Methods and systems for managing data

• US 20050289109A1
• Filed: 04/22/2005
• Published: 12/29/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Chaudhri, Imran, Ording, Bas, Giampaolo, Dominic, Arrouye, Yan, Cisler, Pavel, van Os, Marcel, Tiene, Kevin, Lemay, Stephen Olivier, Christie, Gregory
• Granted Patent: US 7,437,358 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/14 Details of searching files based on file metadata
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/38 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99939 Privileged access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

Systems and methods for managing data, such as metadata. In one exemplary method, metadata from files created by several different software applications are captured, and the captured metadata is searched. The type of information in metadata for one type of file differs from the type of information in metadata for another type of file. Other methods are described and data processing systems and machine readable media are also described.

Claims

1. A machine implemented method comprising:

receiving an input for a search operation;

performing the search operation;

displaying a list of results from the search operation, the list presenting N items, wherein N is less than M items found from the search operation and wherein the list is grouped by categories and the number of items within each category is limited to less than N.

2. A method as in claim 1 wherein the list is not scrollable and wherein the list is sorted by relevance and recency and wherein the list includes a command to show all M items.

3. A method as in claim 1 wherein the number of items within each category is limited to less than N÷

X where X is greater than 2 and wherein the list may be incapable of showing all M items.

4. A method as in claim 1 wherein the top hit is shown and wherein the top hit is determined according to a ranking criteria, which comprises at least one of relevance and recency.

5. A method as in claim 1 wherein the items in each category are sorted by criteria, comprising at least one of date, location or kind, and wherein the items in each category are ranked by criteria, comprising at least one of relevance and recency, and displayed accordingly.

6. A method as in claim 1 wherein the categories are created based on criteria, comprising at least one of the type or kind of item, the date of creation or modification, the location of the item and membership in other existing groupings, and wherein the categories are ranked according to some criteria and displayed accordingly.

7. A method as in claim 1 wherein the list is collapsible so that the items in each category are not shown and the list is expandable so that all or some of the items in each category are shown.

8. A machine implemented method comprising:

receiving an input for a search operation;

performing the search operation;

displaying a non-scrollable list of results from the search operation, the list presenting N items, wherein N is less than the M items found from the search operation;

displaying a command to cause the display of a window which is capable of displaying all M items.

9. A method as in claim 8 wherein the list is incapable of showing all M items.

10. A machine implemented method comprising:

displaying an open file window;

displaying a search input field to allow entry of a search query to find a file;

receiving a search query and performing a search;

displaying a result of the search within the open file window.

11. A method as in claim 10 further comprising:

displaying a location selector within the open file window and receiving a location and displaying files within the location, wherein the search query is used to search files within the location.

12. A method as in claim 11 wherein the search query is used to search files in a plurality of locations including the location and wherein the search input field is displayed in the open file window or another window.

13. A method as in claim 11 further comprising:

receiving a selection of a first file of the displayed files and receiving a command to open the first file.

14. A method as in claim 11, the method further comprising:

displaying a button, which when selected, causes a content of a selected file to be displayed within an application window of an application which caused the open file window to be displayed.

15. A machine implemented method comprising:

displaying text within a text processing application;

receiving a selection of at least some of the text;

receiving a selection of a command to search a plurality of files using the selection;

displaying results of a search of the plurality of files.

16. A method as in claim 15 wherein the selection is through a pop-up menu which appears associated with the selection and wherein the text processing application is capable of creating a new text document which contains character codes which represent text characters.

17. A method as in claim 15 wherein the search is performed through metadata for a plurality of different files having different file types such that the type of data in metadata for one file type is different than the type of data in metadata for another file type and wherein the search is a substantially system wide search and wherein the selection of at least some of the text is received within the text processing application and the selection of the command is received by the text processing application and wherein the text processing application is at least one of a text editor or a word processor or a pdf document processor.

18. A machine implemented method comprising:

displaying a search input parameter interface which displays an expandable plurality of metadata search attributes;

receiving a selection of a metadata search attribute from the display of the expandable plurality of metadata attributes.

19. A method as in claim 18 wherein the selection is used to search through metadata for a plurality of different files having different file types such that metadata for one file type is different than metadata for another file type.

