Method of controlling view of large expansion tree
First Claim
1. A method of viewing a directory tree containing logical file system objects residing on a computer system, comprising the steps of:
- displaying a directory tree on a display device of the computer system utilizing a graphical user interface;
enabling limitation of expansion of nodes;
expanding a first node of the tree to reveal one or more branches of the first node;
expanding a second node of the tree to reveal one or more branches of the second node;
wherein the second node is located on a path in the directory tree and the first node is determined to not be on the path of the second node; and
automatically collapsing the first node of the tree to conceal the one or more branches of the first node in response to said expanding of the second node, whereby only a single one of said first and said second node is displayed at a given time.
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Abstract
A method of viewing a directory tree containing logical file system objects residing on a computer system, by displaying a directory tree on a display device of the computer system utilizing a graphical user interface (GUI), expanding a first node of the tree to reveal one or more branches of the first node, and then later expanding a second node of the tree to reveal one or more branches of the second node, wherein the invention automatically collapses the first node of the tree to conceal the one or more branches of the first node in response to the expanding of the second node. This automatic collapsing of other nodes that are not in the path of the selected node thus limits overall expansion of the tree. The setting may be toggled between enabled and disabled states. A pull-down menu can be provided by the GUI which contains the “limit expansion” command.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of viewing a directory tree containing logical file system objects residing on a computer system, comprising the steps of:
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displaying a directory tree on a display device of the computer system utilizing a graphical user interface;
enabling limitation of expansion of nodes;
expanding a first node of the tree to reveal one or more branches of the first node;
expanding a second node of the tree to reveal one or more branches of the second node;
wherein the second node is located on a path in the directory tree and the first node is determined to not be on the path of the second node; and
automatically collapsing the first node of the tree to conceal the one or more branches of the first node in response to said expanding of the second node, whereby only a single one of said first and said second node is displayed at a given time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
collapsing the second node of the tree to conceal the one or more branches of the second node; and
automatically expanding the first node of the tree to again reveal the one or more branches of the first node in response to said collapsing of the second node.
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5. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of displaying a pull-down menu containing a limit expansion command on the display device of the computer system.
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6. The method of claim 5 further comprising the step of selecting the limit expansion command from the pull-down menu using a graphical pointing device.
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7. A computer system comprising:
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a display device;
a storage device;
means, connected to said display device and said storage device, for processing program instructions; and
program instructions, stored on said storage device, for (i) displaying a directory tree on said display device wherein the tree contains logical file system objects residing on the computer system, (ii) enabling and disabling of limitation of expansion of nodes of the tree, and (iii) automatically collapsing a first node of the tree to conceal one or more revealed branches of the first node in response to selection of a second node of the tree for expansion, wherein the second node is located on a path in the directory tree and a determination is made that the first node in not on the path of the second node, whereby only a single one of said first and said second node is displayed at a given time. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A computer program product comprising:
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a storage medium adapted to be read by a computer; and
program means stored on said storage medium for (i) displaying a directory tree on a display device of the computer system wherein the tree contains logical file system objects residing on the computer system, (ii) enabling and disabling of limitation of expansion of nodes of the tree, and (iii) automatically collapsing a first node of the tree to conceal one or more revealed branches of the first node in response to selection of a second node of the tree for expansion, wherein the second node is located on a path the directory tree and a determination is made that the first node in not on the path of the second node, whereby only a single one of said first and said second node is displayed at a given time. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification