MXPA04006410A

MXPA04006410A - File system shell.

Info

Publication number: MXPA04006410A
Application number: MXPA04006410A
Authority: MX
Inventors: K Beam Tyler
Original assignee: Microsoft Corp
Priority date: 2003-05-16
Filing date: 2003-05-16
Publication date: 2005-02-14
Also published as: AU2003233558A1; CA2469163A1; RU2009130955A; IL162163A; NO20042743L; JP2006526182A; CA2469163C; EP1629367A4; BR0306693A; WO2004107151A1; AU2003233558B8; KR100991027B1; EP1629367A1; CN1613047A; IL162163A0; KR20060061734A; AU2003233558B2; JP4378292B2; CN1613047B

Abstract

A file system shell is provides virtual folders (651-655) which expose regular files and folders to users in different views based on their metadata instead of the actual physical underlying file system structure. Users are able to work with the virtual folders (651-655) through direct manipulation. Filters (620-626) are provided for narrowing down sets of items. Quick links (610-613) generate useful views of the sets of items. Libraries (600) 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 (1402) comprises a plurality of segments, each segment corresponding to a filter for selecting content. A shell browser (2200) is provided with which users can readily identify an item based on the metadata associated with that item. An object previewer (2202) in a shell browser (2200) displays a plurality of items representing multiple item types.

Description

1 INTERPRETE OF ARCHIVE SYSTEM FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to file systems, and more particularly, to a file system interpreter.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Current computer file systems have a number of undesirable limitations. One limitation is that users are generally unable to control the structure they display. In other words when organizing folders, a user must select a structure, and that structure afterwards is difficult to change. As a specific example, for a "music" folder a user can select to organize the music files in an artist / album format, where all album folders for each artist are grouped in that particular artist folder, and all the songs of a particular album are grouped in that album folder. The artist / album format is not conducive to playing a type of music (for example, playing two jazz songs by two different artists), or playing a selection of albums by different artists. As another broadcast, a user may have a large number of files that are difficult to organize, some users 2 implement a rigid sense of placement for the files, and in this way create strict hierarchies of them. The management of such files becomes enormously complex and difficult as the number of available documents grows, making search and recovery also difficult. This problem is further exacerbated when using additional files from other locations, such as shared files, etc. Users also have to deal with files that are on different sites, such as on different devices, or on other PCs, or online. For example, users can choose to listen to their music on the computer (since it can be accessible to a music program), or they can be online and listen to music from websites (network), however, there is a strict division between These two sources. The music that comes from different sites is organized in different ways, and does not stay in the same form or place. As another example, files stored on a corporate network can inherently be separated from files that a user has on their real machine. Users also have to keep track of not only what file data is stored, but also where it is stored. For example, for music files, users are forced to keep copies on multiple systems and try to track which music files are located there. This can make it difficult to locate the files, even when they are stored locally. 3 It is also sometimes difficult to find back the files that a user has. A user may find it difficult to remember when and how he stored certain files. Given a group of folders and even a group of similar files, users usually find it difficult to quickly find a file they are looking for. For files stored in a place that is difficult to find, it is much more complex to locate them. In addition, once users have enough files in a folder, it becomes difficult to analyze the folder quickly, especially if the contents are similar. Sometimes it is also difficult for users to find or return files through a network. Sharing and publishing files are usually difficult to do, and recovery of such a file from someone who makes it available can usually be more difficult. Users typically have to memorize or map the various sites and names they need to find files on a network. Namespaces may vary, which can cause confusion for the user in what may be "correct". This is particularly true in a network where there are different naming conventions, limitations, etc. For example, certain operating systems may require short names without any space in order to be visible. Programs also usually keep files in their own directory or in other namespaces, which makes it difficult for 4 users to find their way to the files. Programs usually have directories and default places where they store documents. A user usually has to search through his hard drive and make inquiries regarding where a file is stored. Related items are also usually stored in separate places. The related files that a user has can be stored in different parts of the hard disk, etc. This problem becomes more common with the development of digital media services that have multiple types of content (eg, images, music, video). Another issue with the file systems is related by the address bar. As users navigate within a file system on a computer, a conventional graphical interface control, referred to here as the address bar, shows users where they are in the file system hierarchy. The conventional address bar shows the current location in terms of the hierarchical structure of the file system of folders, sub-folders, and files. The alteration of the user's location presented in the conventional address bar is typically done in one of two ways. The first is to manually edit the address in the address bar. Manually editing the address in the address bar allows a user to relocate any number of locations in the file system hierarchy, but requires user 5 to have specific information regarding the organization of the file system in the computer, that is, a specific file system location. The second method involves using external navigation tools, which, when manipulated, update the address bar to reflect the new address or location. While the manual editing of the address in the address bar is derived, the manipulation of the external navigation bars still requires the user to have specific information regarding the organization of the file system and to cross the hierarchical structure. However, conventional address bars can not reference files or data stored between multiple file system locations, such as folders or controllers, because of a 1 to 1 relationship between the address in the address bar and a specific location in the hierarchy of the file system. The prior art lacks a direction bar that allows users to specify addresses that present files stored among multiple file system locations. The prior art also lacks a direction bar that also allows users to easily modify the direction of the address bar without manually editing the address, or requiring specific knowledge regarding the organization of the underlying file system. Also the prior art lacks an address bar that presents alternative selections of files to the user from which the user 6 may select to browse in those file selections. Said address bar may also selectively present a conventional address bar interface to the user enabling the user to interact with the address bar according to prior experience according to the user's preferences. Another issue with file systems is related to the identification of items stored on a computer. The need to easily identify items stored in a computing environment, such as a personal computer (PC), is increasing dramatically as more individuals use computers in their daily routines and since the type of information stored varies between images, music, documents, etc. Documents and media are typically stored in computers in a hierarchical way and are organized with information files or media stored inside folders. File system browsers allow users to navigate through the file system and locate open files and folders. For example, the WINDOWS® EXPLORER ™ system from Microsoft Corporation is an operating system utility that allows users to browse the file system. Many users find it difficult to correctly identify a file based on information currently available in conventional file system browsers. Of course, the documents of a file can be verified by opening them with an application program, but this method of browsing files is extremely inefficient. The ability to view metadata with respect to a file within a file system browser can greatly assist a user to identify a particular file without having to open it. In Microsoft Corporation's WINDOWS® 9X operating systems, for example, a user can view object metadata by accessing the property sheet for a particular object. A property sheet is presented to the user with a list of the attributes or determinations of an object in the form of an indexed card type selection, tabulated property pages, each of which characterizes standard dialog style controls to adapt parameters. However, the use of the property sheet to locate an article can be slow and annoying, and some users find it difficult to locate the important metadata on a property sheet. Similarly, the use of infotips to locate an article can be slow and annoying, since a user must move the mouse through each file in order to see the limited metadata presented in an infotype. Conventional file system browsers do not allow users to enter and avoid metadata in relation to files and folders, which could significantly improve a user's ability to later locate a file. To date, the ability of users to enter and edit metadata has been limited to special purpose software programs. For example, media players for electronic music files present users with the ability to edit metadata associated with albums and music artists. Another example of such programs includes application programs for electronic image files. However, the utility of media players and others of these programs is limited to the particular type of file supported by the program, as opposed to a general purpose file system browser that supports file multiples. The Microsoft WINDOWS® XP operating system Corporation includes an image browser to be used in the My Pictures folder. The My Pictures folder is full of special features that allow users to view images such as photos, not just as document icons. The image browsing features of My Images include the ability to view thumbnail and large photo size photos, rotate photos that are sideways, and create a sliding view. A user can also see the details of a photo, such as its dimensions, the date and time it was taken, and the name of the camera that took it. The pre-view control area in the My Pictures folder contains an enlarged preview image of a user-selected image, iteration buttons to help a user iterate through a series of control images for rotate images in one direction either clockwise or counterclockwise. 9 Although the image navigation features in WINDOWS® XP have advanced the state of the art by mitigating the need to invoke an application program to view and manipulate images, users still can not enter and edit metadata associated with the images. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved user experience within an interpreter or file system browser that allows users to easily locate an article based on the metadata associated with that article. There is also a need for a system and method that allows users to enter and avoid metadata associated with articles of various types within an interpreter browser without the need to invoke an application program. There is also a need for a file system or interpreter browser that offers users improved file content recognition features, so that users can easily locate their files. There is also a need for an improved graphical user interface for an interpreter navigator that allows the selection of a pre-visualizer for a particular type of file from a plurality of available pre-visualizers. There is also a need for an extensible interpreter browser that can allow software developers to provide additional information and functionality to users on a file type basis. There is also a need to provide a similar Ul experience through different collections of 1 or articles.