20. A machine implemented method comprising:

receiving a command to create at least one folder and a directory;

naming and saving the folder or the directory;

receiving a command, after naming and saving the folder or the directory, to perform a search of metadata of a plurality of files; and

storing the results of the search in the folder or the directory, wherein the type of data in metadata for one file type is different than the type of data in metadata for another file type.

21. A method as in claim 20 wherein the data comprises at least one of metadata for the files or content of the files.

22. A machine implemented method comprising:

performing a search with a search query on at least one of content or metadata of files in a system;

saving the search query as a folder;

displaying an icon representing the folder in a user configurable portion of an opened window; and

receiving a selection of the icon in the user configurable portion to cause the system to perform a search specified by the search query wherein the window, with the user configurable portion, is capable of displaying files and representations of subdirectories in a file management system user interface and wherein an application program can be launched by opening a displayed file and wherein at least one object, which represents a subdirectory, in the user configurable portion is capable of being opened by selecting an item and commanding the object to be opened while the item is selected.

23. A machine implemented method comprising:

performing a search with a search query on at least one of content or metadata of files in a system;

saving the search query as a folder;

displaying an icon representing the folder in a user configurable portion of an opened window; and

receiving a selection of the icon in the user configurable portion to cause the system to perform a search specified by the search query wherein the window, with the user configurable portion, is capable of displaying files and representations of subdirectories in a file management system user interface and wherein an application program can be launched by opening a displayed file and wherein the display of the user configurable portion is capable of being scrolled.

24. A machine implemented method comprising:

performing a search with a search query on an index database of content of files in a system;

saving the search query as a folder;

displaying an icon representing the folder in a user configurable portion of an opened window; and

receiving a selection of the icon in the user configurable portion to cause the system to perform a search specified by the search query.

25. A method as in claim 24 wherein the window, with the user configurable portion, is capable of displaying files and representations of subdirectories in a file management system user interface and wherein an application program can be launched by opening a displayed file and wherein at least one object, which represents a subdirectory, in the user configurable portion is capable of being opened by selecting an item and commanding the object to be opened while the item is selected.

26. A method as in claim 24 wherein the window, with the user configurable portion, is capable of displaying files and representations of subdirectories in a file management system user interface and wherein an application program can be launched by opening a displayed file and wherein the display of the user configurable portion is capable of being scrolled.

27. A machine implemented method comprising:

displaying an open file window;

displaying a search input field in the open file window to allow entry of a search query to find a file;

receiving a search query and performing a search;

displaying a result of the search within another window.

28. A method as in claim 27 further comprising:

displaying a location selector within the open file window and receiving a location and displaying files within the location, wherein the search query is used to search files within the location;

receiving a selection of a first file of the displayed files and receiving a command to open the first file; and

displaying a button, which when selected, causes a content of a selected file to be displayed within an application window of an application which caused the open file window to be displayed.

29. A machine-implemented method comprising:

receiving an input to perform a search on metadata of files in a system; and

receiving an input to specify that certain items, files, folders, directories or categories of items are not to be searched, wherein the metadata is for a plurality of files of different types and wherein the type of metadata for files of a first type is different than the type of metadata for files of a second type.

30. A method as in claim 29 wherein the user may specify that content and/or metadata of certain items, files, folders, directories or categories of items are not to be indexed or collected and stored in a searchable database.

31. A method as in claim 30 wherein the items, files, folders, directories or categories of items may be indexed but are not allowed to be searched.

32. A machine implemented method comprising:

receiving an input to perform a search for at least one of metadata or content by a user;

displaying the results of the search;

opening one of the files found in the search with an application that can process the file;

receiving a further search input from a search input interface within a window of the application wherein the further search input causes a search to be conducted on files that can be processed by the application.

33. A machine implemented method comprising:

running an application in a system; and

receiving a selection of information that is part of a file being processed by the application to launch a system wide search operation, through another software component, based on the information.

34. A method as in claim 33 wherein the search is launched from within the application.

35. A method as in claim 34 wherein the search is for data or metadata of files in the system.

36. A method as in claim 35 wherein the search is performed thorough metadata for a plurality of different files having different file types such that the type of data in metadata for one type of file is different than the type of data in metadata for another type of file.

