User interface for a file system shell

• US 7,769,794 B2
• Filed: 04/22/2005
• Issued: 08/03/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Betz, Benjamin A., Watson, Marieke Iwema, Andrews, Donna B., Joyce, Gerald Paul, Low, Aidan, Wong, Lyon King-Fook, Wade, Alex D., Kabir, Ahsan S., Guzak, Chris J., Anthony, Colin R., Cutsinger, Paul L., McKee, Timothy P., Sierra, Giampiero M., Belt, Jeffrey C., Tubbs, Kenneth M., Ivanovic, Relja B., Miner, Patrice L., Beam, Tyler K., De Vorchik, David G., Banks, Richard M., Gusmorino, Paul A., Chalivendra, Sasanka C., Moore, Jason F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Breene; John E
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bullock; Joshua
• Application Number:
  US11/111,978
• Publication Number:
  US 20060036568A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,929 Days
• Field of Search: 707 1-206, 707/831, 709200-253
• US Class Current: 707/831
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/168 Details of user interfaces specifically adapted to file systems, e.g. browsing and visualisation, 2d or 3d GUIs query results presentation G06F16/156

Abstract

A file system shell is provided. One aspect of the shell provides virtual folders which expose regular files and folders to users in different views based on their metadata instead of the actual physical underlying file system structure on the disk. Users are able to work with the virtual folders through direct manipulation (e.g., clicking and dragging, copying, pasting, etc.). Filters are provided for narrowing down sets of items. Quick links are provided which can be clicked on to generate useful views of the sets of items. Libraries are provided which consist of large groups of usable types of items that can be associated together, along with functions and tools related to the items. A virtual address bar is provided which comprises a plurality of segments, each segment corresponding to a filter for selecting content. A shell browser is provided with which users can readily identify an item based on the metadata associated with that item. An object previewer in a shell browser is provided which is configured to display a plurality of items representing multiple item types.

Claims

1. A file system shell browser defined by computer-executable instructions stored on one or more computer-readable storage media, said file system shell browser navigable by a user to manage a plurality of data items, said file system shell browser comprising:

a page space control navigable by the user to identify a first set of data items having at least one common metadata;

a virtual address bar identifying a virtual path to the first set of data items by referencing the first set of data items according to the at least one common metadata,

wherein the virtual path is comprised of a first interactive segment that references one or more of the plurality of data items according to a corresponding filter that applies a user-selected metadata value and selects one or more of the plurality of data items or other content, and

wherein the virtual path is further comprised of one or more additional interactive segments that further restrict the one or more of the plurality of data items referenced by the preceding interactive segments;

a primary view pane presenting a first display of the first set of data items; and

a preview pane presenting information corresponding to one of the first set of data items.

2. The file system shell browser of claim 1, wherein said page space control comprises a hierarchical tree of metadata values.

3. The file system shell browser of claim 1, wherein the virtual address bar comprises a plurality of hierarchical elements, each element, when selected by a user, presenting a list of hierarchically equivalent metadata values selectable by a user.

4. The file system shell browser of claim 3, wherein when the user selects one of the hierarchically equivalent metadata values, the primary view pane presents a second display of a second set of data items corresponding to the one of the hierarchically equivalent metadata values.

5. The file system shell browser of claim 1, wherein the primary view pane presents one data item of the first set of data items in iconic form indicating a number of further data items corresponding to the one data item.

6. The file system shell browser of claim 5, wherein the iconic form comprises a stack whose height is based on the number of further data items corresponding to the one data item.

7. The file system shell browser of claim 2, wherein a node of the hierarchical tree represents a virtual folder, said virtual folder defined by a scope of storage locations and one or more criteria of meta data values.

8. The file system shell browser of claim 1, further comprising a list view slider selectably changeable by the user to select a presentation style of the first set of data items in the primary view pane.

9. The file system shell browser of claim 8, wherein said list view slider comprises preset presentation styles including an iconic presentation style and a list presentation style.

10. The file system shell browser of claim 1, further comprising a virtual folder builder wherein a user defines a scope comprising one or more explicit inclusions and one or more explicit exclusions.

11. The file system shell browser of claim 1, further comprising a list builder exposing functionality for a user to build a static list.

12. The file system shell browser of claim 1, wherein the page space control is configured to dynamically scroll horizontally based on a user vertically scrolling the page space control.

13. The file system shell browser of claim 1, wherein, when a user selects any of the items in the first set of data items, the file system shell browser performs a launch activity corresponding to the selected item.

14. The file system shell browser of claim 1, wherein, when a user provides input focus to any of the data items in the first set of data items, the file system shell browser exposes in a commands module a set of commands corresponding to the data item having input focus.

15. The file system shell browser of claim 14, wherein the commands module comprises the virtual address bar.

16. One or more computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions providing a user-navigable file system shell browser executable within an operating system of a data processing device, said file system shell browser exposing a user interface comprising:

a first pane presenting a hierarchical tree of metadata properties and property values;

a second pane presenting a sequential list of metadata values identifying a virtual path, wherein said second pane reflects a user-selected property value of a metadata property from said first pane, wherein the virtual path is comprised of a first interactive segment that references one or more of a plurality of data items according to a corresponding filter that applies a user-selected metadata value and selects one or more of the plurality of data items or other content, and wherein the virtual path is further comprised of one or more additional interactive segments that further restrict the one or more of the plurality of data items referenced by the preceding interactive segments; and

a third pane presenting a display of a first set of the plurality of data items corresponding to the virtual path, wherein one or more of the first set of data items are stored in different locations in a computer file system.

17. The computer readable media of claim 16, wherein the file system shell browser further comprises a preview pane presenting information corresponding to a user-selected one of the first set of the plurality of data items.