COMPENDIUM OF THE INVENTION In accordance with an aspect of the invention, a system and method using virtual folders are provided. Virtual folders expose regular files and folders (also known as directories) to users in different views based on their metadata instead of the current physical underlying file system structure on the disk. In this way, the system is able to take a property that is stored in the database and represent it as a container that is like a folder. Since users are already familiar with working with folders, presenting virtual folders in a similar way, users can adapt more quickly to the new system. According to another aspect of the invention, the virtual folders are provided according to a method that is used in a computer system having a presentation and a memory for storing the articles. According to the method, a metadata property is selected. Then, the system searches for articles that have metadata property selected, and a virtual folder presentation object that represents the collection of articles that have the metadata property is provided. According to another aspect of the invention, the system includes a folder processor that obtains queries from a user and a relationship database to store information regarding the items. The folder processor first obtains a query from a user and passes the query to the relationship database. The relationship database provides results that go back to the folder processor. , and based on the results of the relationship database, the folder processor provides the results to the user as virtual folders. In one mode, the results that are provided back to the folder processor include database rows and columns. The rows and columns of the database are converted by the folder processor to an enumerator structure, which is then used to populate the presentation with the resulting virtual folders. According to another aspect of the invention, users are able to work with virtual folders through direct manipulation. In other words, the mechanisms that are provided to manipulate virtual folders are similar to those currently used to manipulate conventional physical folders (for example, oppression and dragging, copying, pasting, etc.). According to another aspect of the invention, the method for performing the direct manipulation of the virtual folders is provided in a computer system having a presentation and a memory for storing the articles. According to the method, the article groups are represented as virtual folders. 12 provide defined actions that can be performed for direct manipulation of virtual folders, where when a defined action is performed, the virtual folder is manipulated as directed by the defined action. An example of a defined action could be the oppression and dragging of a virtual folder. In one embodiment, the action of pressing and dragging a first virtual folder to a second virtual folder performs the function of copying the articles from the first virtual folder to the second virtual folder. Copying articles to a virtual folder may involve adding or otherwise altering selected metadata properties that are associated with the articles. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, filters are provided for manipulating virtual folders. Filters are essentially tools for narrowing a group of items. In one embodiment, the filters are dynamically generated based on the properties of the separate items. For example, for a group of articles, the filter mechanism can review the properties, and if the articles usually have "authors" as a property, the filter can provide a list of the authors. Then, by clicking on a particular author, articles that do not have an author disappear. This allows the user to narrow the contents. According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for filtering articles in a computer system having a presentation and a memory for storing articles with 13 metadata properties. Presentation objects are provided in the presentation where each represents one or more items. The metadata properties of the items that are represented by the presentation objects are evaluated. A filter term is provided in the presentation corresponding to a metadata property that is shared by a plurality of items. Where the selection of the filter term causes the items that are represented in the presentation to be reduced to those articles that share the specified metadata property. According to another aspect of the invention, a plurality of items is represented in the representation, and a filter term is dynamically generated based on the metadata properties of the items. When the filter term is selected, it reduces the items that are shown in the presentation to those that have the metadata property that corresponds to the filter term. According to another aspect of the invention, a plurality of articles is shown in the presentation, and a filter area is provided where a user can enter a filter term. When a user enters the filter term, the items that are shown in the presentation are reduced to those that contain the filter term. As the user types the filter term, additional items can be filtered as a new character is added to the filter term.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a back button is provided, which can be used to return through a filtering process. For example, after a user has entered a filter term, the user may wish to return to the group of items that were represented in the presentation before the filter term was applied. The back button allows the user to return to the desired point in the filter navigation. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, quick links are provided. In one mode, quick links are a group of predefined links (for example, located on the left side of the presentation) that can be clicked to generate useful views of the article groups. These can be predefined by the program, or set by a user. For example, clicking on "all authors" could return a stacked view of authors. "All documents" can return to a flat view of all documents through all storage areas. Users can also create their own quick links. For example, a user can filter all the documents that he modified in January 2003, and then he can save them as a quick link. According to another aspect of the invention, a method for providing quick links in a computer system having a presentation and a memory for storing articles is implemented. According to the method, a user first browses for a view of a desired collection of articles. A quick link corresponding to the desired collection of items is saved and is provided with a name. The name of the quick link is shown in the presentation, so that by clicking on the quick link, a user can return to the vision of the desired collection of articles. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, libraries are provided. Libraries consist of large groups of usable file types that can be associated together. For example, the photos can be a library, the music can be another, and the documents can be another. Libraries provide tools and activities that are related to particular types of items. For example, in the photo library, there are tools and filters that are related to the manipulation of photos, such as to create sliding samples or shared images. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for creating libraries in a computer system with a presentation and a memory for storing articles. The method begins by creating a library to contain articles with one or more specified metadata properties. Then, articles with one or more specified metadata properties are automatically grouped in the library. Tools to manipulate library items are also provided.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a wide range of files or articles may be available. In other words, the system is able to represent files / articles from multiple physical locations (for example, different hard drives, different computers, different network locations, etc.), so that to a user all the articles appear to be of a location. For example, a user can be presented all their music files on a single screen, and manipulate the files all from one view, although the files can be physically stored on different disk drives, different computers or different network locations. According to another aspect of the invention, a cover is used in a method for presenting articles in a computer system having a presentation. The method involves defining a coverage of the physical memory locations from which the items will be extracted, the coverage comprising the present computer memory and at least one other physical location. Once a query is received, in response to the query, the items are extracted from the physical locations as defined in the coverage, and the items that are extracted from the query are then presented in a presentation view. In one embodiment, at least one other physical location may be another computer, a location on a network, or an external storage device. In one embodiment, the view in the presentation can be switched to a physical folder view that indicates the physical locations where the items are physically stored. According to another aspect of the invention, articles that are not files can be represented in virtual folders. In other words, the files that are stored in memory are located in a physical storage. Virtual folders can be made to include items that are not currently represented in physical storage. Examples of items that are not files are emails and contacts. According to another aspect of the invention, a method for presenting articles that are not files is implemented in a computer system with a presentation and a memory for storing articles. The method includes providing a database that allows both non-file items and file items to be searched by a query. Once a query is received, both the non-archive items and the archive items that match the query are extracted, and the items that match the query are then presented in the presentation. In one embodiment, a relationship database is provided that includes selected information regarding file items, and that it can maintain certain items that are not files in its entities. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a virtual address bar is provided for selecting content stored in a computer file system. A virtual address bar 18 comprises a plurality of segments. Each segment corresponds to a filter to select content stored in the computer file system. Collectively, the corresponding filters of each segment in the virtual address bar represent a virtual address to select content stored in a computer file system. Each segment is an interactive segment that can respond to user interactions to modify the virtual address of the virtual address bar. The selection of a segment in the virtual address bar can cause those segments subsequent to the selected segment to be removed from the virtual address bar. Alternatively, the selection of a segment in the virtual address bar causes a list of selected filters to be presented to the user. The even filters are even for the corresponding filter of the alternatively selected segment. The selection of one of the even filters causes the alternatively selected segment to replace its corresponding filter with the selected pair filter. In addition, those segments subsequent to the alternatively selected filter segment are removed from the virtual address bar. The segments can be added to the virtual address according to the user's external actions. The segments are added to the end of the segments in the virtual address bar. Any segment that conflicts with an aggregate segment is removed. An existing segment in the virtual address bar 19 conflicts with the aggregate segment when the existing segment is mutually exclusive to the aggregate segment. An existing segment in the virtual address bar also has conflict with the aggregate segment when the existing segment is wider or narrower in scope than the aggregate segment. According to another aspect of the invention, an interpreter browser is provided that includes a window and an edit control. The window presents a group of articles and also presents metadata values associated with one or more of the presented articles. The editing control allows the modification by the user of at least a portion of the metadata values presented in the window. According to another aspect of the invention, a graphic user interface is modalized in a computer readable medium and is executable in a computer. The graphical user interface includes a first screen area that presents a group of articles in an interpreter browser and a second screen area that presents metadata associated with one or more of the presented articles. The graphical user interface also presents the user with means within the interpreter browser to modify the presented metadata. In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, methods implemented on a computer are provided to allow a user to modify metadata within an interpreter's browser. One method of these includes presenting a plurality of 20 items. Receive a first user entry representing a selection of at least one submitted article, submit metadata associated with the selected article (s) and provide an edit control for the user to modify the submitted metadata. Another method includes presenting a welcome board and metadata associated with the welcome board and providing editing control for the user to modify the presented metadata. According to another aspect of the invention, a data structure containing metadata associated with one or more articles is presented in an interpreter browser. The data structure, which is stored in one or more computer readable media, includes a field that contains metadata that can be modified by a user, associated with one or more articles presented, and metadata that can be modified by The user's part contained in the data structure are also presented in the interpreter's browser. According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an interpreter browser that includes a default pre-viewer and an extension mechanism. The default previewer provides a standard level of functionality for multiple types of items. The extension mechanism allows functionality beyond the standard level provided by the default previewer for one or more of the article types. According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an interpreter browser that includes a first previewer and a second previewer. The first previewer provides a standard level of functionality for multiple article types, and the second previewer provides an alternative or extended level of functionality for one or more of the multiple article types. The interpreter browser is configured to selectively display either the first previewer or the second previewer for one or more types of articles. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a graphical user interface for an interpreter browser that supports multiple article types is provided. The graphic user interface includes a first screen area for displaying a group of items in the interpreter navigator and means for selecting a previewer for the articles presented from a plurality of available previews. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a computer-implemented method for selecting a previewer in an interpreter browser that supports multiple types of articles is provided. The method includes providing a plurality of previewers in the interpreter navigator for a particular article type and selecting one of the previewers for the particular article type. The method then associates the selected previewer with the particular article type. According to another aspect of the invention, a computer-implemented method is provided to allow the use of pre-22 third-party viewers in an interpreter browser that supports multiple types of articles. The method includes providing an interpreter browser having a default previewer for multiple article types and providing an extension mechanism that allows a third party to develop an alternative previewer for at least one of the multiple article types. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a data structure is provided which contains information indicative of a plurality of previews in an interpreter browser. The data structure, which is stored in one or more computer-readable media, includes a first field containing information indicative of a default previewer that supports multiple types of items. A second field contains information indicative of an alternative previewer for a first type of article, a third field contains information indicative of invoking the default previewer or the alternative previewer when the articles of the first type of article are presented in the interpreter's browser. According to another aspect of the invention, different types of articles are grouped in libraries for which a similar group of basic Ul characteristics is provided. In other words, a similar group of basic Ul features are provided for different types of libraries, such as a document library, a photo library, and a music library. The group of basic Lll features can include aspects such as filtering, creating new categories, editing article metadata, altering pivots, etc. The similar group of basic Ul features for libraries allows a user to process and organize different types of articles using attributes and features with which they are already familiar.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above aspects and many of the claimed advantages of this invention will be more readily appreciated as they are better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a block diagram of a general purpose computer system suitable for implementing the present invention; Figure 2 is a block diagram of a virtual folder system according to the present invention; Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating a routine through which a user provides a query that extracts selected files and folders; Figure 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a routine through which virtual folders are constructed and presented on the screen according to either a default query or a user query; Figure 5 is a tree diagram of a folder structure according to a physical folder arrangement on a hard disk drive; Figure 6 is a tree diagram of a virtual folder structure; Figure 7 is a tree diagram of the virtual folder structure of Figure 6, where the customer stack is also filtered through contracts and year; Figure 8 is a tree diagram of the virtual folder structure of Figure 7, where the contracts of the customer stack are also filtered per year; Figure 9 is a tree diagram of the virtual folder structure of Figure 6, where the stack of contracts is also filtered by customers and year, where customers are still filtered per year; Figure 10 is a diagram illustrating a screen display showing the stacks of a document library; Figure 11 is a diagram illustrating a screen display showing the documents in the stack of ABC Corp., of Figure 10; Figure 12 is a diagram illustrating a screen display where a stacking function is selected for the documents of Figure 11; Figure 13 is an illustrative diagram of a screen display where a "stacking by author" parameter 25 is selected for the stacking function of Figure 12; Figure 14 is a diagram illustrating a screen display where the files of Figure 13 have been stacked by author; Figure 15 is a diagram illustrating a screen display where a stacking function is selected and in addition, selecting a "stack by category" option to re-stack the files of Figure 14; Figure 16 is a diagram illustrating a screen display where the files of Figure 14 have been stacked again by category; Figure 17 is a diagram illustrating a screen display where a quick link to display physical folders is selected; Figure 18 is a diagram illustrating a screen presentation where the physical folders are displayed and contain the files of the virtual folder stacks of Figure 17; Figure 19 is a flow diagram illustrating a routine through which a user can directly manipulate virtual folders; Figure 20 is a diagram illustrating a screen display where a new "West Coast" stack has been added to the stacks of Figure 10; Figure 21 is a diagram illustrating a screen display where direct manipulation is used to copy the 26 files from the "ABC Copr." Stack. to the "west coast" stack of Figure 20; Figure 22 is a flow diagram illustrating a routine for the system dynamically generating new filter terms; Figure 23 is a flow diagram illustrating a routine for the system to filter articles based on the selection of a filter term; Figure 24 is a diagram illustrating a screen display where the stacks of Figure 10 have been filtered by the term "AB"; Figure 25 is a diagram illustrating a screen display where the stacks of Figure 10 have been filtered through the term "ABC"; Figure 26 is a diagram illustrating a screen display where the filter term "year 2002" is selected for the stacks of Figure 10; Figure 27 is an illustrative diagram of a screen display where the stacks of Figure 10 have been filtered by the "year 2002" and the additional selection of the filter term "month"; Figure 28 is an illustrative diagram of a screen presentation where a list is presented to select a month for filtering; Figure 29 is an illustrative diagram of a screen presentation, wherein the stacks of Figure 10 have also been filtered by the month of January, and also showing a term of 27"day" filter; Figure 30 is a flow chart illustrative of a routine for creating a new fast link; Figure 31 is an illustrative diagram of a screen display for creating a new quick link called "January Work" based on the filtering of Figure 29; Figure 32 is an illustrative diagram of a screen presentation where a quick link "all authors" is selected; Figure 33 is an illustrative diagram of a screen presentation where a list of all the authors of Figure 32 is presented; Figure 34 is an illustrative diagram of a screen presentation where "author 1" has been selected from the list of Figure 33 and all documents of author 1 are shown; Figure 35 is a flow chart illustrative of a routine for creating a new library; Figure 36 is an illustrative diagram of a screen display showing a collection of several available libraries; Figure 37 is a flow chart illustrative of a routine for defining the scope of a virtual folder collection; Figure 38 is a block diagram illustrative of the various sources that can form the scope of a virtual folder collection; Figure 39 is a flow chart illustrative of a routine for including articles that are not files in a virtual folder collection; Figure 40 is an illustrative diagram of a screen display showing several items that are not files included in a virtual folder; Figure 41 is a pictorial diagram of an illustrative network computer environment suitable for implementing the present invention; Figure 42 is a pictorial diagram illustrating an illustrative file viewer having a conventional address bar associated with presentation files in a computer file system, as found in the prior art; Figure 43 is a pictorial diagram illustrating an illustrative file viewer for presenting files in a computer file system according to a virtual address in a virtual address bar formed in accordance with the present invention; Figure 44A is a pictorial diagram of the illustrative file viewer of Figure 5 illustrating the selection of a segment of the virtual address in the virtual address bar to navigate in the file system; Figure 44B is a pictorial diagram of the illustrative file viewer of Figure 45A illustrating the results of selecting a segment of the virtual address in the virtual address bar; Figures 45A-45D are pictorial diagrams illustrating the selection of a peer filter associated with a segment of a virtual address in a virtual address bar; Figures 46A-46D are pictorial diagrams illustrating the addition of additional filters to a virtual address in a virtual address bar; Figures 47A and 47B are pictorial diagrams illustrating an illustrative virtual address bar presenting a virtual address in which the virtual address exceeds the presentation capability of the virtual address bar; Figure 48A is a pictorial diagram illustrating an illustrative virtual address bar having a virtual address with filters referencing both virtual and current locations in a file system; Figure 48B is a pictorial diagram illustrating the illustrative virtual address bar of Figure 48A as configured to present a conventional address bar; Figure 49 is a flow chart illustrative of an alternative filter selection routine for selecting alternate filters in a virtual address bar; Figure 50 is a flow chart illustrating an illustrative addition filter routine for adding a filter to a virtual address in a virtual address bar; Figure 51A is a block diagram of an illustrative graphical user interface for an interpreter navigator having an edit control according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 51B is a block diagram of an illustrative graphic user interface for an interpreter browser having one or more editing controls according to one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 52 is a schematic diagram of a welcome board in an interpreter browser; Figure 53 is a schematic diagram of a selected board in an interpreter navigator; Figure 54 is a schematic diagram of the selected dashboard of Figure 53 including a context menu that allows a user to modify metadata in an interpreter browser according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 55 is a flow chart illustrating a method for allowing a user to modify metadata presented on a welcome board within an interpreter browser according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 56 is a flow chart illustrating a method for allowing a user to modify metadata presented on a selected dashboard within an interpreter navigator according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 57 is a block diagram of a 31 data structure containing metadata that can be modified by the user associated with an article presented in an interpreter browser; Figure 58 is a schematic diagram of a graphical user interface of the prior art for navigating images stored in a folder within an interpreter navigator environment, which is used to view other non-pictorial files and folders; Figure 59 is a block diagram of an illustrative graphic user interface for an interpreter navigator; Figure 60 is a schematic diagram of a welcome board in an interpreter browser; Figure 61 is a schematic diagram of a selected board of an interpreter navigator; Figure 62 is a schematic diagram of a selected board in an interpreter browser with extended controls according to one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 63 is a schematic diagram of a selected board similar to Figure 61, but including a context menu that allows a user to select a previewer in an interpreter browser according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 64A is a flowchart illustrating a method for allowing a user to select a previewer in an interpreter browser according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 64B is a flow chart illustrating a method for allowing the system to select a previewer in an interpreter browser according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 65 is a flowchart illustrating a method for allowing the use of third-party previsualizers in an interpreter browser according to an embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 66 is a block diagram of a data structure containing information indicative of multiple previewers in an interpreter navigator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITY The present invention is directed to an interpreter of the filing system, which incorporates a number of desirable characteristics. In essence, the interpreter provides users with the ability to view and manipulate files and other items that are stored on a computer. The following description first provides a summary of the characteristics shown in Figures 1-66, and then provides a detailed discussion. In summary, Figures 1-9 are generally directed to a total system for virtual folders. Virtual folders provide a method to allow a conventional user interface to expose regular files and folders (also known as directories) to users in different views based on their metadata instead of the current physical underlying file system structure on the disk. Figures 10-18 are generally directed to stacks, which are related to the ability of virtual folders to take any property that is stored in the database and represent it as a container that is like a folder. Figures 19-21 are generally directed to direct the manipulation of virtual folders, which refers to providing mechanisms for manipulating virtual folders that are similar to the mechanisms currently used to manipulate standard folders (for example, copying, pasting, oppression and dragging, etc.). Figures 22-29 are generally directed to filters, which provide a group of tools to narrow a group of files / articles. Figure 30-34 are generally directed to fast links, which are a group of predefined links that can be clicked to generate useful views of file / article groups. Figure 35-26 are generally directed to libraries, which are related to the concept of what groups of usable types of files can be associated together, and which tools and activities can be provided that are related to particular types of items. Figures 37-38 are generally aimed at coverage, which is related to the concept of being able to acquire files / articles from multiple physical locations (for example, different hard drives, 34 different computers, a computer in a network location, etc.), so that User is presented all files / articles with the same convenience as if they were provided with a location. Figures 39-40 are generally directed to articles that are not files, which may be included in the database along with files, and which may include such items as emails and contacts. Figures 41-50 are generally directed to a virtual address bar comprising a plurality of segments, each segment corresponding to a filter for selecting the content. Figures 51-57 are generally directed to an interpreter browser, with which users can easily identify an article based on the metadata associated with that article. Figures 58-66 are generally directed to extend the functionality of an object previewer in an interpreter browser configured to present a plurality of articles representing multiple types of articles. The following description provides a detailed discussion of each of these aspects of the invention. As noted above, Figures 1-9 are generally directed to a system for implementing virtual folders. Virtual folders use the same or similar user interfaces that are currently used for file systems. Virtual folders expose regular files and folders (also known as directories) to users in different views based on their metadata instead of the current physical underlying file system structure on the disk. Location-independent views are created, which allow users to manipulate their files and folders using similar controls like those currently used to handle file systems. In general, this means that users can organize and rearrange their files based on properties inherent in the same files, rather than the administration and organization that is performed as a separate part of the system. Virtual folders can represent files or articles from different physical locations, such as multiple disk drives within the same computer, between multiple computers, or different network locations, so that a view of files or articles can expose files or articles placed in different physical locations. In one modality, the different articles or files only need to be connected through an IP network in order to be included. Virtual folder modeling is also capable of being used for entities that are not traditionally files. One application of this is to have a group of user interfaces similar to files and folders (ie, objects and containers) to display entities that are traditionally not files. An example of such entities that are not files could be emails, although another could be contact information from a contact database. In this way, the virtual folders 36 provide a system of independent vision of location, base of metadata that work without considering if the data that is shown are of files or entities that are not files. In general, these aspects allow greater flexibility in terms of allowing users to manipulate their files and data, using both common user interface techniques (drag and drop, double oppression, etc.) as well as rich integration leveling of various types of data. Figure 1 and the following discussion are intended to provide a brief and general description of an adequate computing environment where virtual folders, and any of other aspects of the present invention that are described herein, may be implemented. Although not required, the invention will be described in the general context of computer executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a personal computer. In general, the program modules include routines, programs, characters, components, data structures, etc., which perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the invention can be practiced with other configurations of the computer system, including portable devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, networked PCs, minicomputers, macrocomputers, and the like. The invention can also be practiced in distributed computing environments, where tasks are performed through remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules can be located in both local and remote memory storage devices. With reference to Figure 1, an illustrative system for implementing the invention includes a general-purpose computing device in the form of a conventional personal computer 20, including a processing unit 21, system memory 22, and a common system conduit. 23 which couples various system components, including the system memory 22, to the processing unit 21. The common system conductor 23 may be any of the various types of the common conductor structures, including a common memory conductor or a memory controller, a common peripheral conduit, and a local common conduit using any of a variety of common conduit architectures. The system memory includes a read-only memory (ROM) 24 and random access memory (RAM) 25. A basic input / output system (BIOS) 26, containing the basic routines that help transfer information between elements within the personal computer 20, such as during startup, is stored in ROM 24. Personal computer 20 further includes a hard disk drive 27 for reading from or writing to a hard disk 39, a magnetic disk drive 28 for reading from or writing to a removable magnetic disk 29, and an optical disk unit 38 for reading write to a removable optical disk 31, such as a CD-ROM or other optical medium. The hard disk drive 27, the magnetic disk unit 28 and the optical disk unit 30 are connected to the common system conductor 23 through a hard disk interface 32, a magnetic disk 33 interface, and an optical unit interface 34, respectively. The units and their associated computer-readable media provide non-volatile storage of computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and other data for the personal computer 20. Although the illustrative environment described herein employs a hard disk 39, a disk Removable magnetic disk 29 and a removable optical disk 31, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of computer-readable media that can store data that are accessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, disk drives, Digital video, Bernoulli cartridges, random access memories (RAMs), read-only memories (ROMs), and the like, can also be used in the illustrative operating environment. A number of program modules can be stored on the hard disk 39, magnetic disk 29, optical disk 31, ROM 24 or RAM 25, including an operating system 35, one or more application programs 36, other program modules 37 and data of program 38. A user may enter commands and information into the personal computer 20 through such input devices 39 as a keyboard 40 and a pointing device 42. Other input devices (not shown) may include a microphone, game lever, game pad, satellite antenna, scout, or the like. These and other input devices are usually connected to the processing unit 21 through a serial port interface 46 which is coupled to the common system conductor 23, but may also be connected through other interfaces, such as a parallel port, game port or a universal serial common driver (USB). A presentation in the form of a monitor 47 is also connected to the common system conductor 23 through an interface, such as a video card or adapter 48. One or more speakers 57 may also be connected to the common system conduit 23 to through an interface, such as an audio adapter 56. In addition to the presentation and speakers, personal computers typically include other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as printers. The personal computer 20 can operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more personal computers, such as a remote computer 49. The remote computer 49 can be another person computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described above in relation to the personal computer 20. The logical connections illustrated in Figure 1 include a local area network (LAN) 51 and a network Wide Area (WAN) 52. Such networked environments are common places in offices, computer networks in companies, networks and the Internet. When used in a LAN network environment, the personal computer 20 is connected to the local area network 51 through a network interface or adapter 53. When used in a WAN network environment, the personal computer 20 typically includes a modem 54 or other means for establishing communications across wide area 52, such as the Internet. The modem 54, which may be internal or external, is connected to the common system conductor 23 through the serial port interface 46. In a networked environment, the program modules illustrated in relation to the personal computer 20 or their portions can be stored in the remote memory storage device. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are illustrative, and other means for establishing a communication link between the computers can be used. As implemented in a system of type illustrated in Figure 1, the present invention uses virtual folders that make it easy for users to perform basic tasks around file manipulation and folder navigation (browsing) and to provide more level storage capabilities. high that can be leveled in several aspects. Virtual folders expose files and articles to users in different views based on their metadata instead of the structure of the current physical underlying file system on the disk. Figure 2 is a block diagram of a virtual folder system 200 according to the present invention. As will be described in more detail later, virtual folders allow a user to change the "mustache" that controls the way the data is viewed. As an example, a user can view their music as a flat list of all songs, which can be grouped through an album. Alternatively, the user can switch the view to show only genres or artists or years, etc. The user can develop the view to observe only the objects suitable for the task to be done. This allows for an enhanced browsing experience that negates the need for additional browsing through folders (both downward and backward). The same lessons and capabilities are applied to model other types of data not stored as files. The contacts, for example, can be exposed to the user in this way, providing them with familiar interface capabilities, as well as a richer infrastructure to manipulate them than the one provided by the flat address book. As illustrated in Figure 2, the virtual folder system 200 includes a folder processor 210, a relationship database 230, a virtual folder description database 232, another folder folder component 34, a folder manager component 236, and an interpreter browser and a view component 240. Folder processor 42 210 includes a native management code component 212, a factory handler component 214, a property writer component 216, a row group parser component 218, a development component query 220, an enumerator component 22, and a factory property component 224. The relationship database 230 stores properties with respect to all files in the system. It also stores some items, such as contacts (that is, items that are not files), entirely. In general, it stores metadata with respect to the types of files and articles that contain them. The relationship database 230 receives SQL queries from the query developer 220. The relationship database 230 also sends row groups of SQL to the group analyzer component of row 218, with one row per article column, the columns being the properties of the article. The virtual folder descriptions database 232 includes the descriptions of the virtual folder. The virtual folder descriptions database 232 sends data to the query developer component 220, including a list of types to present in the folder, the initial filter, and the physical locations to display the results (the coverages). With respect to the other interpreter folder component 234, the folder processor 210 delegates to the existing interpreter folders of many types of articles, including all files, handlers or properties. The other component of 43 interpreter folders 234 sends properties of the other folders to the property factory 224. The other interpreter folder component also sends handlers to the handler factory 214. The folder handler component 236 provides a behavior of code for items that exist only in the database, such as contacts. This is what allows the articles that are files to behave similar to the files. The file handler component 236 sends handlers to the handler factory 214. For the native handwriting code component 212, the folder processor 210 directly implements certain handlers based on the properties of the articles. The native handling code component 212 sends handlers to the handler factory 214. For the native handling code component 212 and the folder handler component 236, like all namespaces, the virtual folders have to provide a group of handlers (context menu, icon, thumbnail, infotips, ...) for your articles. For most of these (infotips, data object, drag-drop handler, background context menu ...), the virtual folder provides a common (native) handler for all types it maintains. However, there are others that the author of the type has to provide (context menu in the same article, property storage that can be written, ...). The default handler can also be overridden. Virtual folders reuse this for files and 44 allow articles that are not files to do the same. The handle factory 214 takes lists of IDs and produces code behaviors that provide context menus, icons, etc. In general the folder processor 210 may use native handlers, external handlers, or delegate to other interpreter folders to obtain handlers, as described above with respect to the native handling code component 212, the other component of interpreter folders 234, and the folder manager component 236. The handler factory component 214 sends handlers to the interpreter browser in view 240, as requested by the hearing. The handler factory component 214 sends a property handler to the property writer 216. The property writer 216 converts the user's intentions such as cutting, copying and pasting into property rights for the file or article. An interpreter browser and the editing component 214 send data to the property writer 216, including direct manipulation (cut / copy / paste) or edit metadata. In general, since virtual folders present an organization based on the properties of an article, operations such as move and copy (drag-drop) become an edition of those properties. For example, the movement of a document, in a view stacked by author, from author 1 to author 2, means changing the author. The property writer component 216 implements this function.