37. A method as in claim 35 wherein the information comprises at least one of text currently highlighted in the application, the name of an author of a file being run in the application and the name of a file being run in the application.

38. A method as in claim 37 wherein the user is automatically presented with a list of items associated with the application or the file being processed by the application and given the choice to select the information that is used to launch the search operation.

39. A machine implemented method comprising:

running a text processing application in a computer system;

selecting some text currently being processed by the application; and

automatically using the selected text to launch a system wide search operation based on the selected text.

40. A method as in claim 39 wherein the search is launched from within the application.

41. A method as in claim 39 wherein the search is for data or metadata of files in the computer system.

42. A method as in claim 39 wherein the search is performed thorough metadata for a plurality of different files having different file types such that metadata for one type of file is different than metadata for another type of file.

43. A machine-implemented method comprising:

presenting an expandable list of metadata parameters in a search input interface;

performing a search on files in a system; and

allowing the user to specify or enter additional metadata parameters into the expandable list of metadata parameters.

44. A machine-implemented method comprising:

presenting an interface to allow a search of metadata of files in a computer system;

presenting a list of metadata parameters in a search input interface;

automatically expanding the list of metadata parameters as new types of files are entered into the system.

45. A machine-implemented method comprising:

storing metadata of files in a system in a first database;

indexing the content of the files and storing the indexed content in a second database;

storing additional properties and information about the files in the first database and the second database; and

allowing the display of the additional properties and information for files selected by a user wherein the type of metadata for a first type of file is different than the type of metadata for a second type of file.

46. A machine-implemented method comprising:

storing metadata of files in a computer system in a first database;

indexing the content of the files and storing the indexed content in a second database;

allowing a user to enter comments about a file and storing the comments in the first database and the second database; and

allowing the display of the comments entered by the user together with other information about the file wherein the type of metadata for a first type of file is different than the type of metadata for a second type of file.

49. A method as in claim 46 wherein one of the system configuration files is a system preferences file.

47. A machine-implemented method comprising:

displaying a folder of search results requested by a user;

automatically removing the display of the folder if no user activity is detected for a period of time while continuing to display other information.

48. A machine-implemented method comprising:

indexing the content of system configuration files in an index database;

storing the metadata of system configuration files in a metadata database; and

allowing a user to search for content and metadata of system configuration files.

50. A machine-implemented method comprising:

performing search queries by a user based on search criteria;

storing the search queries in different search folders;

running an application that is receiving new files;

automatically storing a representation of the new files in the search folders if the files meet the search criteria wherein the type of metadata for a first type of file is different than the type of metadata for a second type of file.

51. A machine-implemented method comprising:

displaying an open file window;

displaying a search input field to allow entry of a search query to find a file;

receiving a search query and performing a search; and

displaying within the open file window a result of the search as a list that provides a first view of items stored in the list that is different from a hierarchical view based on file directory locations of the items on the system.

52. A method as in claim 51 wherein the first view is a flat list which does not reveal hierarchy within the hierarchical view.

53. A machine implemented method comprising:

indexing contents of files in one or more volumes of a system and storing results in a first database;

collecting metadata of files in one or more volumes of the computer system and storing results in a second database;

allowing a user to search for content and metadata of files in the computer system by searching through the first database and the second database; and

dynamically updating the contents of the first database and the second database as changes are made to existing files in the computer system or as new files are created or existing files are deleted.

54. A method as in claim 53 wherein the one or more volumes could be, among others, magnetic hard drives, CD ROMs or remote disks.

55. A method as in claim 53 wherein, where a volume has not previously been indexed, the user can cause the volume to be indexed and no searching is allowed while the volume is being indexed.

56. A method as in claim 53 wherein searching is allowed for those items that have already been indexed while the volume is in the process of being indexed.

57. A machine-implemented method comprising:

receiving an input to perform a search on metadata of files in a system; and

determining whether certain items, files, folders, directories or categories of items are not to be searched, wherein the metadata is for a plurality of files of different types and wherein the type of metadata for files of a first type is different than the type of metadata for files of a second type.

