Managing user clips

• US 6,741,996 B1
• Filed: 04/18/2001
• Issued: 05/25/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/18/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Wiljanen, Joel E., Brechner, Eric L.
• Primary Examiner(s): AMSBURY, WAYNE P
• Application Number:
  US09/837,851
• Time in Patent Office: 1,133 Days
• Field of Search: 707/102
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/13 File access structures, e.g. distributed indices arrangements of input from, or output to, record carriers G06F3/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/48 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

Media clips on a hard drive or other storage are automatically organized in collections and metadata automatically assigned to facilitate subsequent searching for media clips. A Clip Organizer software application initially scans a user'"'"'s hard drive to identify folders containing user files of sound, picture, clip art, video and other media clips. Predefined types of folders are omitted in the scan to avoid identifying media clips that do not belong to the user or are part of another application program. A partially “flattened” collection hierarchy is created to simplify browsing the media clips. Sufficient empty files are included to enable a user to readily locate the collections, and metadata comprising keywords derived from the path of each media clip are associated with each of the media clips to facilitate subsequent searching for the files. In addition, the collection hierarchy is automatically updated as changes are made.

Claims

1. A method for hierarchically organizing files of a selected type that are stored in a storage accessed by a computing device, said storage including a plurality of other different types of files, to enable a user to efficiently access desired files from among the files of the selected type in the storage, comprising the steps of:

(a) scanning the storage with the computing device to identify any content folders in which files of the selected type are included;

(b) creating a separate collection hierarchy on the storage, based upon the content folders that were identified, each content folder being represented as a collection in the collection hierarchy, and each collection in the collection hierarchy being associated with a folder path that indicates where the collection is located in the storage;

(c) including selected empty folders in the collection hierarchy that do not include any files of the selected type, but which may include any of the other different types of files, said empty folders being selected by applying a sibling rule and being included in the collection hierarchy to delineate branches in the collection hierarchy that are essential to distinguish between branches in the folder paths associated with the collections, in order to locate the collections; and

(d) importing files of the selected type that are included in each collection into the collection hierarchy for efficient access by a user, said collection hierarchy differing from a general directory structure that includes folders for all types of files in the storage, by being flattened to include only the selected empty folders and the folders identified by scanning as including files of the selected type.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said sibling rule provides for selecting an empty folder for inclusion in the collection hierarchy if and only if the empty folder:

(a) has any subfolder that is a content folder; and

(b) has a sibling folder that is either;

(i) a content folder;

or

(ii) has any subfolder that is a content folder.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of scanning includes the step of omitting one or more predefined types of folders included in the storage while scanning, said predefined types of folders including at least one of:

(a) a temporary folder in which substantially all of the files included therein are only temporarily stored;

(b) an application program folder in which application program files are stored;

(c) a filtered folder to which filters are applied in determining the files included therein;

(d) a folder that is designated as hidden; and

(e) a folder that is a subfolder under a profile for a non-current user.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of automatically importing a new collection into the collection hierarchy, said new collection corresponding to a new content folder that was created since the storage was previously scanned, in response to a user accessing the collection hierarchy.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of automatically importing is implemented when a user selects a collection in the collection hierarchy.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of enabling a user to selectively determine whether to automatically detect and import into the collection hierarchy at least one of:

(a) any new content folder that includes any files of the selected type by providing a new collection corresponding to said new content folder; and

(b) any new file of the selected type.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of detecting only new content folders that are no more than a predefined level below an existing content folder if the user has selectively determined that any new content folder is to be automatically detected and imported.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step automatically associating metadata with each file in the collection hierarchy.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein for each file in the collection hierarchy, the metadata comprise keywords derived from at least one of:

(a) the folder path associated with the file;

(b) a file extension of the file;

(c) a caption based upon a filename of the file; and

(d) a file type associated with the file.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of enabling a user to search for desired files of the selected type that may be included in the collection hierarchy by searching the collection hierarchy to find any files associated with one or more keywords.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising the steps of:

(a) automatically detecting any changes in the folder path at which a folder included within the collection hierarchy is stored in the storage; and

(b) automatically modifying the metadata associated with each file of the specific type stored within the folder of the preceding step, as a function of the changes in the folder path.