The row group parser 218 takes database row groups and stores all article properties in an interpreter ID list structure. A group of rows takes the part definition of the virtual folder and develops an SQL string that can then be issued to the database. The parser component of the row group 218 sends ID lists to the component in enumerator 222. As described above, the row group parser component 218 also receives data from the relationship database 230, including the SQL row groups. , with one row per article, the columns being article properties. The query development component 220 develops SQL queries. The query development component 220 receives data from the enumerator component 222, including new navigation filters. The query development component 220 also receives data from the virtual folder descriptions database 232, including a list of the types to be presented in the folder, the initial filter, and the physical location to display the results (the screens) . The query development component 220 sends the SQL queries to the relationship database 230. In general, the query development component 220 includes a group of rows (in other words, a table). This is what is making the query productions run. The row group analyzer component 218 takes each row and using the column names transforms the row to a list of 46 IDs. An ID list is a well-known interpreter structure that is used to reference articles in a namespace. Doing this allows virtual folders to be just like any other namespace for the rest of the interpreter. Also caching this data helps maintain access to the database, which can be very costly, to a minimum. The enumerator component 22 operates in response to a navigation to a virtual folder. As described above, the enumerator component 222 receives ID lists of the row group analyzer component 218, and sends new filters of the navigation to the query development component 220. The enumerator 222 also sends data to the interpreter browser and the browser component. view 240, including lists of IDs that are returned to be inserted in the view after a navigation. The property factory component 224 takes lists of IDs and property identifiers and returns values for those properties. The property factory component 224 receives data from the handler factory component 214 including the property handler. As described above, the property factory component 224 also receives data from the other interpreter folder component 234, including properties from other folders. The property factory component 224 also sends data to the interpreter navigator and view component 240, including article properties, as requested by the view. The interpreter navigator and the view component 240 present the contents of a folder in a window, and handle all the user interaction with the files or articles presented, such as oppression, drag and navigation. In this way, the interpreter navigator and the view component 240 receive the user's actions. The interpreter browser and the view component 240 also obtain the data with respect to the code behaviors that are needed from the folder, in this case the folder processor 210. As described above, the virtual folders are exposed to files and regular folders (also known as directories) to users in different views based on their metadata instead of the current physical underlying file system structure on the disk. In this way, the system is able to take a property that is stored in the database and represent it as a container that is similar to a folder. Since the users are already familiar with the work of the foldersBy presenting virtual folders in a similar way, users can adapt to the new system more quickly. Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating a routine 300 through which a user provides a query that draws selected items. In block 302, the folder processor obtains a query from the user. In a block 304, the folder processor passes the query to the relationship database. In block 48 306, the relationship database provides the results back to the folder processor. In block 308, the folder processor provides the results to the user in the form of virtual folders and articles. Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating a routine 320 through which virtual folders are constructed and presented on the screen according to either a default query or a user query. In block 322, when a user first opens the virtual folder, a default query is used. This default query is taken from the registry. For example, the default query for a music library can show all songs grouped by album. In block 324, the folder processor constructs a query object for this query, and then passes this query to the relationship database. In a block 326, the relationship database generates the results of the query and passes this back to the folder processor as columns and rows of the database. In block 328, the folder processor takes these results and converts them from rows and columns of data to an enumerator structure, which is used by the folder view to populate the screen with the resulting virtual folders and articles so that the user can interact. In decision block 330, a user decides whether to change the view (by issuing a different query or "pivot"). For example, a user can issue a "show all artists" pivot. If the user wishes to change the view, then the routine returns to block 324 where the folder processor passes this new query to the relationship database, and receives new rows and result columns back, and builds a new structure of enumerator. The procedure then continues as described above, as the folder view is cleaned and updated, using the enumerator to trace the "artist" objects to the screen. In one example, album objects representing containers are provided where users can browse. For example, when doing a double oppression in the "Beatles" albums, the view will navigate to see all the songs of the Beatles. The folder processor issues the query "show all Beatles songs" to the relationship database, which handles the rows and columns of data for those songs. The folder processor creates an enumerator of all these songs, which you then drag to the screen. The user can also select the view at any point while navigating in virtual folders. From the previous example, after narrowing to adjust and show Beatles songs, a user can change the view only to show the songs as albums. The processing of changing the view of articles to another representation is called "stacking". This is because the articles are conceptually arranged in "piles" based on that representation. In this case, the songs are rearranged in piles for each of the several 50 albums. Users can then navigate to one of these stacks, only by watching the songs of that particular album. Again, the user can redispose the view of these remaining songs in stacks based on a property (for example, a classification, for example). If the classification property was selected, the Beatles album songs would be displayed in stacks for a rating of one, two or three stars. The results of each query depend on where the physical locations are included in the coverage. For example, coverage can be made to include only the folders in the user's "my documents" folder. Alternatively, the coverage can include all the folders on the computer, or even all the folders on multiple networked computers. The user is able to see and change coverage through a cover property sheet. In a modality, the property sheet in coverage can be exposed by pressing the right button in the virtual folder and selecting "properties". The user can add new folders to the coverage, or remove folders that were previously added. A group of users for whom virtual folders will provide a particular utility, is recognition workers. Virtual folders allow reconnaissance workers to easily switch between split documents by file type, project, case number, author, etc. Since reconnaissance workers each tend to have a different method for organizing documents, virtual folders can be used to adapt these different preferences. Figure 5 is a tree diagram of a folder structure according to a physical folder arrangement in a hard disk drive. This physical folder arrangement is based on traditional folder implementation, which can be based on NTFS or other existing file systems. These folders are referred to as physical folders since their structuring is based on the current physical underlying file system structure on the disk. As will be described in more detail later, this is in contrast to virtual folders, which create location-independent views that allow users to manipulate files and folders so that they are similar to those currently used to manipulate physical folders. As illustrated in Figure 5, a folder 400 is a folder of "my documents". In a first level, folder 400 includes folders 410, 420 and 430, which correspond to clients 1, 2 or 3, respectively. At a second level, each of the folders 410, 420 and 430 contain a folder 411, 421 and 431, respectively, which each corresponds to the contracts for the selected customer. In a third level, each of the folders 411, 421 and 431 contains a folder 412, 422 and 432, respectively, each corresponding to the year 2001. In the third level, each of the folders 411, 421 and 431 also contains a folder 413, 423 and 433, respectively, each corresponding to the year 2002.

It will be appreciated that a number of obstacles is presented to a user who wishes to navigate in a physical folder file structure such as that illustrated in Figure 5. For example, if the user wishes to work with all the contracts that the user has produced , the user will first need to navigate to folder 411 to work with contracts for client 1, and then he will have to navigate back to folder 421 to get contracts for client 2, and he will have to navigate back to the folder 431 for client contracts 3. This provision makes it difficult for the user to have access to all contracts, and in general, avoids the simultaneous viewing and manipulation of all contracts. Similarly, if the user wants to see all contracts produced in 2001, the user will have to navigate and navigate again and navigate back to folders 412, 422 and 432, respectively. As will be described in more detail below, the virtual folders of the present invention provide an improved file system structure. Figure 6 is a tree diagram of a virtual folder structure. As will be described in more detail later, virtual folders create location-independent views that allow users to manipulate their files and folders in convenient ways. As shown in Figure 6, virtual folders are represented as stacks. A virtual folder 500 is a "all articles" folder. In a first level, the virtual folder 500 contains virtual folders 510, 520 and 530, 53 corresponding to clients, contracts and year, respectively. As will be described in more detail below, this structure allows a user to access files according to a desired parameter. Figure 7 is a tree diagram of the virtual folder structure of Figure 6, where at a second level, the virtual folder 510 also includes virtual folders 511 and 512, corresponding to contracts and year, respectively. In other words, the virtual 510 stack of clients stack is also filtered by contracts and year. The procedure for determining which files and articles are contained in each of the virtual folders will be described in more detail later. Figure 8 is a tree diagram of the virtual folder structure of Figure 7, where at a third level, the virtual folder 511 contains a virtual folder 513, corresponding to one year. In other words, the stack of contracts in the virtual folder 511 is also filtered per year. Although the virtual folder structure for virtual folders 510, 511 and 513 has been structured according to clients, contracts and year, it will be appreciated that virtual folders allow other structuring sequences to occur, as will be described in more detail later on. reference to Figure 9. Figure 9 is a tree diagram of the virtual folder structure of Figure 6, where at a second level, the virtual folder 520 has also been filtered in the virtual folders 521 and 54 522, which correspond to customers and year. At a third level, the virtual folder 521 has also been filtered to a virtual folder 523, which corresponds to one year. The contrast between the organizational structures of Figures 8 and 9 helps to illustrate the flexibility of the virtual folder system. In other words, in a virtual folder system, a user is able to navigate in the virtual folders according to desired parameters, as opposed to being dependent on the location dependent views of a physical file structure such as that illustrated in FIG. Figure 5. Figure 10 is a diagram illustrating a screen display 600 showing the stacks of a document library. As noted above, the stacks can be used to represent a type of virtual folder. As will be described in more detail more ahead, the screen display 600 includes fast link elements 610, 613, filter elements 620-626, activity elements 630-633, information and control elements 640-645, and virtual folder stacks 651-655. The quick link elements include a quick link 610 of "all categories", a quick link 611 of "all authors", a quick link 612 of "January work", and a selection to present additional 613 quick links. As will be described in more detail below, the quick links can be selected by a user to perform desired navigations of the virtual folders. Quick links can be provided by the system, and some quick links can be created and saved by a user. Filter elements include a "filter" indicator 620, an entry template 621, a "by date" indicator 622, a "year" selector 623, a "take an author" selector 624, a 625"take a category", and a 626 selector of "more filters". The "by filter" indicator 620 directs a user to the fact that the items below can be used to filter virtual folders or articles. The entry template 621 provides an area where a user can write a new desired filter term. The "by date" indicator 622 directs a user to the fact that by selecting a date of the "year" selector 623, the virtual folders or articles can be filtered for the selected year. Selector 624 of "take an author" allows a user to filter according to a specific author. The "take a category" selector 625 allows a user to filter according to a selected category. The "more filter" selector 626 allows a user to pull additional filters into the presentation. The activity selectors include a selector 630 of "create a new category", the selectors 631 and 632 of "activity", and a selector 633 of "more activities". As will be described in more detail further, the activities that are presented may be for generally desirable functions, or may be more specifically directed to useful activities for the type of virtual folders that are currently being presented. For example, selector 630 of "create a new category" can be selected by the user to create a new category that will be represented by a new stack. As noted above, the activity selectors 631 and 632 can be more specifically targeted to the type of folders or articles that are being presented. For example, the current presentation is from a document library, for which you can direct the 631 and 632 selectors of "activity" to activities specifically designed for documents, such as editing or creating attachments. If the current library has been a photo library, the "activity" selector 631 and 632 can be for activities specifically aimed at photos, such as forming photo albums or sharing photos with other users. The information and control elements include information lines 640 and 641, a control line 642, a back control 643, and information lines 644 and 645. Information lines 640 and 641 provide information such as current folder navigation virtual or articles. In this example, the information line 640 indicates that the current navigation is to a document library, while the information line 641 indicates the most complete navigation, showing that the document library is within the storage area. The control line 642 provides a number of standard controls, and the back button 643 allows a user to return through a navigation. The information line 644 provides numerical information regarding the contents of the current navigation. At 57 this example, the 644 information line indicates that there are 41 items that take 100 MB in the stacks of the document library. Information line 645 is available to provide additional information, such as additional information regarding a file that is selected. The stacks of the document library include a stack 651 of "ABC Corp.", a stack 652 of "backup", a stack 653 of "business plans", a stack 654 of "XYZ short", and a stack 655 of "Market reports". The number on top of each of the stacks indicates how many items are in each stack. For example, stack 654 of "ABC Corp." It is shown that it includes 8 items. The total number of items in the batteries increases the number of items indicated in the 644 information line, which, as described above, is 41 in this example. An SB selection box is provided, which can be used by a user to select a desired article. The selection of the 651"ABC Corp." stack produces a view of the items in that stack, as will be described later with respect to Figure 11. Figure 11 is a diagram illustrating a screen display showing the items in stack 651 of "ABC Corp." of Figure 10. It should be noted that information lines 640 and 641 now indicate that the present navigation is showing the "ABC Corp." stack The stack 651 of "ABC Corp." it is shown including 8 documents 751-758, corresponding to documents 1-8, respectively. The information line 644 correspondingly 58 indicates that there are 8 items that will take 20 MB of memory. The documents of Figure 11 may also be arranged in stacks within the stack of ABC Corp. In other words, within the virtual folder represented by stack 651 of ABC Corp., additional virtual folders may be organized to maintain the documents, as will be described later with respect to Figures 12-16. Figure 12 is a diagram illustrating a screen display where a stacking function is selected for the documents of Figure 11. As shown in Figure 12, the user is able to pull a function box 760. The box of function 760 includes a 761 selection of "see", a selection 762 of "arrange icons by", a selection 363 of "stacks", a selection 764 of "refresh", a selection 765 of "open contention files", a selection 766 of "cut" ^ a selection 767 of "copy", a selection 768 of "undo", a selection 769 of "new", and a selection 770 of "properties". The SB selection box is shown to be around the 763 selection of "batteries". Figure 13 is a diagram illustrating a display screen where a "stacking by author" parameter is selected for the stacking function of Figure 12. As shown in Figure 13, a box 780 is presented, which shows several stacking options. Stacking options include a "do not stack" option 781, a "stack by category" option 782, a "stack by author" option 783, and a 784 option of "stack by a user". The SB selection box is shown to be around option 783 of "stack by author". Figure 14 is a diagram illustrating a screen presentation where the files of Figure 13 have been stacked by author. As shown in Figure 14, stacks 791 and 792 correspond to authors Bob and Lisa, respectively. As indicated by the authors at the top of each of the stacks, Bob's 791 stack includes 2 items, while Lisa's 792 stack includes 5 items. Article 758 (corresponding to document 8) does not have an author, and thus was not included in an "author" stack. Stacks 791 and 792 illustrate that stacks can be organized at multiple levels, such as within stack 651 of "ABC Corp.". In this way, virtual folders can be formed at multiple levels, such as stack 792 of "Lisa" that is inside stack 651 of "ABC Corp." which is inside the document library. Figure 15 is a diagram illustrating a screen display where a "stack by category" option is also selected to re-stack the files in Figure 14. As shown in Figure 15, the SB selection box is around option 782 of "stack by category". Since some of the items are already stacked in piles 791 and 792, the selection of option 782 of "stack by category" will re-stack the items, as will be described in more detail below with reference to Figure 16.