58. A method as in claim 57 wherein the user may specify that content and/or metadata of certain items, files, folders, directories or categories of items are not to be indexed or collected and stored in a searchable database.

59. A method as in claim 58 wherein the items, files, folders, directories or categories of items may be indexed but are not allowed to be searched.

60. A machine-implemented method comprising:

receiving an input to specify that certain items, files, folders, directories or categories of items are not to be searched, wherein the metadata is for a plurality of files of different types and wherein the type of metadata for files of a first type is different than the type of metadata for files of a second type.

61. A method as in claim 60 wherein the user may specify that content and/or metadata of certain items, files, folders, directories or categories of items are not to be indexed or collected and stored in a searchable database.

62. A method as in claim 61 wherein the items, files, folders, directories or categories of items may be indexed but are not allowed to be searched.

63. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

receiving an input for a search operation;

performing the search operation;

displaying a list of results from the search operation, the list presenting N items, wherein N is less than M items found from the search operation and wherein the list is grouped by categories and the number of items within each category is limited to less than N.

64. A medium as in claim 63 wherein the list is not scrollable and wherein the list is sorted by relevance and recency and wherein the list includes a command to show all M items.

65. A medium as in claim 63 wherein the number of items within each category is limited to less than N÷

X where X is greater than 2 and wherein the list may be incapable of showing all M items.

66. A medium as in claim 63 wherein the top hit is shown and wherein the top hit is determined according to a ranking criteria, which comprises at least one of relevance and recency.

67. A medium as in claim 63 wherein the items in each category are sorted by criteria, comprising at least one of date, location or kind, and wherein the items in each category are ranked by criteria, comprising at least one of relevance and recency, and displayed accordingly.

68. A medium as in claim 63 wherein the categories are created based on criteria, comprising at least one of the type or kind of item, the date of creation or modification, the location of the item and membership in other existing groupings, and wherein the categories are ranked according to some criteria and displayed accordingly.

69. A medium as in claim 63 wherein the list is collapsible so that the items in each category are not shown and the list is expandable so that all or some of the items in each category are shown.

70. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

receiving an input for a search operation;

performing the search operation;

displaying a non-scrollable list of results from the search operation, the list presenting N items, wherein N is less than the M items found from the search operation;

displaying a command to cause the display of a window which is capable of displaying all M items.

71. A medium as in claim 70 wherein the list is incapable of showing all M items.

72. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed cause a system to perform a method comprising:

displaying an open file window;

displaying a search input field to allow entry of a search query to find a file;

receiving a search query and performing a search;

displaying a result of the search within the open file window.

73. A medium as in claim 72, the method further comprising:

displaying a location selector within the open file window and receiving a location and displaying files within the location, wherein the search query is used to search files within the location.

74. A medium as in claim 73 wherein the search query is used to search files in a plurality of locations including the location and wherein the search input field is displayed in the open file window or another window.

75. A medium as in claim 73, the method further comprising:

receiving a selection of a first file of the displayed files and receiving a command to open the first file.

76. A medium as in claim 73, the method further comprising:

displaying a button, which when selected, causes a content of a selected file to be displayed within an application window of an application which caused the open file window to be displayed.

77. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed cause a system to perform a method comprising:

displaying text within a text processing application;

receiving a selection of at least some of the text;

receiving a selection of a command to search a plurality of files using the selection;

displaying results of a search of the plurality of files.

78. A medium as in claim 77 wherein the selection is through a pop-up menu which appears associated with the selection and wherein the text processing application is capable of creating a new text document which contains character codes which represent text characters.

79. A medium as in claim 77 wherein the search is performed through metadata for a plurality of different files having different file types such that the type of data in metadata for one file type is different than the type of data in metadata for another file type and wherein the search is a substantially system wide search and wherein the selection of at least some of the text is received within the text processing application and the selection of the command is received by the text processing application and wherein the text processing application is at least one of a text editor or a word processor or a pdf document processor.

80. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

displaying a search input parameter interface which displays an expandable plurality of metadata search attributes;

receiving a selection of a metadata search attribute from the display of the expandable plurality of metadata attributes.