12. A method for automatically indexing a collection of files of a selected type to enable searching for desired files within the collection based upon index data produced by indexing the collection, comprising the steps of:

(a) associating a folder path for each file included in the collection, with the file;

(b) parsing the folder path for each file to extract metadata for the file, each folder name in the folder path of the file comprising a separate index in the metadata for the file that is independently searchable and maintained in a collection hierarchy separately from a directory structure for files; and

(c) associating the metadata that were thus extracted, with files in the collection, so that for each such file, the metadata extracted by parsing the folder path for the file comprise index data employable to subsequently automatically locate the file by searching for an index included in the metadata for the file.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of enabling a user to search for a desired file of the selected type that may be included within the collection, as a function of a searchable index in the metadata for the file.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of enabling a user to enter index data related to a desired file of the selected type that may be included within the collection, in order to search for the desired file among the files in the collection based upon the index data entered by the user.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein for each file in the collection, the metadata comprise keywords derived from at least one of:

(a) the folder path associated with the file;

(b) a file extension of the file;

(c) a caption based upon a filename of the file; and

(d) a file type associated with the file.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising the steps of automatically extracting metadata for each new file of the specific type that is added, by parsing a folder path specifying a location of the new file;

and automatically associating the metadata thus extracted with the new file to provide index data for locating the new file.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of enabling a user to selectively determine whether to automatically extract the metadata for each new file added to a collection.

18. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of automatically creating a plurality of collections by scanning a storage with a computing device that is coupled with the storage, to identify content folders in the storage that include files of the specific type, each said content folder corresponding to one of the plurality of collections and having a folder path associated with it.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of organizing the plurality of collections into a collection hierarchy to enable more efficient browsing of the plurality of collections and to locate a desired file of the specific type within the plurality of collections.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising the step of including empty folders in the collection hierarchy, an empty folder only being included if it meets a sibling rule, which ensures that a path to a collection is clearly indicated in the collection hierarchy.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein said sibling rule provides for selecting an empty folder for inclusion in the collection hierarchy if and only if the empty folder:

(a) has any subfolder that is a content folder; and

(b) has a sibling folder that is either;

(i) a content folder;

or

(ii) has any subfolder that is a content folder.

22. The method of claim 12, further comprising the steps of:

(a) automatically detecting changes in the folder path where a collection is stored; and

(b) automatically modifying the metadata associated with each file of the specific type in the collection of the preceding step, based upon the changes in the folder path.

23. The method of claim 12, wherein the files of the specific type are media files.

24. A machine-readable memory medium having machine instructions that are executable by a computing device to carry out a plurality of functions, including:

(a) scanning a storage with the computing device to identify any content folders in which files of a selected type are included, said storage including a plurality of other different types of files;

(b) creating a separate collection hierarchy on the storage, based upon the content folders that were identified, each content folder being represented as a collection in the collection hierarchy, and each collection in the collection hierarchy being associated with a folder path that indicates where the collection is located in the storage;

(c) including selected empty folders in the collection hierarchy that do not include any files of the selected type, but which may include any of the other different types of files, said empty folders being selected by applying a sibling rule and being included in the collection hierarchy to delineate branches in the collection hierarchy that are essential to distinguish between branches in the folder paths associated with the collections; and

(d) importing files of the selected type that are included in each collection into the collection hierarchy for efficient access by a user, said collection hierarchy differing from a general directory structure that includes folders for all types of files in the storage, by being flattened to include only the selected empty folders and the folders identified by scanning as including files of the selected type.

25. The machine-readable memory medium of claim 24, wherein said sibling rule provides for selecting an empty folder for inclusion in the collection hierarchy if and only if the empty folder:

(a) has any subfolder that is a content folder; and

(b) has a sibling folder that is either;

(i) a content folder;

or

(ii) has any subfolder that is a content folder.

26. The machine-readable memory medium of claim 24, wherein when scanning the storage, one or more predefined types of folders included in the storage are not scanned, said predefined types of folders including at least one of:

(a) a temporary folder in which substantially all of the files included therein are only temporarily stored;

(b) an application program folder in which application program files are stored;

(c) a filtered folder to which filters are applied in determining the files included therein;

(d) a folder that is designated as hidden; and

(e) a folder that is a subfolder under a non-current-user profile folder.

27. The machine-readable memory medium of claim 24, wherein the functions further include automatically importing a new collection into the collection hierarchy in response to a user accessing the collection hierarchy, said new collection corresponding to a new content folder that was created since the storage was previously scanned.

28. The machine-readable memory medium of claim 24, wherein the functions further include automatically associating metadata with each file in the collection hierarchy.

29. The machine-readable memory medium of claim 28, wherein for each file in the collection hierarchy, the metadata comprise keywords derived from at least one of:

(a) the folder path associated with the file;

(b) a file extension of the file;

(c) a caption based upon a filename of the file; and

(d) a file type associated with the file.