Figure 16 is a diagram illustrating a screen display where the files of Figure 14 are stacked by category. As shown in Figure 16, batteries 793 and 794 correspond to the categories of "XYZ Corp." and "market reports", respectively. Articles 751 and 752, which correspond to documents 1 and 2, were not designated for any of the additional categories, and thus did not fall into any of the other category stacks. Figure 17 is a diagram illustrating a screen display where a quick link for physical folders is selected. The selection box SB is shown to be around the quick link 616 of "all folders". As will be described in more detail below with respect to Figure 18, the "all folders" quick link 616 provides switching to a physical folder view. Figure 18 is a diagram illustrating a screen display showing physical folders. The physical folders shown contain the files of the virtual file stacks of Figure 17. In other words, the items contained within stacks 651-655 of Figure 17 are also contained in certain physical folders in the system. These are shown in Figure 18 as a folder 851 of "my documents" that is located on the current computer, a folder 852 of "desktop" that is located on the current computer, a folder 853 of "Foo" that is located on the computer. the hard drive C, a folder 854 of "my files" that 61 is located on a server, a folder 855 of "external drive" that is located on an external drive, a folder 856 of "my documents" that is located on another computer, and a 857"desktop" folder that is located on another computer. As shown in Figure 18, a user is able to switch from the representation of virtual files of Figure 17 to the physical file representation of Figure 18. This allows a user to alternate between virtual file representations and file representations. physical, depending on which one you want for a current task. The different locations of the physical folders 851-857 also illustrate that the virtual file system screen may be relatively wide, as will be described in more detail below. Figure 19 is a flow diagram illustrating a routine 880, through which a user can directly manipulate virtual folders. As will be described in more detail later, the mechanisms that are provided for manipulating virtual folders are similar to those currently used to manipulate regular folders (for example, press and drag, copy, paste, etc.). As shown in Figure 9, in block 882, the system provides defined actions that the user can perform for the direct manipulation of the virtual folders that are represented as representation objects. In block 884, the user performs a defined action. As noted above, an example of this may be for a user 62 to click and drag a virtual folder to copy its contents to another virtual folder. In block 886, the virtual folder and / or contents are manipulated as they are directed through the action performed by the user. Figure 20 is a diagram illustrating a screen representation where a new 656 stack has been added from the west coast to the stacks of Figure 10. The 656 stack of Costa Occidental was formed by a user creating a new category of "Costa Western". After its initial creation, the new 656 West Coast pile could be empty and have zero items. In the modality of Figure 20, two items have been added to pile 656 of the west coast. One method to add items to a stack is to select a particular item, and either modify or add additional categories to the category metadata for the item, such as adding the category of "West Coast" to two articles that were made in the modality of Figure 20. This procedure illustrates that the category data is a metadata property for an article that is of an ad property type. hoc In other words, a property of this type has no implicit meaning, and can be assigned an arbitrary value by the user. For example, the category "property" can have any value, while the "author" property must be in the name of a person. As will be described in more detail below with reference to Figure 21, items may also be pressed and dragged to be copied from other stacks 63 to West Coast stack 656 (in which case, article categories are automatically updated. to include "West Coast." In this regard, Figure 20 shows that the selection box SB is around the ABC stack 651 short, in preparation for its contents to be copied.Figure 21 is a diagram illustrating a presentation screen, where direct manipulation is used to copy the files from ABC Corp.'s 651 stack to Western Coast 656. In other words, as shown in Figure 20, the user selected ABC CoPR 651 ., and then, as shown in Figure 21, the user clicked and dragged the stack to be copied to Western Coast 656. In this way, the West Coast 656 The items in Figure 20 are now shown including a total of 10 items, including the 8 additional items from the ABC Corp. 651 stack. When items from the ABC Corp. 651 stack are copied to the 656 West Coast stack , this was achieved by modifying the category descriptions of the eight articles to also include the category of "West Coast" in addition to the original category of ABC Corp. This illustrates a type of direct manipulation that can be performed. Another example of direct manipulation is to press the right side of an item and select delete. In one embodiment, when a deletion function is selected by a user, the user is consulted whether the article should be deleted or simply removed from the present virtual folder. If the article is only to be removed from a stack of virtual folder category present as noted above, this can be achieved by removing the desired category of metadata for the article. In other words, if one of the items that has been copied from stack 651 of ABC Corp, to pile 656 of West Coast after it was removed from pile 656 of West Coast, this can be achieved by modifying the category data for the file particular to no more to include the category of "Western Coast". Figure 22 is a flow diagram illustrating a routine 900 for the system to dramatically generate new filter terms. The filter terms are used to manipulate virtual folders. The filtering terms are essentially used as a group of tools to narrow a group of articles. In one mode, the filters consist of the category of metadata and its values (presented to the user in the user interface as links that can be pressed or scrollable menus). The user clicks on a filter term in order to filter the group of current article results in the presentation. Figure 22 illustrates how many filters can be dynamically generated. As shown in Figure 22, in block 902, the properties (of the metadata) of the articles in a collection of the current presentation are reviewed. In block 904, proposed filter terms are generated dynamically based on common properties of the items. In block 906, the proposed filter terms 65 are presented to the user for possible selection to filter articles. As an example of this procedure, the system can review the properties of a group of articles, and if the articles usually have "authors" as a property, the filter can provide a list of the authors to filter. Then, by clicking on a particular author, the articles that do not have that author will be removed from the group in the presentation. This filtering procedure provides the user with a mechanism to narrow the group of items in the presentation. Figure 23 is a flow chart illustrating a routine 920 for the system to filter articles based on the selection of a filter term. In block 922, the user either enters a new filter of a new filter term or selects one of the filter terms that have been presented by the system. As noted above, the filter terms can be dynamically generated by the system, or they can be preset. In block 924, the items in the collection in the presentation are evaluated with respect to whether their selected properties match the filter term. For example, if the filter term is for items that were authorized by "Bob," then the items are evaluated according to either their copyright property that includes "Bob." In block 926, items for which the selected properties do not match the filter term are removed from the collection in the presentation. 66 Figures 24-29 generally illustrate how the filtering procedure appears in the screen display. As will be described below with reference to Figures 24-29, in one embodiment, filtration can generally operate in accordance with the following procedure. After the user clicks on a filter value, the items outside the filter scale are animated on the screen. The animation is usually designed to make it obvious that the items are being removed and that no new items are to be added. The back button 643 can be selected by a user in order to undo the filter operations. In one embodiment, a navigation stack is created containing the sequential filter actions, which are used to undo each of the filter actions when the back button 643 is selected. Each time a filter value is selected, the Information areas 640 and 641 are updated to indicate the current filter value. In one embodiment, after a filter value is selected, a user is provided with the option of saving a new fast link for the current filter navigation, as will be described in more detail below with respect to Figure 30. As the filter values are selected, the filter controls can be updated to make them appropriate for the articles to remain in the view. Figure 24 is a diagram illustrating a screen display where the stacks of Figure 10 have been filtered by the term "AB". As shown, in the filter area 621, the term 67"AB" has been written by a user. Information lines 640 and 641 indicate that the articles in the presentation are now those that have been filtered by the term "AB". As shown, stack 651 of ABC Corp. still contains eight items, although stack 652 of backups now contains three items, and stack 654 XYZ Copr., Also contains three items. The information line 644 in this way indicates that there is a total of 14 articles, taking a total of 35 MB of memory. Figure 25 is a diagram illustrating a screen display where the stacks of Figure 10 have been filtered by the term ABC. With respect to the filter term "AB" of Figure 24, the user simply has to write the additional letter "C" to make the total filter term "ABC". As shown in Figure 25, information lines 640 and 641 now indicate that the articles in the presentation are those that contain the term "ABC". The stack 651 of ABC Corp. still shows that it contains eight items, while the stack 652 of backups now contains only two items. The 654 stack of XYZ Corp. has disappeared because none of its contents match the "ABC" filter. The 644 information line now indicates that there is a total of 10 items in the stacks in the presentation, which take a total of 25 MB of memory. Figures 24 and 25 in this way provide an example of how a user can introduce new filter terms, and how those filter terms are then used to filter the items shown in the presentation. The back button 643 can be used by a user to return through the filtering procedure. As described above with respect to Figure 10, the back button 643 allows a user to return through a navigation. With respect to the examples of Figures 24 and 25, after filtering by the term "ABC" in Figure 25, a user can select the back button 643 in order to return a step of the filtering procedure, which it may return to the state of Figure 24. Alternatively, in another embodiment, the back button 643 may clear the entire filter term, and thus may return to the state before filtering occurs. In this case, by pressing the back button 643 in Figure 25, a user may return to the state of Figure 10. In one embodiment, in addition to the back button, an additional means may be provided for a user to return or otherwise modify. filtering navigation. This additional means involves the user being able to directly access and modify the information line 641, which correspondingly changes the filter navigation. In other words, by directly accessing and modifying the information line 641, the user can remove one or more of the applied filters, or modify the values for any of the applied filters. This aspect is described in greater detail in the patent application of E. U. A. No. 69 10 / 420,040, filed on April 17, 2003, which is commonly assigned and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. You can also use a stopwatch together with a user who writes filter terms such as those shown in Figure 24 and 25. The stopwatch is used to verify a pause in the user's writing. After a selected non-writing interval, the filter is applied. For example, in the state of Figure 24, a user has written the filter term "AB", without any significant time delay between "A" and "B". After writing the term "AB" the user pauses, thereby producing the state shown in Figure 24, where the filter term "AB" is applied. Subsequently, the user adds the letter "C" to complete the filter term "ABC", and then pauses again, at that point the filter term "ABC" is applied as illustrated in Figure 25. In one modality, after a user has written a filter term in the filter area 621, and then selects another filter or navigation, the navigation state is updated, and the filter term in the filter area 621 is made to be empty of new. In addition, as will be described in more detail below with reference to Figures 26-29, other filter controls can be updated based on the selection of certain filter terms. Figure 26 is a diagram illustrating a screen display and the filter term provided by the "year 2002" system is selected. As noted above, under the 622 date indicator, the 623 year selections include the years 200, 2001 or 2002. The SB selection box is displayed around the year 2002, indicating that the user is selecting that as the filter term wanted. Figure 27 is a diagram illustrating a screen presentation where the term "2002" filter has been applied. The additional selection of the "take a month" selector 623A is also shown. As shown in Figure 27, after applying the filter term "2002", the number of items in the stacks has been reduced. More specifically, ABC Corp.'s 651 stack now contains six items, the 652 stack of backups now contains eight items, the 653 stack of business plans now contains three items, and the 654 stack of XYZ Copr. Now contains five. articles. The 644 information line now indicates a total of 22 articles, taking a total of 50 MB of memory. Information lines 640 and 641 now indicate that the items shown in the presentation are those that have been filtered to contain the filter term "2002". Figure 28 is a diagram illustrating a screen presentation where a list for selecting a month for filtering is presented. A 950 box is provided that includes the list of months. Box 950 has been provided in the presentation because the user selects selector 623A to "take a month". The SB selection box is displayed around the month of January. Figure 29 is a diagram illustrating a screen display, where the stacks of Figure 28 have also been filtered by the month of January, and they also show a filter term of "day". As shown in Figure 29, information lines 640 and 641 now indicate that the articles in the presentation are those that have been filtered by the term "January". Backup stack 652 is now shown with having two items, while stack 653 of business plans is also shown containing two items. The 644 information line indicates that there is a total of four articles in the presentation, which takes a total of 10 MB of memory. A 623B "take per day" selector is provided, if the user wishes to further filter the results on a specific day. As described above with respect to Figures 24-29, the filter terms may be presented in the system, or written by a user. Once a filter term is selected, the remaining filter terms that are presented can be updated (for example, after the year "2002" is selected in Figure 26, in Figure 27 the options for selecting year already they are no longer presented and rather a "take a month" option is provided). As noted above, the back button 643 may be selected by a user to return through the filtering procedure. For example, after the month of "January" has been selected in Figure 29, the user can select the back button 643 72 to return the filtering procedure to the year "2002", as illustrated in Figure 27. The filter menu may also include a "per-stack" function, which may work similarly to the per-stack function described above with respect to Figures 15 and 16. For example, a "filter type" filter may have selections for "Excel", "PowerPoint", "World", and also "stack for writing file". By selecting the "per stack" function the view is changed to show stacks of the various file types. In general, filters can be configured to apply to different properties of files or articles. In one mode, filters can be classified according to different types, such as: alphabetical index, discrete values; dates; and numerical scales. Illustrative properties for the alphabetical index may include the file name, author, artist, friendly contact name, owner, document author, document title, document subject, and description. Illustrative properties for discrete values can include location, file type (application names), genre, view, decade (for music), classification (for music), bit rate, protection, document category, page account document, document comments, camera model, dimensions, product name, product version, X image, Y image, and document creation time. The illustrative properties for the dates can include the last access, the last modification, created in, taken in (for images). An illustrative property for the numerical scale 73 may be the file size. It will be appreciated that the filters described above with respect to Figures 24-29 allow users to reduce a list of items to find a particular item that is of interest. As a specific example, according to the procedures described above, a user can narrow down a current list of documents to only display Microsoft Word files, authorized by a particular person and edited in the last week. This functionality allows a user to find a particular item in a list of many, and helps the user avoid having to manually scan each item in the list. Figure 30 is a flow diagram illustrating a routine 940 for creating a new fast link. As will be described in more detail below, quick links are predefined links that can be clicked by a user to create views selected by the user of the item groups. In one mode, a quick link can be thought of as a type of pivot, quick links provide a mechanism to retrieve a virtual folder. The oppression of a quick link can take a user to a desired folder (in the same way as when you click on a "favorites" box that can take a user to a website). Quick links can be predefined by the system, or can be set by a user. For example, oppression in "all authors" can return a view stacked by 74 authors. The oppression of "all documents" can return a flat view for all documents for all storage areas. Users can also create their own quick links. As shown in Figure 30, in block 942, a user makes a selection in the presentation to indicate that a new fast link must be formed from the current filter term or navigation. In block 944, the user provides a new name for the new quick link. In block 946, the new quick link is saved and the new fast link name is provided in the quick link section in the presentation. Figure 31 is a diagram illustrating a screen display to create a new quick link called "January work" based on the filtering of Figure 29. As described above, in Figure 29, the stacks have been filtered by the month of January. In Figure 31, the user has indicated that the filtering of Figure 29 should be saved as a new quick link, and has named the new quick link as "January work". In this way, the new quick work link for January 612 is shown in the quick links section of the presentation. With respect to the formation of new quick links, the user is usually provided with the option such as "save this collection as a quick link". Figure 32 is a diagram illustrating a screen display where a quick link of "all 75 authors" is selected. As shown in Figure 32, the SB selection box is displayed around the 611 selection of all authors. Other examples of collections that can be accessed by quick links include "all authors", "recent documents", "all documents that are shared", "all documents that have been authorized", "all documents not authorized by me", "desk" and "all types". Figure 33 is a diagram illustrating a screen presentation where a list of all the authors of the items in Figure 32 is presented. As shown in Figure 33, a 950 information line is provided, which indicates columns to show the name of an article, the author, the modified date, the type, the size and the location of an article. A list of authors 951-954 is shown, corresponding to authors 1-4, respectively. Figure 34 is a diagram illustrating a screen presentation where "author 1" is selected from the list in Figure 33. The documents of author 1 include documents 951A and 951B, corresponding to documents and 2, respectively. Document 951A is shown to have been authorized by author 1, and was modified on July 11, 2001, and is a Microsoft Excel file, takes 282 Kb of memory, and was obtained from the location of 2 times / servedM / folder 2. Document 951B is shown to have been authorized by author 1, was modified on December 22, 2002, and is a Microsoft Word file, took 206 kilobits of memory, and was physically stored in the location of My Documents / folder 1. The locations of documents 951A and 951B also illustrate that the virtual folders of the present invention may contain articles of different physical locations, as will be described in greater detail below. Figure 35 is a flow diagram illustrating a routine 960 for creating a new library. An example of a library is the document library described above with reference to Figure 10. In general, libraries consist of large groups of used types of files that can be jointly associated. For example, the photos can be a library, the music can be another and the documents can be another. Libraries can provide tools and activities that are related to particular types of articles. For example, in the photo library, there may be tools and filters that refer to the manipulation of photos, such as to create displacement samples or shared images. As shown in Figure 35 in block 962, a new library is created, which will include items with selected features. In block 964, the selected articles are grouped in the library. In block 955, tools and / or activities related to the selected characteristics of the articles or other desired functions are provided. Figure 36 is a diagram illustrating a screen display showing a collection of available libraries 77. As illustrated in Figure 36, the libraries include a library of documents 971, a photo and video library 972, a music library, 973 a message library 974, a contact library 975, and a television library and 976 movies, as well as a library of all 977 items. The library of all 977 items is shown including 275 items, which is the total number of items from all the other libraries combined. The 644 information line indicates a total of 275 articles, which take a total of 700 MB of memory. It should be noted that the document library 971 is the library that was previously described with respect to Figure 10. Figure 37 is a flow diagram illustrating a routine 990 for defining the screen of a virtual folder collection. As will be described in more detail below, a virtual folder system is capable of representing items from multiple physical locations (eg, different hard drives, different computers, different network locations)., etc.), so that, to a user, all articles are easily accessible. For example, a user can be presented with music files from multiple physical locations in a single presentation, and manipulate the files all at once. As shown in Figure 37, in block 992, a screen is defined for the physical locations from which items are traced. In block 994, in response to a query, the 78 items are plotted from the physical locations as defined on the screen. In block 996, all items traced by the query are presented in a single presentation. Figure 38 is a block diagram illustrating the various sources that can form the screen of a virtual folder collection. As shown in Figure 38, system 1000 may include a present computer 1010, an additional computer 1020, external and removable storage 1030, and locations in a 1040 network. The total screen 1001 is described as including all physical locations from from which user's items are drawn to create collections. The screen can be set and modified by the user. As noted above, other figures have illustrated that the articles may come from different physical locations, such as Figure 34 that shows different documents coming from a server and a My Documents folder in a present computer, and in Figure 18 showing physical folders that are physically stored in multiple locations. Figure 39 is a flow diagram illustrating a routine 1080 to include articles that are not files in a virtual folder collection. The articles that are archives are contrasted with archive items that are typically located in a physical file storage. Examples of items that are not files could be things like emails or contacts. As shown in Figure 39, in block 1082, a database is used to include articles that are not files together with archive items that can be searched by a query. In block 1084, in response to a query, both non-archival articles and archive articles are treated to match the query. In block 1086, both the articles that are not files and the file items that match the query are presented in the presentation. Figure 40 is a diagram illustrating a screen display showing several items that do not file. As shown in Figure 40, the articles have been filtered for those that include "John." The articles are shown including a contact article 1101, an email article 1102 and document articles 1103 and 1104. The contact article 1101 and the email article 1102 are articles that are not files. The present system allows such non-archive articles to be included with regular archive items, so that they can be organized and manipulated as the user wishes. As described above with respect to Figure 2, said non-file items may be contained completely within the relationship database 230, which otherwise includes information regarding the file properties. Figures 41-50 are diagrams related to a virtual address bar that corresponds to information line 641 of Figure 10 and which is formed in accordance with the present invention. As will be described in more detail below, the virtual address bar comprises a plurality of segments, and each segment corresponds to a filter for selecting content. Collectively, the corresponding filters of each segment represent a virtual address to select the content. Figure 41 is a block diagram of an illustrative computing environment 1200, suitable for operating the virtual address bar, or any other aspect of the present invention described herein. The illustrative network computing environment 1200 includes a computing device 1202, such as the personal computer described with respect to Figure 1, for interacting with a user, and through which the user can view stored files either locally or remotely. to the computing device. Although the following discussion describes the present invention in relation to a personal computer, it should be understood that the computing device 1202 includes many types of physical devices including, but not limited to, minicomputers and macrocomputers, PDAs, tablet computers, and other devices able to interact with a user and present files and content stored on the computing device and elsewhere. The illustrative network computing environment 1200 may also include, remote servers, such as server 1204, which stores files accessible to computing device 1202, and connected to the computing device through a communication network, such as Internet 1206 , as shown in Figure 41. In addition, the computing device 1202 may also be connected to other sources of information that store files or other content, such as a remote database 1208. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the files and information stored both on the remote server 1204 or on the remote database 1208, as well as the local storage device, such as a hard drive (Figure 1), can be accessed, and can be presented in, the computing device 1202 as part of a file system integrated in the computing device. In addition, although a particular configuration of a remote server 1204 and a remote database 1208 is presented in Figure 41, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that this particular configuration is for illustrative purposes only, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. Figure 42 illustrates an illustrative file display 1300 having a conventional address bar 1302 associated with presentation files in a computer file system, as found in the prior art. For purposes of the present invention, a file viewer is a view or window in a display device, such as the display device (Figure 1), to present files or other content to a user. A file viewer can be a window that corresponds to an executable program specifically to present files to the user. Alternatively, a file viewer 82 may be a view within an open or closed dialog box in an executable program that must store or retrieve data from a storage device connected locally or remotely to the computer system. It should be noted that the above examples of a file viewer are illustrative, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. An address in the conventional address bar 1302 corresponds to a specific location in a file system. As previously described, in order to avoid the address presented in the conventional address bar 1302, a user must modify the address according to a specific recognition of the file system. Alternatively, a user may select an entry in a tree view 1304 to navigate to an alternative location. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other controls external to address bar 1203 may also be available and are not shown in the illustrative file view 1300. Although the address presented in the conventional address bar 1302 corresponds to a specific location in a file system, the related files distributed among multiple folders in the file system can not be presented together with the conventional address bar 1302. Figure 43 illustrates an illustrative file viewer 1400 having a virtual address bar 1402 associated with the presentation of files in a computer file system. The virtual address bar 1402 corresponds to the information line 641 of Figure 10. The virtual address bar 1402, having a virtual address 1404, is configured to present information similar to that presented by the conventional address 1304 of the prior art file viewer 1300 of Figure 42. A virtual address, also referred to as a virtual path, refers to files stored in a computer file system according to selection criteria. Similar to the conventional address such as address 1304 of Figure 42, the selection criteria of the virtual address may refer to files stored at a specific location in the file system hierarchy. However, in contrast to a conventional address, the selection criteria of the virtual address can also refer to files without considering their specific file system location. In this way, a virtual address can refer to files stored in multiple locations in a computer file system. As shown in Figure 43, the file viewer 1400, according to the virtual address 1404 in the virtual address bar 1402, is able to present additional files, such as the files 1406 and 1408, not found in the viewer of file 1300 of Figure 43. In addition, the virtual address bar 1402 may also be used to present content other than files in a computer file system. 84 For example, virtual address bar 1402 can be used to reference content including system devices, system services, or Internet locations. Figure 44A illustrates the manipulation of a segment of the virtual address 1404 in the virtual address bar 1402, in order to navigate in a computer file system. Each virtual address bar, such as the virtual address bar 1402, is composed of one or more interactive segments, such as segments 1502, 1504, 1506 and 1508. Each segment in a virtual address bar corresponds to a predetermined filter, or selected criteria, all of the available content or files accessible to a computer file system. Collectively, the filters of all the segments in a virtual address bar 1402 represent the virtual address of the virtual address bar. The first segment in a virtual address bar, such as segment 1502, is referred to as a root segment, or root filter. The root segment represents the broadest category of content available for selection by virtual address bar 1402. For example, segment 1502 of "File" could probably represent a filter that references all files accessible in the computer file system. Alternatively, a root segment may represent a filter that refers to all the system services available to the user in the computation system, or a filter that refers to all the hardware devices and installed in the computation system. Those skilled in the art will recognize that numerous other alternative root files can be used by the present invention. In this manner, the examples described above are provided for illustrative purposes, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. In addition, the tags presented for each segment, such as "Files" in the root segment 1502, are illustrative and should not be constructed as limitations of the present invention. According to one embodiment, a label presented in a segment is configurable by the user. Each additional segment in a virtual address bar 1402, such as the segments 1504, 1506 and 1508, represent additional filters that will be applied when selecting or presenting files or content in a file viewer 1400. For example, the root segment 1502 , "Files", refers to all the files available for the computer system. Segment 1504, "Volume Library 2", filters the files selected by the root segment 1502, selecting those files that were generated as documents by the user, such as through a word processor, spreadsheet, or some another document generation application. The 1506 fragment, "Word Documents," filters the files selected by segment 1504 according to those documents that were generated using a word processor, such as the Microsoft Corporation Word application. Finally, the 86th segment 1508, "Author A", filters the word processing documents selected by segment 1506 according to either one authorized by "author A". In this way, the content selected according to the virtual address represented in the virtual address bar 1402 must satisfy the filters corresponding to all the segments in the virtual address bar. The segments in the virtual address bar 1402 are generally ordered from those filters that are mostly Inclusive, to those filters that are at least inclusive. For example, as previously discussed, segment 1502, "Files," is the widest and most inclusive. Segments 1506, "Word Documents", and segment 1508, "Author A", are less inclusive. The virtual address bar 1402 illustrates the arrangement of the segments from left to right, and, for the purposes of the present discussion, the segments 1504, 1506 and 1508 are subsequent to the root segment 1502. However, it should be understood that other orientations, such as a top-down arrangement, are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. In this way, the orientation from left to right should be seen as illustrative and constructed as a limitation of the present invention. As previously mentioned, the segments in a virtual address bar 1402, such as the segments 1502, 1504, 1506 and 1508, do not necessarily correspond to specific locations in a computational file system, such as folders, controllers, and directories . In this way, segment 1504, "Document Library", can refer to files or content distributed on multiple servers, controllers, or folders / directories. However, certain segments in a virtual address bar 1402 can refer to specific locations with a computational file system hierarchy. An additional discussion of virtual address segments referring to specific file system locations is provided below with respect to Figures 48A and 48B. In contrast to a conventional address bar, each segment in a virtual address bar 1402 represents an interactive user interface element operable. For example, a segment in a virtual address bar 1402 is responsible for the selection of the user, verifies if a course is located over the segment for a specific period of time, and can be removed from the virtual address bar through a drag interaction by the user. In this way, as shown in Figure 44A, a user may place a cursor 1510 on a segment in virtual address bar 1402, such as segment 1504"Document Library", to select, or press, on that segment , in order to navigate to that level, that is, truncate the virtual address in that segment, as described with respect to Figure 44B. Figure 44B illustrates the results of selecting an 88 segment 1504 in the virtual address bar 1402. By pressing on the segment 1504 in the virtual address bar 1402, the user is indicating the desire to navigate to that level in the virtual address. In effect, the user is cutting those filters subsequent to the selected segment. For example, when pressing in segment 1504"Document Library" (Figure 44A), the resulting virtual address 1404 no longer contains segments 1506"Word Documents" and 1508"Author A" (Figure 44A). In addition, since the user has navigated to a group of less restrictive filters, the resulting virtual address 1404 in the virtual address bar 1402 is more inclusive. This is indicated by adding documents in the file viewer 1400 of Figure 44B not previously found in the file viewer 1400 of Figure 44A, including document 1512, document 1514, and document 1516, and by the presence of a button of displacement 1518 indicating that additional files that can be viewed can not be presented in the file viewer 1400 (Figure 44B) due to space limitations. In addition to selecting segments in a virtual address bar to navigate to a less restrictive segment, a user may also wish to navigate to, or select current pair segment filters in a virtual address. A peer filter is an alternative filter that can be selected and applied to a given segment in the virtual address bar. For example, referring to Figure 44A, even filters for segment 1506, 89"Word documents", may include filters such as "Excel Documents", "Journals", and the like. Other types of filters, which include specific file system locations, hardware devices, or computing services, can also be applied to a given segment in a virtual address bar. The peer filters may or may not be logically related to a current of the given segment. Each segment in a virtual address bar can have even filters. The selection of an even filter from a segment in a virtual address bar is sometimes referred to as navigating laterally. The selection of segment pairs filters in a virtual address bar is described below with respect to Figures 45A-45D, and also with respect to Figure 49. Figures 45A-45D are pictorial diagrams illustrating the selection of a filter pair associated with a virtual address segment in a virtual address bar 1600. As shown in Figure 45A, the virtual address bar 1600 has a virtual address comprising multiple segments, segments 1602-1608. In order to select an even filter for a given interactive segment in a virtual address bar 1600, a user must make an alternative address, or alternative manipulation, of that interactive segment. One way to make an alternative selection is to press the right side in a given segment. Oppression on the right side is known in the art and relates to using a secondary button on a mouse, or other input device, where the secondary button is typically on the right-hand side of the mouse. Alternatively, since an interactive segment can verify when a cursor is placed on it, an alternative selection is made by placing the cursor over an interactive segment and leaving the cursor in place for a predetermined period of time, sometimes referred to as fluttering. However, although the present discussion describes alternatives for making even filters available, they are for illustration, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. Those skilled in the art will recognize that there are numerous alternatives for generating an alternative selection. To alternatively illustrate the selection of a segment, with reference to Figure 45A, a user first places the cursor 1610 on segment 1604, "Document Library", for a predetermined time, ie, hovers over the segment, to select that segment. Figure 45B shows the results of the alternative section of segment 1604, "Document Library", in the virtual address bar 1600. As shown in Figure 45B, after the alternative selection of segment 1604, "Document Library" , a pair filter view 1612 is presented including even filters corresponding to the selected segment. It should be understood that the filters presented in the par filter view 1612 are for illustrative purposes only, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