81. A medium as in claim 80 wherein the selection is used to search through metadata for a plurality of different files having different file types such that metadata for one file type is different than metadata for another file type.

82. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

receiving a command to create at least one folder and a directory;

naming and saving the folder or the directory;

receiving a command, after naming and saving the folder or the directory, to perform a search of metadata of a plurality of files; and

storing the results of the search in the folder or the directory, wherein the type of data in metadata for one file type is different than the type of data in metadata for another file type.

83. A medium as in claim 82 wherein the data comprises at least one of metadata for the files or content of the files.

84. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

performing a search with a search query on at least one of content or metadata of files in a system;

saving the search query as a folder;

displaying an icon representing the folder in a user configurable portion of an opened window; and

receiving a selection of the icon in the user configurable portion to cause the system to perform a search specified by the search query wherein the window, with the user configurable portion, is capable of displaying files and representations of subdirectories in a file management system user interface and wherein an application program can be launched by opening a displayed file and wherein at least on e object, which represents a subdirectory, in the user configurable portion is capable of being opened by selecting an item and commanding the object to be opened while the item is selected.

85. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

performing a search with a search query on at least one of content or metadata of files in a system;

saving the search query as a folder;

displaying an icon representing the folder in a user configurable portion of an opened window; and

receiving a selection of the icon in the user configurable portion to cause the system to perform a search specified by the search query wherein the window, with the user configurable portion, is capable of displaying files and representations of subdirectories in a file management system user interface and wherein an application program can be launched by opening a displayed file and wherein the display of the user configurable portion is capable of being scrolled.

86. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

performing a search with a search query on an index database of content of files in a system;

saving the search query as a folder;

displaying an icon representing the folder in a user configurable portion of an opened window; and

receiving a selection of the icon in the user configurable portion to cause the system to perform a search specified by the search query.

87. A medium as in claim 86 wherein the window, with the user configurable portion, is capable of displaying files and representations of subdirectories in a file management system user interface and wherein an application program can be launched by opening a displayed file and wherein at least one object, which represents a subdirectory, in the user configurable portion is capable of being opened by selecting an item and commanding the object to be opened while the item is selected.

88. A medium as in claim 86 wherein the window, with the user configurable portion, is capable of displaying files and representations of subdirectories in a file management system user interface and wherein an application program can be launched by opening a displayed file and wherein the display of the user configurable portion is capable of being scrolled.

89. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

displaying an open file window;

displaying a search input field in the open file window to allow entry of a search query to find a file;

receiving a search query and performing a search;

displaying a result of the search within another window.

90. A medium as in claim 89, the method further comprising:

displaying a location selector within the open file window and receiving a location and displaying files within the location, wherein the search query is used to search files within the location;

receiving a selection of a first file of the displayed files and receiving a command to open the first file; and

displaying a button, which when selected, causes a content of a selected file to be displayed within an application window of an application which caused the open file window to be displayed.

91. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

receiving an input to perform a search on metadata of files in a system; and

receiving an input to specify that certain items, files, folders, directories or categories of items are not to be searched, wherein the metadata is for a plurality of files of different types and wherein the type of metadata for files of a first type is different than the type of metadata for files of a second type.

92. A medium as in claim 91 wherein the user may specify that content and/or metadata of certain items, files, folders, directories or categories of items are not to be indexed or collected and stored in a searchable database.

93. A medium as in claim 92 wherein the items, files, folders, directories or categories of items may be indexed but are not allowed to be searched.

94. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

receiving an input to perform a search for at least one of metadata or content by a user;

displaying the results of the search;

opening one of the files found in the search with an application that can process the file;

receiving a further search input from a search input interface within a window of the application wherein the further search input causes a search to be conducted on files that can be processed by the application.

95. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

running an application in a system; and

receiving a selection of information that is part of a file being processed by the application to launch a system wide search operation, through another software component, based on the information.

96. A medium as in claim 95 wherein the search is launched from within the application.

97. A medium as in claim 96 wherein the search is for data or metadata of files in the system.

98. A medium as in claim 97 wherein the search is performed thorough metadata for a plurality of different files having different file types such that the type of data in metadata for one type of file is different than the type of data in metadata for another type of file.