30. The machine-readable memory medium of claim 28, wherein the functions further include enabling a user to search for desired files of the selected type that may be included in the collection hierarchy, by searching the collection hierarchy to find any files associated with one or more keywords.

31. The machine-readable memory medium of claim 24, wherein the functions further include:

(a) automatically detecting any changes in the folder path at which a folder included within the collection hierarchy is stored in the storage; and

(b) automatically modifying the metadata associated with each file of the specific type stored within the folder of the preceding step, as a function of the changes in the folder path.

32. A machine-readable memory medium having machine instructions that are executable by a computing device to carry out a plurality of functions, including:

(a) associating a folder path for each file of a specific type included in a collection of files of the specific type;

(b) parsing the folder path for each file of the specific type to extract metadata for the file, each folder name in the folder path of the file comprising a separate index in the metadata for the file that is independently searchable and maintained in a collection hierarchy separately from a directory structure for files; and

(c) associating the metadata from the step of parsing with files of the specific type in the collection, so that for each such file, the metadata produced by parsing the folder path for the file is associated with the file and comprise index data used for automatically locating the file by searching for an index included in the metadata for the file in the index data.

33. The machine-readable memory medium of claim 32, wherein the plurality of functions further include enabling a user to search for a desired file of the selected type that may be included within the collection.

34. The machine-readable memory medium of claim 33, wherein the plurality of functions further include enabling a user to enter index data expected to be associated with the desired file of the selected type that may be included within the collection, to search for the desired file among the files in the collection, as a function of a searchable index in the metadata for the file.

35. The machine-readable memory medium of claim 32, wherein parsing is implemented by deriving keywords from the metadata, each keywords being derived from at least one of:

(a) the folder path associated with the file;

(b) a file extension of the file;

(c) a caption based upon a filename of the file; and

(d) a file type associated with the file.

36. The machine-readable memory medium of claim 32, wherein the plurality of functions further include automatically extracting metadata for each new file of the specific type that is added, by parsing a folder path specifying a location of the new file;

and, automatically associating the metadata thus extracted with the new file to provide index data for locating the new file.

37. The machine-readable memory medium of claim 32, wherein the plurality of functions further include automatically creating a plurality of collections by scanning a storage with a computing device that is coupled with the storage, to identify content folders in the storage that include files of the specific type, each said content folder corresponding to one of the plurality of collections and having a folder path associated with it.

38. The machine-readable memory medium of claim 37, wherein the plurality of functions further include organizing the plurality of collections into a collection hierarchy to enable more efficient browsing of the plurality of collections and to locate a desired file of the specific type.

39. The machine-readable memory medium of claim 38, wherein the plurality of functions further include incorporating empty folders in the collection hierarchy, an empty folder only being included if it meets a sibling rule, which ensures that a path to a collection is clearly indicated in the collection hierarchy.

40. The machine-readable memory medium of claim 39, wherein said sibling rule provides for selecting an empty folder for inclusion in the collection hierarchy if and only if the empty folder:

(a) has any subfolder that is a content folder; and

(b) has a sibling folder that is either;

(i) a content folder;

or

(ii) has any subfolder that is a content folder.

41. The machine-readable memory medium of claim 32, wherein the plurality of functions further include:

(a) automatically detecting changes in the folder path where a collection is stored; and

(b) automatically modifying the metadata associated with each file of the specific type in the collection of the preceding step, based upon the changes in the folder path.

42. A system for hierarchically organizing files of a selected type that are stored in a storage accessed by a computing device, said storage including a plurality of other different types of files, to enable a user to efficiently access desired files from among the files of the selected type in the storage, comprising:

(a) a computing device having logical processing capabilities;

(b) a storage coupled to the computing device, said storage providing non-volatile storage of files and data; and

(c) a memory that is coupled to the computing device, said memory storing machine instructions, which when executed by the computing device, cause the following functions to be implemented;

(i) scanning the storage with the computing device to identify any content folders in which files of a selected type are included;

(ii) creating a separate collection hierarchy on the storage, based upon the content folders that were identified, each content folder being represented as a collection in the collection hierarchy, and each collection in the collection hierarchy being associated with a folder path that indicates where the collection is located in the storage;

(iii) including selected empty folders in the collection hierarchy that do not include any files of the selected type, but which may include any of the other different types of files, said empty folders being selected by applying a sibling rule and being included in the collection hierarchy to delineate branches in the collection hierarchy that distinguish between branches in the folder paths associated with the collections; and

(iv) importing files of the selected type that are included in each collection into the collection hierarchy for efficient access by a user, said collection hierarchy differing from a general directory structure that includes folders for all types of files in the storage, by being flattened to include only the selected empty folders and the folders identified by scanning as including files of the selected type.