In order to select an alternative pair filter, as shown in Figure 45C, the user places the cursor 1610 on one of the filters presented in the pair 1612 filter view, such as the par 1614 filter, and selects the filter pair. As shown in Figure 45D, after selecting the alternative pair filter 1614, segment 1604, previously selected (Figure 45A), is replaced with a new segment 1616 representing the selected alternative pair filter 1614. In addition, those segments that follow the alternately selected segment 1604 in virtual address 1600 of Figure 45A, specifically segments 1606"Daily" and 1608"All Documents in 2002", are removed from virtual address bar 1600 in Figure 45D. Although not shown, it is said that any of the filters or contents previously selected according to the segments 1604"Document Library", 1606"Journals", and 1608"All Documents in 2002", could no longer be presented in a corresponding file viewer, and only those files or contents selected according to the 1602"File" and 1606"Image Library" segments, could be presented. Segments can be added to a virtual address in a virtual address bar through various user interactions at the end of existing segments. To add a filter to a virtual address in a virtual address bar, a user may manipulate a controllable control that is associated with a particular filter 92 found in a window, or a file viewer with the virtual address bar. For example, with reference to the file viewer 1400 of Figure 43, a user can click on the actionable button 1412"2003" to add a filter corresponding to the virtual address 1404 in the virtual address bar 1402. Alternatively (not shown) , a user can manually enter a known filter at the end of the virtual address by typing the name of the filter. There are numerous other ways of adding a filter to a virtual address, all of which are contemplated as falling within the scope of the present invention. Thus, it should be understood that the foregoing examples are for illustration purposes only, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. When a filter is added to a virtual address in a virtual address bar, a procedure is taken to ensure that the newly added filter does not conflict with any of the existing filters as part of the virtual address. If the newly added filter conflicts with an existing filter, the existing filter is removed. A recently added filter conflicts with an existing filter in a virtual address if the newly added filter varies from the scope of the existing filter, being more or less wide than the existing filter. In addition, a recently added filter conflicts with an existing filter if the newly added filter is mutually explosive to the existing filter. However, a recently added filter that is equivalent to an existing filter is not added since it has no effect. It should be understood that the foregoing description of conflicts is provided only for purposes of illustration, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other conflicts between filters may exist and are contemplated to fall within the scope of the present invention. Figures 46A-46D are pictorial diagrams illustrating the addition of filters to a virtual address 1702 in a virtual address bar 1700, and the removal of existing filters in conflict. Figure 46A illustrates an illustrative virtual address 1702 presented in a virtual address bar 1700. As shown in Figure 46B, a new filter, represented by segment 1702"2002", is added to virtual address 1702. As previously described, new filters are added at the end of the virtual address, as indicated by placing segment 1706 (2002) at the end of the segments in the virtual address bar 1700 of Figure 46B. Then, the procedure taken to add the segment 1706"2002" determines that the aggregate filter does not conflict with any of the current filters in the virtual address 1702. In this way, no existing filter is removed from the virtual address 1702. As shown in Figure 46C, another filter is added to virtual address 1702, represented by segment 1708"Author A". The procedure taken to add this new filter ends 94 that the new filter "Author A" could have conflict with the filter represented by segment 1704"Author AF", since the new filter, "Author A" is narrower than the filter existing. Accordingly, segment 1704"Author A-F" is removed from the virtual address bar 1700, and segment 1708"Author A" is added to the end of the segments in the virtual address bar. Figure 46D illustrates the results of adding segment 1710"2003" to virtual address bar 1700 of Figure 46C. Filters in a virtual address 1702 are restrictive, not cumulative. Each filter also restricts the selected content. In this way, mutually exclusive filters could prevent the virtual address 1702 from selecting any file or content, and in this way, create a conflict. As illustrated in Figure 46D, segment 1706"2002" (Figure 46C) is removed from the virtual address bar 1700 since a conflict is mutually exclusive with the newly added segment 1710"2003". When a virtual address bar, such as the virtual address bar 1800 (Figure 47A), can not completely present the virtual address due to size limitations of the virtual address bar, a portion of the virtual address is presented in accordance with the size of the virtual address bar. However, the portions of the virtual address that are not presented can still be accessed by the user. More specifically, the virtual address bar presents visual indicators operable to move the virtual path within the virtual address bar. Figures 47A and 47B illustrate an illustrative virtual address bar 1800 presenting a virtual address, wherein the virtual address exceeds the presentation capability of the virtual address bar. As shown in Figures 47A and 47B, the scroll cones 1802 and 1804 indicate the direction in which the virtual address bar 1800 can be moved in order to present the previously unpresented portions of the virtual address. However, when the illustrative diagrams demonstrate the use of scroll icons, it is for illustrative purposes only, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. Those skilled in the art will recognize that there are numerous other ways to move the virtual address in a virtual address bar, all of which are contemplated by the scope of the present invention. Figure 48A is a block diagram illustrating a virtual address bar 1900 having segments that refer to both virtual and current locations in a file system. As discussed previously, a virtual address in a virtual address bar 1900 may contain segments that refer to specific locations within a computation file system hierarchy, and also contain segments that refer to virtual or logical locations, within a computer file system. Files or referenda 96 contents by a virtual segment can be distributed in many physical locations. A virtual address bar 1900 can contain segments that refer to physical locations and segments that refer to virtual locations. For example, the virtual address bar 1900 includes the segment 1902"Local Disk (C :)" referring to files or content that is in a specific area in the computation file system, in particular the "C" unit. Alternatively, segment 1904"Case Files" thereof refers to files or content stored in multiple folders in the hierarchy of the computer file system associated with the case files. However, in combination with segment 1902"Local Disk (C :)", segment 1904"Case Files" refers only to those case files found in local unit "C". In addition, the segment 1906"contains fax" also filters the files on the local disk C: and is associated with the case files according to what the word "Fax" contains. As shown in Figure 48B, a virtual address bar 1900 can be configured to function as a conventional address bar. For example, referring to Figure 48A, by placing a cursor 1908 in an empty space of the virtual address bar 1900 and pressing there, the virtual address bar 1900 switches from presentation segments representing a virtual address to the operation as a conventional steering rod having a conventional direction 1910 as shown in Figure 48B. Conventional address 1910 in virtual address bar 1900 of Figure 48B approximates the virtual address presented in virtual address bar 1900 of Figure 48A. However, those filters in virtual address bar 1900 of Figure 48A that do not correspond to physical locations in a computation file system can not be presented and are removed from the conventional address 1910. Specifically, segment 1904 Cases "and segment 1906" Contains Fax "are not part of the conventional 1910 address (Figure 48B). In order to reconfigure a virtual address bar 1900, the function as a conventional address bar, to function normally as a virtual address bar, the user must thus indicate a different way to press in an empty area of the bar. When configured to function as a conventional address bar, a virtual address bar must allow the user to click on the empty area for address editing purposes. The oppression in the empty area in a conventional address bar places an edit cursor at the end of the address / path for editing purposes. Therefore, to reconfigure the virtual address so that it again functions in its normal form as described above, a user must press a predefined key or a key sequence, such as the Esc or Tab key, or place the focus on another area of a window or view by clicking on the other area of the window or view. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other user actions can be used to reconfigure the virtual address bar 1900 to operate again in its normal mode as described above, all this being contemplated within the scope of the present invention. Figure 49 is a flowchart illustrating a par-filter selection routine 2000 for selecting a peer filter for a segment identified in a virtual address bar. Beginning in block 2002, routine 2000 detects an activation of peer filter selection. Activation of the even filter selection procedure was described above with respect to Figures 45A-45D. In block 2004, the segment for which the peer filter selection was requested is identified. In block 2006, the even filters for the identified segment are determined from a predetermined list of even filters. In block 2008, even filters are presented to the user. In block 2010, the selection of the peer filter by the user of the presented even filters is obtained. In the 2012 block, the virtual address is truncated by removing the identifying segment from the virtual address bar, and any additional segments that follow the identified segment. In the 2014 block, a segment representing the selected par filter is appended to the remaining segments in the virtual address bar. Afterwards, routine 2000 ends. Figure 50 is a flow diagram illustrating a filter addition routine 2100, illustrative for adding a filter to a virtual address in a virtual address bar. Beginning at 992 block 2102, the illustrative routine 2100 obtains the filter that will be added to the virtual address. For example, as discussed previously with respect to Figure 43, filters can be added to the virtual address according to the user's actions external to the virtual address bar, or alternatively, it can be added directly to the virtual bar. virtual address by typing in the name of a predefined filter. In block 2104, a determination is made if the new filter conflicts with an existing filter already in the virtual address. As discussed previously with respect to FIGS. 46A-46D, a new filter may conflict with an existing filter substantially narrowing or widening the range of the existing filter. Alternatively, a new filter may conflict with an existing filter because the new filter is mutually exclusive to an existing filter. If, in decision block 2104, the new filter conflicts with an existing filter, in block 2106, the existing filter is removed from the virtual address. Alternatively, in 2104, if the filter does not conflict with an existing filter or, after removing the existing conflict filter in block 2106, in block 2108, the new filter is added to the end of the virtual address. Then, the illustrative routine 2100 ends. Figures 51-57 are diagrams related to a system and method according to another aspect of the invention that provides an enhanced user an experience within an interpreter browser. More specifically, a system and method are provided through which users can more easily identify an article based on the metadata associated with that article. Returning to Figure 51A, a window 2200 represents a screen size display area for a graphical user interface for an interpreter navigator. Window 2200 contains a board area 2202 and a track area 2204. The scheduled board 2200 may include a scheduled control 2206, a user interface (Ul) or edit control 2208, and a task control 2210. Typically , the scheduled control 2206 will provide the user with an image or other virtual presentation of the article being previewed (for example, a selected file). The predicted control 2206 may also present to the user controls such as iteration buttons, which allow the user to move the focus from one article to the next by pressing the button of a mouse. Metadata corresponding to one or more articles and / or metadata corresponding to the article container can be presented in a variety of locations within the 2200 window. For example, edit control and metadata can be co-located within the control area edition 2208, so that the editing control area not only includes a presentation of key properties of the intended article, but also presents the user with the option of making edits to the metadata. The 2210 task control contains important tasks for the namespace and / or selection. 101 For the purposes of the present invention, the terms "metadata" and "user-modifiable metadata" exclude the name of the interpreter article. The term "interpreter article name" refers to the property that is used for purposes of classifying and presenting the article within the interpreter browser. As mentioned before, a single aspect of the present invention is the ability of a user to edit metadata within an interpreter browser. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention contemplates the presence of optional aspects within window 2200. For example, scheduled control 2206 and task control 2210 are not essential features for the purposes of the present invention. However, other non-essential features, which are not shown in Figure 51A, such as a toolbar that includes iteration buttons or a show / hide button, so that the user can open / close the planned board , it is also within the scope of the present invention. However, these and other optional features can help the user easily locate a particular item in the interpreter's browser. The vision area 2204 provides a vision list of one or more items 2212, such as files or filesystem archives. The term "see list" refers to an enumeration or list of items within a container. The terms "article" and "interpreter article" are used interchangeably here to refer to 102 files, folders, and other containers, and other objects that are not files, which can be represented in a vision list. Examples of objects that are not files may include, but are not limited to, contacts, bookmarks, and emails. The terms "interpreter browser" and "file system browser" are used interchangeably here to refer to a browser that allows a user to navigate through various namespaces including files and articles that are not files. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention contemplates many possible designs and representations for sale 2200. For example, the planned board 2202 is shown above the viewing area 2204 in Figure 51A. However, other representations, such as placing the planned board 2202 and the viewing area 2204 collaterally, are within the scope of the present invention. The location of the edit control 2208 is also independent of the location of the submitted metadata and independent of the location of any other control. There are also many possible types of vision for items illustrated in the 2204 vision list area, such as details, slide shows, movie clips, thumbnails, titles, icons, etc. Figure 51B is similar to Figure 51A, except that the viewing area 2204 is replaced by a viewing area 2214 that presents the items 2212 in detail mode. As is typical for 103 interpreter articles presented in details mode, items 2212 are aligned in a column on the left-hand side of the viewing area 2214, and one more column headers 2216 form the upper row of a group of column containing metadata 2218 in relation to the corresponding article located in the same row. Importantly, the present invention contemplates the ability of a user to explicitly change a value of metadata to another value through the application of instances of one or more edit controls 2208 anywhere within the 2200 window. For example, an edit control may be provided within the intended 2202 board and / or within the 2214 editing area. For example, an edit control that is not initially visible to a user, may be provided within the 2214 editing area. this control can be applied to cases, for example, when the user hovers over metadata 2218 and then presses there to enter an edit mode. Referring now to Figure 52, a schematic illustration of a welcome board 2300 is provided in an interpreter browser. A welcome board is sometimes referred to as a "null selection" board, since it represents a space of name or container or place a selection. If the user can not yet make a selection, an expected 2302 dashboard presents 2304 metadata and key tasks in relation to the interpreter library or folder. If desired, the tasks can be separated into main tasks 2306 and other important tasks 104 2308. The welcome board 2300 also includes a 2310 viewing area, where you can see multiple files or other articles 2312. The metadata 2304 of the board Welcome may include information such as container properties (for example, My Images), in which case the presentation of metadata may be static. Alternatively, metadata 2304 of the welcome board may include information such as a sample of metadata of each of the items within the container, in this case, the presentation of metadata may change frequently. For example, the presentation of metadata can be limited to properties of one article at a time by cycling from one article to the next every 30 seconds. Figure 53 is a schematic illustration of a selected 2400 dashboard in an interpreter navigator. Opposed to a welcome board, a selected board represents a selection by the user. If the user selects a container or folder, the selected board does not need to be identical to the welcome board for that containing or folder. In Figure 53, the selected board 2400 includes a planned board 2402, which contains a forecast control 2404, a presentation of metadata 2406 and a presentation of tasks 2408. Like the welcome board 2300 (in Figure 52) the board selected 2400 also includes a 2410 editing area, where you can see multiple files or other items 2412. In Figure 53, however, the user has selected one of the files.