18. The computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein each metadata value in said second pane corresponds to a list of hierarchically equivalent metadata values selectable by a user, and wherein when the user selects one of the hierarchically equivalent metadata values, the third pane presents a display of a second set of the plurality of data items corresponding to the selected virtual path.

19. The computer readable media of claim 16, wherein a node of the hierarchical tree represents a virtual folder, said virtual folder defined by a scope of storage locations and one or more criteria of metadata values, and wherein said virtual folder corresponds to all items stored within the scope and matching the one or more criteria.

20. The computer readable media of claim 16, wherein said file system shell browser further comprises a list view slider selectably changeable by the user to select a presentation style of the first set of the plurality of data items in the list pane.

21. The computer readable media of claim 16, wherein said file system shell browser further comprises a virtual folder builder wherein a user defines a virtual folder scope comprising one or more explicit inclusions and one or more explicit exclusions.

22. The computer readable media of claim 16, wherein said file system shell browser further comprises a list builder exposing functionality for a user to build a static list.

23. The computer readable media of claim 16, wherein the first pane is configured to dynamically scroll horizontally based on a user vertically scrolling the hierarchical tree.

24. The computer readable media of claim 16, wherein, when a user selects any of the items in the first set of the plurality of data items, the file system shell browser performs a launch activity corresponding to the selected item.

25. A user interface stored as computer-executable instructions on one or more computer-readable storage media, said user interface corresponding to a file system shell browser, and said user interface comprising:

a primary view pane for displaying one or more of a plurality of data items or a plurality of content items corresponding to a presently selected virtual path, wherein the plurality of content items includes one or more of system devices, system services, or Internet locations;

a virtual address bar module identifying the virtual path of the one or more of the plurality of data items or the plurality of content items displayed in the primary view pane,

wherein the virtual path is comprised of a first interactive segment that references one or more of the plurality of data items according to a corresponding filter that applies a user-selected metadata value and selects one or more of the plurality of data items or other content, and

wherein the virtual path is further comprised of one or more additional interactive segments that further restrict the one or more of the plurality of data items referenced by the preceding interactive segments; and

two or more functional modules displayed corresponding to each other, said functional modules selected from the set of

a page space control module, said page space control module providing a hierarchical tree of metadata properties and value, said tree navigable by a user to identify a selected metadata value, thereby causing corresponding items to be displayed in the primary view pane;

a list view slider module providing a selectably changeable display element to allow a user to select a presentation style of the one or more of plurality of data items or the plurality of content items in the primary view pane;

a virtual folder builder module exposing functionality for a user to define a virtual folder scope comprising one or more explicitly included storage locations and one or more explicitly excluded storage locations; and

a preview module for displaying metadata corresponding to a selected one or more of one of the plurality of data items or one of the plurality of content items displayed in the primary view pane, wherein the preview module exposes a user interface through which a user can edit at least a portion of the metadata corresponding to the selected one of the plurality of data items.

26. The user interface of claim 25, wherein the virtual path is presented as a sequential list of metadata values.

27. The user interface of claim 26, wherein each metadata value in said sequential list corresponds to a list of hierarchically equivalent metadata values selectable by a user to alter a display of elements in the list pane module.

28. The user interface of claim 25, wherein one of the two elements is the page space control module,

wherein the other of the elements is the virtual folder builder module, and

wherein a first node of the hierarchical tree represents a virtual folder, said virtual folder corresponding to all items stored within the virtual folder scope and matching one or more user specified metadata criteria.

29. The user interface of claim 25, wherein one of the two elements is the page space control module, and wherein the page space control module is configured to dynamically scroll horizontally based on a user vertically scrolling the hierarchical tree.

30. The user interface of claim 25, wherein the primary view pane presents a first data item of the plurality of data items in an iconic form indicating a number of further data items corresponding to the one data item.

31. The user interface of claim 30, wherein the iconic form comprises a stack whose height is based on the number of further data items corresponding to the one data item.

32. The user interface of claim 25, wherein one of the two modules is the list view slider module, and wherein said selectably changeable display element comprises preset presentation styles including an iconic presentation style and a list presentation style.

33. The user interface of claim 25, wherein, when a user selects any data item displayed in the primary view pane, the file system shell browser performs a launch activity corresponding to the selected item.

34. The user interface of claim 25, wherein the set from which the two or more functional modules are selected further includes a list builder module exposing functionality for the user to build a static list.

35. The user interface of claim 25, wherein the set from which the two or more functional modules are selected further includes a search module exposing functionality for the user to search for data items within the plurality of data items that match a user-provided metadata value.

36. The user interface of claim 25, wherein one of the two modules is the page space control module and the other of the two modules is the preview module, and

wherein, upon the user editing a metadata variable in the preview module by inputting a previously unused metadata value, the user interface updates the page space control module to include the previously unused metadata value.

37. One or more computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions providing a user-navigable file system shell browser executable within an operating system of a data processing device, said file system shell browser exposing a user interface, comprising:

a first pane presenting a sequential list of metadata values identifying a virtual path, wherein the sequential list of metadata values is comprised of a first interactive segment that references one or more of a plurality of data items according to a corresponding filter that applies a user-selected metadata value and selects the one or more of the plurality of data items or other content, and wherein the virtual path is further comprised of one or more additional interactive segments that further restrict the one or more of the plurality of data items reference by the preceding interactive segments;

a second pane presenting a hierarchical tree of metadata properties and property values, wherein said second pane reflects a selected property value from said first pane; and

a third pane presenting a display of a first set of the plurality of data items corresponding to the virtual path.