System and method for shell browser

• US 20050246643A1
• Filed: 04/22/2005
• Published: 11/03/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Cummins, Charles, Shaw, Rhae-Christie, Beam, Tyler K., De Vorchik, David G., Gusmorino, Paul A., Hally, Judson Craig, Hysom, Scott S., Low, Aidan, Rosenberg, Jonathan P., Wong, Lyon K.F.
• Granted Patent: US 7,712,034 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/734
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance

Abstract

A previewing system that permits selection from a plurality of interactive previewers for use in a system shell browser is disclosed. The previews may be extensible, such that different application developers may write custom previews for different file types, and the shell browser may follow established criteria to select an appropriate preview. The user may enter criteria to control which previewers are used for different situations, such as when certain file types are selected for previewing. Size of an available display area for the preview may be a criterion, such that resizing the preview area may cause a different preview to be displayed. The preview may be executed as a separate process from the browser so that crashes and hangs in the previewer process do not fatally affect the browser process. Previews may be incorporated within common file dialogs offered by an underlying operating system, such that different applications may share the common previewer.

Claims

1. A method for previewing files while browsing a computer system, comprising the steps of:

receiving an indication of a file selected for previewing from a shell browser;

selecting a first interactive previewer from a plurality of available previewers based on one or more criteria;

using said selected first interactive previewer to provide a first interactive preview of said selected file in said shell browser; and

editing contents of said selected file based on user interaction with said first interactive preview.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said selected file is a word processing file, and said first interactive preview allows keyboard entry of text into said word processing file.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

receiving a user request to resize said first interactive preview;

resizing said first interactive preview in response to said user request; and

offering a different level of interactivity in said first interactive preview in response to said resizing.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein when said resizing results in a larger preview, said resized first interactive preview offers a greater level of interactivity than previously offered.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein when said resizing results in a smaller preview, said resized first interactive preview offers a lesser level of interactivity than previously offered.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

receiving a user request to resize said first interactive preview; and

replacing said first interactive preview with a second interactive preview in response to said user request.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein said second interactive preview is generated using a different interactive previewer application from said first interactive previewer.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said indication identifies multiple files from said shell browser as being selected.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said first interactive preview provides an interactive preview of said multiple selected files.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said file is selected as a result of a search process using one or more search criteria, and further comprising the step of using said one or more search criteria in said step of selecting.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

initially displaying a generic preview of said selected file while said first interactive preview is initializing; and

when said first interactive preview is ready for display, replacing said generic preview with said first interactive preview.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said generic preview offers a level of interactivity that is lower than a level of said first interactive preview.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein said one or more criteria includes an amount of system resources consumed or available.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of selecting includes the step of rejecting an initial previewer due to system resource availability, and falling back to said first interactive preview.

15. A method for previewing files from a common file dialog, comprising the steps of:

offering a common file dialog to be shared by multiple applications, said common file dialog including an interactive preview of a file selected using said common file dialog;

receiving a request for said common file dialog from a first application; and

displaying said common file dialog responsive to said request.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of selecting said interactive preview from a plurality of available previews based on user-defined criteria.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of selecting said interactive preview from a plurality of available previews based on a size of an available display area.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein said common file dialog is invoked by said first application to open a file.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of creating said selected file using a second application, said second application being different from said first application, whereby a selection of a file from said first application results in a preview of a file created by a second application.

20. A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for performing the following steps:

receiving an indication of a file selected for previewing from a shell browser;

selecting a first interactive previewer from a plurality of available previewers based on one or more criteria;

initially displaying a generic preview of said selected file while said first interactive preview is initializing; and

when said first interactive preview is ready for display, replacing said generic preview with said first interactive preview.