Accordingly, the forecast control 2404 displays a forecast image of the selected file, the metadata display 2406 shows properties of the selected file, and the task display 2408 provides a menu of important tasks to operate on the selected file. Figure 54 is a schematic representation of a selected board of Figure 53, but also includes a context menu 2500 to allow a user to modify metadata in an interpreter browser according to an embodiment of the present invention. The context menu 2500 in Figure 54, which presents the user with several options to change the selected metadata. The generic text shown in menu 2500 is, of course, merely an example of the type of options that can be presented to a user to edit the presented metadata. A context menu can be provided in any window, including a welcome board, to enhance the user experience. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, any number and variety of context menus can be supported by the present invention. For purposes of the present invention, a means for allowing a user to make modifications to metadata presented within an interpreter browser is to provide a context menu such as a context menu of editable metadata 2500. A user may require the context menu , for example, by clicking on the text or corresponding object on the preview board.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention contemplates means other than context media to allow modifications by the user to metadata presented within an interpreter browser. Another of these means is for the user to click on the metadata to enter an edit mode. In contrast, a user can enter an edit mode by hovering over the text or relevant object on the preview board. Numerous alternative means are available which are within the scope of the present invention. Figure 55 is a flow chart illustrating a method 2600 for allowing a user to modify metadata presented on a welcome board within an interpreter browser in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The method 2600 includes the presentation of a welcome board and metadata associated with the welcome board in step 2602. Next, in step 2604, the method provides a control for the user to modify the presented metadata. When the user manipulates the control to modify the presented metadata 2606, the method then associates the modified metadata with the welcome board in step 2608, so that the modified metadata will be presented the next time the welcome board is presented. Figure 56 is a flowchart illustrating a method 2700 for allowing a user to modify displayed metadata 107 on a selected dashboard within an interpreter navigator according to an embodiment of the present invention. In 2702, the 2700 method first presents a number of items, such as items on a welcome board or items in a selected container. When the user selects one or more of the articles in 2704, the method presents the metadata associated with the article (s) selected in 2706. In 2708, the method provides a control for the modification of the metadata presented by a user. When the user manipulates the control to modify the metadata presented in 2710, the method then associates the modified metadata with the article (s) selected in 2712, so that the modified metadata will be presented the next time the article (s) is presented. . In the case where a user selects multiple articles in 2704, the presented metadata can include properties of intersection of the selected articles, a union of properties, or perhaps a new property relevant to the selected articles. Alternatively, the submitted metadata may include a rotating sample of metadata for each of the selected articles (for example, cyclizing from a selected article metadata to the next selected article metadata every 30 seconds.) It is possible that the presentation of metadata that might result of a selection of all articles, be identical to the presentation of metadata that could result from a null selection.