43. The system of claim 42, wherein said sibling rule provides for selecting an empty folder for inclusion in the collection hierarchy if and only if the empty folder:

(a) has any subfolder that is a content folder; and

(b) has a sibling folder that is either;

(i) a content folder;

or

(ii) has any subfolder that is a content folder.

44. The system of claim 42, wherein the machine instructions further cause the computing device to automatically import a new collection into the collection hierarchy, said new collection corresponding to a new content folder that was created since the storage was previously scanned, in response to a user accessing the collection hierarchy.

45. The system of claim 42, wherein the machine instructions further cause the computing device to automatically associate metadata with each file in the collection hierarchy.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein for each file in the collection hierarchy, the metadata comprise keywords derived from at least one of:

(a) the folder path associated with the file;

(b) a file extension of the file;

(c) a caption based upon a filename of the file; and

(d) a file type associated with the file.

47. The system of claim 45, wherein the machine instructions further cause the computing device to enable a user to search for desired files of the selected type that may be included in the collection hierarchy by searching the collection hierarchy to find any files associated with specified metadata.

48. The system of claim 45, wherein the machine instructions further cause the computing device to:

(a) automatically detect any changes in the folder path at which a folder included within the collection hierarchy is stored in the storage; and

(b) automatically modify the metadata associated with each file of the specific type stored within the folder of the preceding step, as a function of the changes in the folder path.

49. A system for hierarchically organizing files of a selected type that are stored in a storage accessed by a computing device, to enable a user to efficiently access desired files from among the files of the selected type in the storage, comprising:

(a) a computing device having logical processing capabilities;

(b) a storage coupled to the computing device, said storage providing non-volatile storage of files and data; and

(c) a memory that is coupled to the computing device, said memory storing machine instructions, which when executed by the computing device, cause the following functions to be implemented;

(i) associate a folder path for each file included in the collection;

(ii) parse the folder path for each file to extract metadata for the file, each folder name in the folder path of the file comprising a separate index in the metadata for the file that is independently searchable and maintained in a collection hierarchy separately from a directory structure for files; and

(iii) associate the metadata that were extracted, with files in the collection, so that for each such file, the metadata extracted by parsing the folder path for the file are used to provide index data employed to subsequently automatically locate the file by searching for an index included in the metadata for the file.

50. The system of claim 49, wherein the machine instructions further cause the computing device to enable a user to search for a desired file of the selected type that may be included within the collection, as a function of a searchable index in the metadata for the file.

51. The system of claim 50, wherein the machine instructions further cause the computing device to enable a user to specify index data related to a desired file of the selected type that may be included within the collection, to search for the desired file among the files in the collection based upon the index data specified by the user.

52. The system of claim 49, wherein when parsing, the computing device derives keywords from the metadata, each keyword being derived from at least one of:

(a) the folder path associated with the file;

(b) a file extension of the file;

(c) a caption based upon a filename of the file; and

(d) a file type associated with the file.

53. The system of claim 49, wherein the machine instructions further cause the computing device to automatically extract metadata for each new file of the specific type that is added, by parsing a folder path specifying a location of the new file;

and automatically associate the metadata thus extracted with the new file to provide index data for locating the new file.

54. The system of claim 49, wherein the machine instructions further cause the computing device to automatically create a plurality of collections by scanning a storage with a computing device that is coupled with the storage, to identify content folders in the storage that include files of the specific type, each said content folder corresponding to one of the plurality of collections and having a folder path associated with it.

55. The system of claim 54, wherein the machine instructions further cause the computing device to organize the plurality of collections into a collection hierarchy to enable more efficient browsing of the plurality of collections and to locate a desired file of the specific type.

56. The system of claim 55, wherein the machine instructions further cause the computing device to include empty folders in the collection hierarchy, an empty folder only being included if it meets a sibling rule, which ensures that a path to a collection is clearly indicated in the collection hierarchy.

57. The system of claim 56, wherein said sibling rule provides for selecting an empty folder for inclusion in the collection hierarchy if and only if the empty folder:

(a) has any subfolder that is a content folder; and

(b) has a sibling folder that is either;

(i) a content folder;

or

(ii) has any subfolder that is a content folder.

58. The system of claim 55, wherein the machine instructions further cause the computing device to:

(a) automatically detect changes in the folder path where a collection is stored; and

(b) automatically modify the metadata associated with each file of the specific type in the collection of the preceding step, based upon the changes in the folder path.