each included icon representing a range of stack heights;

one or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions for generating one or more icon selection tools for determining if the selected stack of files belongs to a library having a corresponding stored set of default icons and for determining a stack height, wherein upon locating a library and stack height, the icon selection tools select and display corresponding icon from said corresponding set of default icons.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein each stored set of default icons comprises a plurality of stack icons, each icon corresponding to a different range of stack sizes.

25. The system of claim 24, said plurality of stack icons further comprising a unique empty stack icon that displays a distinct image.

26. The system of claim 23, said first one or more computer-readable media further storing a set of property based icons for at least one library, wherein the property based icons include an overlay indicating a file type.

27. The system of claim 23, said computer-executable instructions further comprising instructions for generating a set of custom thumbnail icons for at least one selected library, wherein the custom thumbnail icons include at least one image from a stack within the at least one selected library.

28. The system of claim 23, said computer-executable instructions further comprising instructions for counting the number of files in a selected stack and displaying the number adjacent to or on the icon.