Figure 27 is a block diagram of a data structure 2800 containing user-modifiable metadata associated with an article presented in an interpreter browser. The data structure 2800 includes a title field 2802, which indicates the name of the article. In the case of articles that are not files, the title field 2802 may contain the name of any property that is used to alphabetize that item in the vision list. The data structure 2800 includes a field of editable properties by the user 2804, containing one or more properties associated with the presented article, wherein the editable properties by the user are presented in the interpreter's browser with the presented article. The data structure 2800 can optionally include a read-only properties field 2806, which contains any read-only property associated with the presented article and worthy of display in the interpreter's browser. Given the size restrictions of metadata presentation in the interpreter browser, the number of properties in fields 2804 and 2806 may be limited. Accordingly, data structure 2800 can optionally include a field of all properties 2808, which contains a link or pointer to a location (eg, a property page), which contains all the properties or metadata associated with the article submitted . Of course, the field of all properties 2808 might not be necessary in the case where fields 2804 and 2806 contain all of the 109 properties associated with the submitted article. The data structure 2800 is stored in one or more computer readable media, such as in the file system or interpreter, to provide rich views in storage, and thus an improved user experience, within the interpreter browser. The present invention enables a number of scenarios that were not possible with conventional interpreter browsers. As a first example, a student can manage their projects using the planned board. When you get new documents, part of a project, you could work on them, you can select those documents in your document library and enter the name of the author of the document and the name of the project in the keyword fields using the edit control. Now the new documents will show your favorite view: "Documents Grouped by Keyword and Listed by Author". A second example in a new scenario enabled by the present invention involves an employee looking for materials for a campaign. As you browse through your collection of employee storage photographs using the interpreter browser, select a pair of images and, from the planned dashboard, add a new keyword "2003 Summer Campaign." Having updated the metadata for a multiple selection, the employee then pivots through the keyword and can see all the files of "2003 Summer Campaign" 110 grouped there. Many other scenarios that take advantage of the present invention could be apparent to those skilled in the art. Figures 58-66 are diagrams related to a system and method for obtaining the functionality of an object previewer in an interpreter browser configured to present a plurality of articles representing multiple types of article. As will be described in more detail below, an interpreter browser including a default previewer and an extension mechanism is provided. The default previewer provides a standard level of functionality for multiple types of items. The extension mechanism allows functionality beyond the standard level provided by the default previewer for one or more types of items. Figure 58 is a schematic diagram of a graphical user interface of the prior art for navigating images stored in a folder within an interpreter navigator environment, which is used to see other files and folders that we pictorially. As stated above, the need to easily identify items that are stored in a computing environment such as a PC is increasing dramatically. With respect to digital images, users traditionally have to invoke a third-party software program in order to view a specific file on the PC. Figure 58 illustrates an earlier solution, a film strip view, 111 that allows users to more easily see and identify the image associated with a given file within the graphical operating environment. The objective of the film strip view was to alleviate the need for other software programs when browsing an image folder by providing a rapid iterative procedure that allows a user to provide a dimensionable image of one or more image files within the folder. Figure 58 refers to a system for navigating in images stored in a folder, where a series of folder images is presented as a single row of thumbnails within an environment that is used to view other files and folders that are not pictorial (that is, an interpreter browser). It also allows a user to selectively follow through thumbnails, as it presents an enlarged preview image of thumbnails selected by the user. Figure 58 is a diagram of a representative window on a user's screen. As shown, the window 3200 is divided into several areas, including a header region, an optional tares area 3206, a planned control area 3202, a comment area and a 3204 film strip area. The optional area Task 3206 contains a list of tasks that can be selected by a user in order to perform a wide variety of operations in relation to file and folder management, as well as other system selections. Some of these operations are specific to the 112 images in the film strip area 3204 and a predicted control area 3202 is a space where an enlarged image of a user who selected an image will be displayed. This space can also contain navigation icons to help a user interact through a series of images. Immediately below the planned control area is a comment or feedback area that can be used to present a variety of textual information. A film strip area 3204 provides a space for presenting a single row of miniature images P1, P2, P3, P4 of the image files contained within a given folder. In addition, the 3204 film strip area also contains cursors to allow a user to scroll through a folder for the image files. It should be noted that the film strip area 3204 can contain and present miniature images in mixed orientation. For example, as shown in Figure 58, P1, P2, and P4 are in landscape, while P3 is imported. A user may select any of the thumbnails, which will cause a larger preview image of the user's miniature selection image to be presented within the intended control area. In addition, a selection by the user of a thumbnail image will also allow the user to select and perform any of the tasks listed in the optional task area 3206, with respect to the selected image. A first control button allows a user 113 to rapidly and successively foresee an enlarged image of each of the miniature images within a given folder, iterating in one direction. In other words, a user may not specifically make an "oppression" in each of the successive miniature images in order to provide the image. Rather, the user merely presses the first control button repeatedly to move through the folder. A second control button performs a similar iteration function, but only in the opposite direction. Returning now to Figure 59, a window 3300 represents a screen size display area for a graphical user interface of a general-purpose interpreter browser. The window 3300 contains a planned dashboard area 3302 and a viewing area 3304. The foreseen board 3302 may include a foreground control 3306, an edit or metadata control 3308, and a task control 3310. Typically, the Provision control 3306 will provide the user with an image or other visual presentation of the article being previewed (for example, a selected file). The scheduled control 3306 can also present to the user controls such as iteration buttons that allow the user to move the focus of one article to the next by pressing the button of a mouse. The 3308 edit control not only includes the presentation of key properties of the previewed article, but also presents the user with control to be edits to the metadata. The 3310 task control contains 114 tasks relevant to the namespace and / or selection. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention contemplates the presence of features within window 3300. For example, metadata control 3208 and task control 3210 are not essential features for the purposes of the present invention. In addition, other non-essential features that are not shown in Figure 59, such as a toolbar that includes iteration buttons or a show / hide button, so that the user can open / close the planned dashboard, are also within the scope of the present invention. However, these and other optional features can help the user easily locate a particular item in the interpreter's browser. The edit area 3304 provides an edit list of one or more items 3312, such as file system files or folders. The term "vision list" refers to an enumeration or view of items within a container. The terms "article" and "interpreter article" are used interchangeably here to refer to files, folders and other containers, and to other objects that are not files that can be presented in a vision list. Similarly, the "interpreter article" refers to an article in an interpreter library. Examples of objects that are not files may include, but may not be limited to contacts, bookmarks and emails. The terms "interpreter browser" and "file system browser" are used interchangeably here to refer to a browser that allows a user to navigate through various namespaces including files and other items that are not files. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention contemplates many possible designs and presentations for the window 3300. For example, the planned board 3302 is shown above the viewing area 3304 in Figure 59. However, other presentations, such as placing the planned board 3302 and the editing area 3304 collaterally, are clearly within the scope of the present invention. Many views are also possible for the items illustrated in the 3304 viewing area, such as details, slider sample, film strip, thumbnail, titles, icons, etc. Referring now to Figure 60, a schematic illustration of a welcome board 3400 is provided in an interpreter browser. A welcome board is sometimes referred to as a "null selection" board because it represents a name space or container that is the opposite of a selection. If the user has not yet made a selection, an expected 3402 dashboard presents metadata 3404 and key tasks in relation to the interpreter folder or library. If desired, the tasks can be separated into main tasks 3406 and other relevant tasks 3408. The welcome board 3400 also includes a 3410 viewing area, where multiple files and other 3412 items can be viewed. The metadata 3404 of the welcome board may include information 116 such as container properties (eg, "My Images"), in which case metadata presentation may be static, Alternatively, metadata 3404 of the welcome board may include information such as a Sampling the metadata of each of the articles within the container, in which case the presentation of metadata can change frequently For example, the presentation of metadata can be limited to properties of one article at a time by cycling from one article to the next every 30 Figure 61 is a schematic illustration of a selected board 3500 in an interpreter navigator Opposed to a welcome board a selected board represents a selection by the user.If the user selects a container or folder, the selected board may not be identical to the welcome board of that container or folder, in Figure 61, the selected board 3500 includes an expected 3502 board, which contains a scheduled 3504 control, a 3506 metadata display and a 3508 task display. Like the 3400 welcome board (in Figure 60), the selected board 3500 also includes a 3510 viewing area, where multiple files or other 3512 items can be viewed. In Figure 61, however, the user has selected one of the files. Accordingly, the scheduled control 3504 presents an expected image of the selected file, the presentation 3506 of the metadata shows properties of the selected file, and the task display 3508 provides a menu of important tasks for the operation in the selected file. Figure 62 is a schematic diagram of a selected board similar to the selected board of 3500 of Figure 61, but extended controls according to one embodiment of the present invention. The selected dash 3600 includes a foreseen board 3602, which contains a foreseen control 3604 having extended controls 3614, a metadata display 3606 and a task display 3608. The selected board 3600 also includes a viewing area 3610, in where multiple files or other 3612 items can be viewed. The user has selected one of the files 3612, so that the planned control 3604 presents an expected image of the selected file, the presentation of metadata 3606 shows properties of the selected file, and the presentation of tasks 3608 provides a menu of important tasks for the operation in the selected file. The extended controls 3614 represent a level of functionality beyond that typically available from the interpreter browser. For example, a foreseen default or planned control board, such as those shown in Figures 58 and 61, can simply present a predicted image of a selected article. If the article is a word processing or slide presentation document, the default preview image may be the first page of the document or the slide. However, by extending the functionality of the intended image to make it more interactive, a user can easily manipulate the extended controls 3614 to page through the document or slide presentation. This improved level of functionality improves the user experience, since it allows the user to navigate more comprehensively in the intended article without opening it, which is particularly useful for files that are not easily identifiable based on the first page only. The extended controls 3614 may be made available to the user as part of an alternative previewer in an interpreter browser. The term "previewer" can refer to a planned control or a planned board that includes a planned control. The present invention contemplates an interpreter browser that provides the user with a default previewer, offering a standard level of functionality for multiple article types and one or more alternative previews that offer a different level of functionality for particular article types to improve the user experience. By opening the development of alternative previews to independent software vendors (ISVs) and other third-party developers, a value is added to the file browsing experience by showing important aspects of the file in an easily recognizable form. The present invention contemplates normal previews for numerous types of files and article types that are not 119 files, including, but not limited to, image files, video files, contacts, games, browsers, video cameras, document files, spreadsheet files, slide presentation files, drawing files and tablet ink files. The present invention allows a number of scenarios that are not possible with conventional interpreter browsers, some of which have been described above. Third parties are left to describe and demonstrate their file types by providing a code that they can see within the file type and provide an enlarged image that the user will understand. For example, Apple can implement a scheduled QuickTime ™ control which could be presented when the user selects a QuickTime ™ file in an interpreter browser. This scheduled control can provide an alternative or extended level of functionality beyond the default previewer in an operating system's interpreter, including functionality such as displaying the first 5 seconds of a QuickTime ™ movie and / or offering buttons and controls for that the user launches the QuickTime ™ player. An alternative previewer for a music file can provide similar extended functionality. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the possibilities for extended functionality in an alternative previewer are limited. Figure 63 is a schematic representation of a selected board 120 similar to Figure 61, but also includes a context menu 3714 for a user to modify metadata in an interpreter browser according to an embodiment of the present invention. The selected board 3700 includes a planned board 3702, which contains a scheduled check 3704, a metadata display 3706 and a task control 3708. The selected board 3700 also includes a view area 3710, wherein multiple files or other Articles 3712 can be seen. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, for the purposes of the present invention, metadata control 3706 and task control 3708 are not essential features. The present invention contemplates the presence of these and / or other optional features, which can help the user to easily locate a particular item in the interpreter browser or otherwise improve the user experience. The context menu 3714 in Figure 63 presents the user with several options, including the selection to choose either the default previewer or an alternative previewer for the selected article. The generic text shown in menu 3714, of course, is merely an example of the type of options that can be presented to a user to select a previewer. A context menu can be provided in any window, including a welcome board, to improve the user experience. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, any number and variety of context menus 121 can be supported by the present invention. For the purposes of the present invention, a means for allowing the user to select a previewer within an interpreter browser is to provide a context menu such as the context menu 3714. A user may require the context menu, for example, by pressing in the corresponding text an object on the preview board. Those skilled in the art will appreciate * that the present invention contemplates means other than context menus to select a previewer for the articles presented from a plurality of available previewers within an interpreter browser. Another means is for the user to press on the planned control to enter a selection node. Similarly, the user can be prompted to select a previewer by pressing the right side inside the preview board. In contrast, a user can enter a selection mode by hovering over the relevant text or a relevant object on the predicted board. Numerous alternative means are available which are within the scope of the present invention. Figure 64A is a flow diagram illustrating a method 3800 for a user to select a previewer in an interpreter browser that supports multiple types of articles according to one embodiment of the present invention. Method 3800 provides a plurality of previews in the interpreter browser at 3802. The plurality of previews may include a default previewer for multiple article types and one or more alternative previews for particular article types. These alternative previews may include installed applications, developed by a third party. In 3804, method 3800 presents the user with a selection of two or more previsualizers for a particular type of article. The incitement when selecting a previewer can be initiated by the interpreter's browser (for example, by presenting a new type of article) and / or by the user (for example, by clicking on an object to present a context menu). After receiving an entry by the user at 3806 indicating a selection of one of the previewers for the particular type of article, method 3800 then associates the selected previewer with the particular item type in 3808. The selected previewer will remain in one use until the user selects a different one. However, if the selected previewer is an installed application, uninstalling the application will also end the use of the selected previewer. Figure 64B is a flow chart illustrating a method 3810 for automatically selecting a previewer in an interpreter browser that supports multiple of article types according to one embodiment of the present invention. The method 3810 provides a plurality of previewers in the interpreter browser at 3812. The previewer plurality may include a default previewer for multiple types of 123 items and one or more alternative previews for particular types of items. These alternative previews may include installed applications developed by a third party. In step 3814, the system (as opposed to the user) automatically and transparently selects a default previewer of two or more previews available for a particular item type. The system can select a previewer in response to an event such as presenting a new type of item or the presence of an alternative previewer. The system is configured to select a default previewer based on logical rules. Under exceptional circumstances, the system can decide, at 3816, to override the rules and select a previewer that has not been selected according to applicable rules. For example, if the rule is to select a newly available previewer over the current default previewer, usually an installed application may have the authority to change the default previewer to the previewer now available from the installed application. However, the interpreter's browser, for example, may reserve the right to cancel the change proposed by the newly installed application. For example, a cancellation may be appropriate when the newly installed application can not be authenticated as an appropriate owner of the type of item in question. 124 In any case, method 3810 then associates the selected previewer with the particular item type in 3818. The selected previewer will remain in use until a different one is selected. However, if the selected previewer is an installed application, uninstalling the application will also end the use of the selected previewer.

Referring to the time in Figure 65, a flowchart illustrates a 3900 method to enable the use of third-party previews. in an interpreter browser that supports multiple types of articles according to one embodiment of the present invention. The method 3900 includes providing an interpreter browser having a default previewer of the multiple article types in 3902. The method 3900 further includes providing an extension mechanism for the development of third parties of an alternative previewer for at least one of multiple item types in 3904. The alternative previewer can be registered in the interpreter browser in 4906. In the case of an installed application, the registration can occur substantially the same as the installation. For example, if the application is installed by an OEM, the alternative previewer can be registered before the user acquires the computer. Alternatively, the user can install the application locally or remotely. There are many possible aspects to the extension mechanism presented earlier in 3904. One of these aspects 125 involves exposing a set of application program interfaces (APIs), so that independent software vendors (ISVs) and other third-party developers parties can develop alternative previews. With the appearance of API, there is a registration mechanism that allows an SV to associate its planned control with a type of article that belongs to the ISV. When an article or file of that type is selected in the interpreter browser, the scheduled control of the ISV is initiated through this registration mechanism and the extension API. The API provides data to the planned control: the data representing the selected article (s) in the view and data represented from the source container of the articles in the view. The planned control operates on this data and provides a user with an interface through the API, which is presented in the interpreter's browser. The user can provide input with keyboards and mouse events that are passed by the interpreter navigator to the scheduled control that can operate in those events input by the user. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many possible many aspects are possible in the context of the extension mechanism of the present invention. In addition to the API aspect, similar functionality can be achieved through configuration by the user, a pointing to HTML or hosting a flash memory. In addition, the extension model may require that only an application belonging to the selected article type be able to provide only an alternative previewer. In other words, the number of available previewers can be limited to a default previewer and an alternative previewer to avoid a poor user experience where multiple, registered, extended previewers are in competition with each other. However, another model may be to allow any application that can handle the type of article selected to provide an additional previewer. An alternative model could allow any code to run to provide an additional previewer for any type of article. It may also be desirable under certain circumstances to allow replacement or removal of the default previewer. Many other models are possible and are contemplated in the present invention. Figure 66 is a block diagram of a data structure 4000, which is stored in one or more computer readable media and which contains information indicative of a plurality of previewers in an interpreter navigator. The data structure 4000 includes a default preview field 4002 containing information indicative of a default previewer that supports multiple types of items. An alternative preview field 4004 contains information indicative of an alternative previewer of a first type of article. Another alternative preview field 4006 may contain information indicative of a second alternative previewer for the first type of article, or may contain