99. A medium as in claim 97 wherein the information comprises at least one of text currently highlighted in the application, the name of an author of a file being run in the application and the name of a file being run in the application.

100. A medium as in claim 99 wherein the user is automatically presented with a list of items associated with the application or the file being processed by the application and given the choice to select the information that is used to launch the search operation.

101. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

running a text processing application in a computer system;

selecting some text currently being processed by the application; and

automatically using the selected text to launch a system wide search operation based on the selected text.

102. A medium as in claim 101 wherein the search is launched from within the application.

103. A medium as in claim 101 wherein the search is for data or metadata of files in the computer system.

104. A medium as in claim 101 wherein the search is performed thorough metadata for a plurality of different files having different file types such that metadata for one type of file is different than metadata for another type of file.

105. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

presenting an expandable list of metadata parameters in a search input interface;

performing a search on files in a system; and

allowing the user to specify or enter additional metadata parameters into the expandable list of metadata parameters.

106. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

presenting an interface to allow a search of metadata of files in a computer system;

presenting a list of metadata parameters in a search input interface;

automatically expanding the list of metadata parameters as new types of files are entered into the system.

107. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

storing metadata of files in a system in a first database;

indexing the content of the files and storing the indexed content in a second database;

storing additional properties and information about the files in the first database and the second database; and

allowing the display of the additional properties and information for files selected by a user wherein the type of metadata for a first type of file is different than the type of metadata for a second type of file.

108. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

storing metadata of files in a computer system in a first database;

indexing the content of the files and storing the indexed content in a second database;

allowing a user to enter comments about a file and storing the comments in the first database and the second database; and

allowing the display of the comments entered by the user together with other information about the file wherein the type of metadata for a first type of file is different than the type of metadata for a second type of file.

109. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

displaying a folder of search results requested by a user;

automatically removing the display of the folder if no user activity is detected for a period of time while continuing to display other information.

110. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

indexing the content of system configuration files in an index database;

storing the metadata of system configuration files in a metadata database; and

allowing a user to search for content and metadata of system configuration files.

111. A medium as in claim 110 wherein one of the system configuration files is a system preferences file.

112. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

performing search queries by a user based on search criteria;

storing the search queries in different search folders;

running an application that is receiving new files;

automatically storing a representation of the new files in the search folders if the files meet the search criteria wherein the type of metadata for a first type of file is different than the type of metadata for a second type of file.

113. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

displaying an open file window;

displaying a search input field to allow entry of a search query to find a file;

receiving a search query and performing a search; and

displaying within the open file window a result of the search as a list that provides a first view of items stored in the list that is different from a hierarchical view based on file directory locations of the items on the system.

114. A medium as in claim 113 wherein the first view is a flat list which does not reveal hierarchy within the hierarchical view.

115. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

indexing contents of files in one or more volumes of a system and storing results in a first database;

collecting metadata of files in one or more volumes of the computer system and storing results in a second database;

allowing a user to search for content and metadata of files in the computer system by searching through the first database and the second database; and

dynamically updating the contents of the first database and the second database as changes are made to existing files in the computer system or as new files are created or existing files are deleted.

116. A medium as in claim 115 wherein, where a volume has not previously been indexed, the user can cause the volume to be indexed and no searching is allowed while the volume is being indexed.

117. A medium as in claim 115 wherein searching is allowed for those items that have already been indexed while the volume is in the process of being indexed.

118. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

receiving an input to perform a search on metadata of files in a system; and

determining whether certain items, files, folders, directories or categories of items are not to be searched, wherein the metadata is for a plurality of files of different types and wherein the type of metadata for files of a first type is different than the type of metadata for files of a second type.

119. A medium as in claim 118 wherein the user may specify that content and/or metadata of certain items, files, folders, directories or categories of items are not to be indexed or collected and stored in a searchable database.

120. A medium as in claim 119 wherein the items, files, folders, directories or categories of items may be indexed but are not allowed to be searched.

121. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising:

receiving an input to specify that certain items, files, folders, directories or categories of items are not to be searched, wherein the metadata is for a plurality of files of different types and wherein the type of metadata for files of a first type is different than the type of metadata for files of a second type.