Claims

127 information indicative of an alternative previewer for a second type of article. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in some cases, there may be only one alternative preview field, and in other cases there may be two or more alternative previewer fields. The selected preview field 4008 contains information indicating whether to invoke the default previewer or an alternative previewer when articles of a particular type of article are displayed in the interpreter's browser. In the case where the field 4006 contains information indicative of an alternative previewer for a second type of article, a selected preview field 4010 may contain information indicative of invoking the default previewer or the alternative previewer when one or more items of the second. Type of articles are presented in the interpreter's browser. The information contained in the fields 4002, 4004 and / or 406 may comprise the code of the previewer that is configured to run when a user selects an object of that type. Although the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that various changes may be made therein without being apparent and spirit and scope of the invention. For example, it will be appreciated that the locations of the various features of Ul shown here are illustrative and can be altered, and that different locations of the various features of Ul will continue to fall within the spirit and scope 128 of the invention. In addition, the different aspects of the invention described herein can be formed in various combinations, also without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 129 CLAIMS 1. - In a computer system with a presentation and a memory for storing articles, a method for presenting collections of the articles, comprising: creating a library to contain articles with one or more specific metadata properties; Automatically group articles with one or more of the metadata-specific properties in the library; and provide one or more tools to manipulate items in the library. 2. - The method according to claim 1, further comprising an interpreter navigator method for allowing a user to modify metadata within an interpreter browser, the interpreter navigator method comprising: presenting a plurality of articles; receiving a first user entry representing a selection of at least one submitted article; present metadata associated with at least one selected article; and provide a control for the modification of the metadata presented by the user. 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising providing an interpreter browser, the interpreter browser comprising: 130 a window presenting a group of articles, wherein the window also presents metadata values associated with one or more of the articles presented; and an edit control that allows the modification by the user of at least a portion of the metadata values presented in the window. 4. - The method according to claim 1, further comprising a previewing method for allowing the use of third-party previsualizers in an interpreter browser that supports article multiples, the previewing method comprising: providing an interpreter browser having a default previewer for the multiple types of articles; and provide an extension mechanism that allows a third party to develop an alternative previewer for at least one of the multiple article types. 5. - The method according to claim 1, further comprising providing an interpreter navigator configured to present a plurality of articles representing multiple types of articles, the interpreter navigator comprises: a default previewer that provides a standard level of functionality for multiple types of items; and an extension mechanism that allows functionality beyond the standard level provided by the default previewer for one or more of the multiple article types. 6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a virtual address bar method for providing a virtual path to items stored in a computer file system using a virtual address bar, the bar method of virtual address comprises: presenting a virtual address bar that can operate to include a first interactive segment, wherein the first interactive segment refers to items in the computer file system according to a corresponding filter to select files; and adding one or more additional interactive segments to the virtual address bar, wherein each additional interactive segment also restricts the articles referenced by the preceding interactive segments; wherein the first interactive segment and one or more of the additional interactive segments comprise a virtual path. 7. - The method according to claim 1, further comprising providing a virtual address bar user interface control for selecting articles accessible to a computer system for presentation, the virtual address bar comprises: a plurality of segments interactive, where each interactive segment corresponds to a filter to select articles for presentation. 8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a method for filtering articles, the method for filtering articles comprises: providing a plurality of presentation objects in the presentation that each represents one or more articles; filtering the items represented by the presentation objects based on a filter term; and modify the presentation objects that are provided in the presentation, in order to represent the articles that remain after the filtering of the articles. 9. - The method according to claim 1, further comprising a method for presenting articles, the method for submitting articles comprises: defining a screen or scope of the physical memory locations from which the articles are to be traced , the screen comprising a present computer memory and at least one other physical location; receive a query, and in response to the query, trace items from the physical locations as defined on the screen; and present the traced articles of the query in a view in the presentation. 10. - The method according to claim 1, further comprising a method for presenting the articles to a user, the method for presenting the articles to the user comprises: 133 providing a database that allows both items that are not files as archive articles are searched through a query; receive a query, and in response to the query, trace items that are not files or file items that match the query; and submit both non-archive articles and archive articles that match the presentation query. 11. A system for exposing articles that are stored in a memory to a user, comprising: a folder processor that obtains queries from a user; a relationship database to store information regarding articles; and where: the folder processor obtains a query from a user and passes the query to the relationship database; the relationship database provides results back to the folder processor; and based on the results of the relationship database, the folder processor provides the results to the user as virtual folders. 12. The system according to claim 1, further comprising an interpreter navigator method for allowing a user to modify metadata within an interpreter browser, the interpreter navigator method comprising: 134 presenting a plurality of articles; receiving a first user entry representing a selection of at least one submitted article; present metadata associated with at least one selected article; and provide a control for the modification by the user of the submitted metadata. 13. - The system according to claim 11, further comprising an interpreter browser, the interpreter browser comprises: a window that presents a group of articles, wherein the window also presents metadata values associated with one or more of the articles presented; and an edit control that allows the modification, by the user, of at least a portion of the metadata values presented in the window. 14. - The system according to claim 11, further comprising a previewer to allow the use of third party previsualizers in an interpreter browser that supports multiple types of article, the preview includes: an interpreter navigator that has a previewer by default for multiple types of article; and an extension mechanism that allows a third party to develop an alternative previewer for at least one of the multiple article types. 15. The system according to claim 11, further comprising an interpreter navigator configured to present a plurality of articles representing multiple types of articles, the interpreter navigator comprises: a default previewer that provides a standard level of functionality for multiple types of articles; and an extension mechanism that allows functionality beyond the standard level provided by the default previewer for one or more of the multiple article types. 16. The system according to claim 11, further comprising a vir address bar to provide a vir path to items stored in a computer file system, the vir address bar comprising: a vir address bar that operates to include a first interactive segment, wherein the first interactive segment refers to items in the computer file system according to a corresponding filter to select items; and one or more additional interactive segments of the vir address bar, wherein each additional interactive segment also restricts the articles referenced by the preceding interactive segments; wherein the first interactive segment of one or more additional interactive segments comprises a vir path. 17. The system according to claim 11, wherein 136 further comprises a vir address bar user interface control for selecting accessible items for a computer system for presentation, the vir address bar comprises: a plurality of Interactive segments, where each interactive segment corresponds to a filter to select articles for presentation. 18. - The system according to claim 11, further comprising a method for filtering articles, the method for filtering articles comprises: providing a plurality of presentation objects in the presentation that each represents one or more articles; filtering the items represented by the presentation objects based on a filter term; and modify the presentation objects that are provided in the presentation, in order to represent the articles that remain after the filtering of the articles. 19. - The system according to claim 11, further comprising a method for presenting collections of the articles, the method for presenting collections of the articles comprises: creating a library for containing articles with one or more specified metadata properties; automatically group items with one or more of the specified metadata properties in the library; and 137 to provide one or more tools for handling items in the library. 20. - The system according to claim 11, further comprising a method for submitting articles, the method for submitting articles comprises: defining a screen of the physical memory locations from which items are to be traced, the screen comprising a present computing memory and at least one other physical location; receive a query, and in response to the query, trace items from physical locations as defined on the screen; and present the traced articles of the query in a view in the presentation. 21. In a computer system having a presentation and a memory for storing articles, articles having associated metadata properties, a method for imposing the articles on a user, the method comprises: selecting a first metadata property; search for articles that have the first metadata property selected; and providing a first vir folder presentation object that represents the collection of articles that have the first metadata property. 22. - The method according to claim 21, further comprising an interpreter navigator method for enabling a user to modify metadata within an interpreter browser, the interpreter navigator method comprises: presenting a plurality of articles; receiving a first user entry representing a selection of at least one submitted article, presenting metadata associated with at least one selected article; and provide a control for the modification of the metadata presented by the user. 23. - The method according to claim 21, further comprising providing an interpreter browser, the interpreter browser comprising: a window presenting a group of articles, wherein the window also presents metadata values associated with one or more of the articles presented; and an edit control that allows the modification by the user of at least a portion of the metadata values presented in the window. 24. - The method according to claim 21, further comprising a previewing method for allowing the use of third-party previewers in an interpreter browser that supports article multiples, the previewing method comprising: providing an interpreter browser having a default previewer for the multiple types of articles; and providing an extension mechanism that allows a third party to develop an alternative previewer for at least one of the multiple article types. 25 - The method according to claim 21, further comprising providing an interpreter navigator configured to present a plurality of articles representing multiple types of articles, the interpreter navigator comprises: a default previewer that provides a standard level of functionality for multiple types of articles; and an extension mechanism that allows functionality beyond the standard level provided by the default previewer for one or more of the multiple article types. 26. The method according to claim 21, further comprising a virtual address bar method for providing a virtual path to items stored in a computer file system using a virtual address bar, the address bar method virtual comprises: presenting a virtual address bar that can operate to include a first interactive segment, wherein the first interactive segment refers to items in the computer file system according to a corresponding filter to select files; and adding one or more additional interactive segments to the virtual address bar, wherein each additional interactive segment also restricts the articles referenced by the preceding interactive segments; 140 wherein the first interactive segment and one or more of the additional interactive segments comprise a virtual path. 27. - The method according to claim 21, further comprising providing a virtual address bar user interface control for selecting articles accessible to a computer system for presentation, the virtual address bar comprising: a plurality of Interactive segments, where each interactive segment corresponds to a filter to select articles for presentation. 28. - The method according to claim 21, further comprising a method for filtering articles, the method for filtering articles comprises: providing a plurality of presentation objects in the presentation that each represents one or more articles; filtering the items represented by the presentation objects based on a filter term; and modify the presentation objects that are provided in the presentation, in order to represent the articles that remain after the filtering of the articles. 29. - The method according to claim 21, further comprising a method for presenting collections of the articles, the method for presenting collections of the articles comprises: 141 creating a collection for containing articles with one or more specified properties of metadata; automatically group items with one or more of the specified properties of the metadata in the library; and provide one or more tools to manipulate items in the library. 30. - The method according to claim 21, further comprising a method for presenting articles, the method for presenting articles comprises: defining a screen or scope of the physical memory locations from which the articles are to be traced , the screen comprising a present computer memory and at least one other physical location; receive a query, and in response to the query, trace items from the physical locations as defined on the screen; and present the traced articles of the query in a view in the presentation. 31. - In a computer system that has a presentation and a memory for storing articles, a method for manipulating articles, comprising: representing groups of articles as virtual folders; and provide at least a first action that can be performed for the direct manipulation of a virtual folder, where when the first action defined is performed, the virtual folder is manipulated as directed by the action performed. 32. The method according to claim 31, further comprising an interpreter navigator method for allowing a user to modify metadata within an interpreter browser, the interpreter navigator method comprising: presenting a plurality of articles; receiving a first user entry representing a selection of at least one submitted article, presenting metadata associated with at least one selected article; and provide a control for the modification of the metadata presented by the user. 33. - The method according to claim 31, further comprising providing an interpreter browser, the interpreter browser comprising: a window presenting a group of articles, wherein the window also presents metadata values associated with one or more of the articles presented; and an edit control that allows the modification by the user of at least a portion of the metadata values presented in the window. 34.- The method according to claim 31, further comprising a previewing method for allowing the use of third-party previewers in an interpreter browser that supports article multiples, the previewing method comprising: providing an interpreter navigator having a 143 default previewer for the multiple types of items; and provide an extension mechanism that allows a third party to develop an alternative previewer for at least one of the multiple article types. The method according to claim 31, further comprising providing an interpreter browser configured to present a plurality of articles representing multiple types of articles, the interpreter browser comprising: a default previewer that provides a standard level of functionality for multiple types of articles; and an extension mechanism that allows functionality beyond the standard level provided by the default previewer for one or more of the multiple article types. 36. The method according to claim 31, further comprising a virtual address bar method for providing a virtual path to items stored in a computer file system using a virtual address bar, the address bar method virtual comprises: presenting a virtual address bar that can operate to include a first interactive segment, wherein the first interactive segment refers to items in the computer file system according to a corresponding filter to select files; and adding one or more additional interactive segments to the virtual address bar, wherein each additional interactive segment 144 further restricts the articles referenced by the preceding interactive segments; wherein the first interactive segment and one or more of the additional interactive segments comprise a virtual path. 37. - The method according to claim 31, further comprising providing a virtual address bar user interface control for selecting items accessible to a computer system for presentation, the virtual address bar comprising: a plurality of segments interactive, where each interactive segment corresponds to a filter to select articles for presentation. 38. - The method according to claim 31, further comprising a method for filtering articles, the method for filtering articles comprises: providing a plurality of presentation objects in the presentation that each represents one or more articles; filtering the items represented by the presentation objects based on a filter term; and modify the presentation objects that are provided in the presentation, in order to represent the articles that remain after the filtering of the articles. 39. - The method according to claim 31, further comprising a method for presenting collections of the 145 articles, the method for presenting collections of the articles comprises: creating a collection for containing articles with one or more specified metadata properties; automatically group items with one or more of the specified properties of the metadata in the library; and provide one or more tools to manipulate items in the library. The method according to claim 31, further comprising a method for presenting articles, the method for presenting articles comprises: defining a screen or scope of the physical memory locations from which the articles will be traced , the screen comprising a present computer memory and at least one other physical location; receive a query, and in response to the query, trace items from the physical locations as defined on the screen; and present the traced articles of the query in a view in the presentation. 41.- In a computer system having a presentation and a memory for storing articles with metadata properties, a method for filtering articles, the method comprises: providing a plurality of presentation objects in the presentation that each represents one or more articles; filter the items represented by the presentation of 146 objects based on a filter term; and modify the presentation objects that are provided in the presentation in order to represent the articles that remain after the filtering of the articles. The method according to claim 41, further comprising an interpreter navigator method for allowing a user to modify metadata within an interpreter browser, the interpreter navigator method comprising: presenting a plurality of articles; receiving a first user entry representing a selection of at least one submitted article, presenting metadata associated with at least one selected article; and provide a control for the modification of the metadata presented by the user. 43.- The method according to claim 41, further comprising providing an interpreter browser, the interpreter browser comprising: a window presenting a group of articles, wherein the window also presents metadata values associated with one or more of the articles presented; and an edit control that allows the modification by the user of at least a portion of the metadata values presented in the window. 44. The method according to claim 41, further comprising a preview method for allowing the use of third party previewers in an interpreter browser that supports article multiples, the preview method comprising: providing a browser of interpreter having a default previewer for the multiple types of articles; and provide an extension mechanism that allows a third party to develop an alternative previewer for at least one of the multiple article types. 45. - The method according to claim 41, further comprising providing an interpreter navigator configured to present a plurality of articles representing multiple types of articles, the interpreter navigator comprises: a default previewer that provides a standard level of functionality for multiple types of items; and an extension mechanism that allows functionality beyond the standard level provided by the default previewer for one or more of the multiple article types. 46. - The method according to claim 41, further comprising a virtual address bar method for providing a virtual path to items stored in a computer file system using a virtual address bar, the address bar method virtual comprises: presenting a virtual address bar that can operate to include a first interactive segment, wherein the first interactive segment refers to items in the file system of 148 computation according to a corresponding filter to select files; and adding one or more additional interactive segments to the virtual address bar, wherein each additional interactive segment also restricts the articles referenced by the preceding interactive segments; wherein the first interactive segment and one or more of the additional interactive segments comprise a virtual path. 47. The method according to claim 41, further comprising providing a virtual address bar user interface control for selecting items accessible to a computer system for presentation, the virtual address bar comprising: a plurality of segments interactive, where each interactive segment corresponds to a filter to select articles for presentation. 48. The method according to claim 41, further comprising a method for filtering articles, the method for filtering articles comprises: providing a plurality of presentation objects in the presentation that each represents one or more articles; filtering the items represented by the presentation objects based on a filter term; and modifying the presentation objects that are provided in the presentation, in order to represent the articles that remain after the filtering of the articles. 49. - The method according to claim 41, further comprising a method for presenting collections of the articles, the method for presenting collections of the articles comprises: creating a collection for containing articles with one or more specified properties of metadata; automatically group items with one or more of the specified properties of the metadata in the library; and provide one or more tools to manipulate items in the library. 50. - The method according to claim 41, further comprising a method for presenting articles, the method for presenting articles comprises: defining a screen or scope of the physical memory locations from which the articles are to be traced , the screen comprising a present computer memory and at least one other physical location; receive a query, and in response to the query, trace items from the physical locations as defined on the screen; and present the traced articles of the query in a view in the presentation. 51. - In a computer system having a presentation and a memory for storing articles, a method for viewing selected articles 150, the method comprises: storing a link in a desired collection of articles where the user has navigated; present the link in the presentation so that by clicking on the link, a user can return to the desired collection of articles. 52. - The method according to claim 51, further comprising an interpreter navigator method for allowing a user to modify metadata within an interpreter browser, the interpreter navigator method comprising: presenting a plurality of articles; receiving a first user entry representing a selection of at least one submitted article, presenting metadata associated with at least one selected article; and provide a control for the modification of the metadata presented by the user. 53. - The method according to claim 51, further comprising providing an interpreter browser, the interpreter browser comprising: a window presenting a group of articles, wherein the window also presents metadata values associated with one or more of the articles presented; and an edit control that allows the modification by the user of at least a portion of the metadata values presented in the window. 151 54. - The method according to claim 51, further comprising a previewing method for allowing the use of preview third-party hoists in an interpreter browser that supports article multiples, the previewing method comprising: providing a browser of interpreter having a default previewer for the multiple types of articles; and provide an extension mechanism that allows a third party to develop an alternative previewer for at least one of the multiple article types. 55. - The method according to claim 51, further comprising providing an interpreter browser configured to present a plurality of articles representing multiple types of articles, the interpreter browser comprising: a default previewer that provides a standard level of functionality for multiple types of articles; and an extension mechanism that allows functionality beyond the standard level provided by the default previewer for one or more of the multiple article types. 56.- The method according to claim 51, further comprising a virtual address bar method for providing a virtual path to items stored in a computer file system using a virtual address bar, the address bar method virtual comprises: presenting a virtual address bar that can operate to include a first interactive segment, wherein the first interactive segment refers to items in the computer file system according to a corresponding filter to select files; and adding one or more additional interactive segments to the virtual address bar, wherein each additional interactive segment also restricts the articles referenced by the preceding interactive segments; wherein the first interactive segment and one or more of the additional interactive segments comprise a virtual path. The method according to claim 51, further comprising providing a virtual address bar user interface control for selecting articles accessible to a computer system for presentation, the virtual address bar comprising: a plurality of segments interactive, where each interactive segment corresponds to a filter to select articles for presentation. The method according to claim 51, further comprising a method for filtering articles, the method for filtering articles comprises: providing a plurality of presentation objects in the presentation that each represents one or more articles; filtering the articles represented by the presentation objects based on a filter term; and modify the presentation objects that are provided in the presentation, in order to represent the articles that remain after the filtering of the articles. 59. The method according to claim 51, further comprising a method for presenting collections of the articles, the method for presenting collections of the articles comprises: creating a collection for containing articles with one or more specified properties of metadata; automatically group items with one or more of the specified properties of the metadata in the library; and provide one or more tools to manipulate items in the library. The method according to claim 51, further comprising a method for presenting articles, the method for presenting articles comprises: defining a screen or scope of the physical memory locations from which the articles are to be traced , the screen comprising a present computer memory and at least one other physical location; receive a query, and in response to the query, trace items from the physical locations as defined on the screen; and present the traced articles of the query in a view in the presentation. 154 61. - In a computer system with a presentation and a memory for storing articles, a method to represent the articles to a user, comprising: providing a database that allows both non-archival articles and archive articles be searched for a query; receive a query, and in response to the query, trace both articles that are not files and file articles that match the query; and present both the articles that are not archives and the archival articles that coincide with the query in the presentation. 62. - The method according to claim 61, further comprising an interpreter navigator method for allowing a user to modify metadata within an interpreter browser, the interpreter navigator method comprising: presenting a plurality of articles; receiving a first user entry representing a selection of at least one submitted article, presenting metadata associated with at least one selected article; and provide a control for the modification of the metadata presented by the user. 63. - The method according to claim 61, further comprising providing an interpreter browser, the interpreter browser comprising: 155 a window presenting a group of articles, wherein the window also presents metadata values associated with one or more of the articles presented; and an edit control that allows the modification by the user of at least a portion of the metadata values presented in the window. 64. - The method according to claim 61, further comprising a previewing method for allowing the use of third-party previewers in an interpreter browser that supports article multiples, the previewing method comprising: providing an interpreter browser having a default previewer for the multiple types of articles; and provide an extension mechanism that allows a third party to develop an alternative previewer for at least one of the multiple article types. 65. - The method according to claim 61, further comprising providing an interpreter navigator configured to present a plurality of articles representing multiple types of articles, the interpreter navigator comprises: a default previewer that provides a standard level of functionality for multiple types of items; and an extension mechanism that allows functionality beyond the standard level provided by the default previewer for one or more of the multiple article types. 156 66. - The method according to claim 61, further comprising a virtual address bar method for providing a virtual path to items stored in a counting file system using a virtual address bar, the bar method of virtual address comprises: presenting a virtual address bar that can operate to include a first interactive segment, wherein the first interactive segment refers to items in the computer file system according to a corresponding filter to select files; and adding one or more additional interactive segments to the virtual address bar, wherein each additional interactive segment also restricts the articles referenced by the preceding interactive segments; wherein the first interactive segment and one or more of the additional interactive segments comprise a virtual path. 67. - The method according to claim 61, further comprising providing a virtual address bar user interface control for selecting items accessible to a computer system for presentation, the virtual address bar comprising: a plurality of segments interactive, where each interactive segment corresponds to a filter to select articles for presentation. 157 68. - The method according to claim 61, further comprising a method for filtering articles, the method for filtering articles comprises: providing a plurality of presentation objects in the presentation that each represents one or more articles; filtering the items represented by the presentation objects based on a filter term; and modify the presentation objects that are provided in the presentation, in order to represent the articles that remain after the filtering of the articles. 69. - The method according to claim 61, further comprising a method for presenting collections of the articles, the method for presenting collections of the articles comprises: creating a collection for containing articles with one or more specified properties of metadata; automatically group items with one or more of the specified properties of the metadata in the library; and provide one or more tools to manipulate items in the library. 70. - The method according to claim 61, further comprising a method for presenting articles, the method for presenting articles comprises: defining a screen or scope of the physical memory locations from which the articles are to be traced , the screen 158 comprising a present computer memory and at least one other physical location; receive a query, and in response to the query, trace items from the physical locations as defined on the screen; and present the traced articles of the query in a view in the presentation. 71. - A method for providing a virtual path to items stored in a computer file system using a virtual address bar, the method comprises; presenting a virtual address bar that operates to include a first interactive segment, wherein the first interactive segment refers to items in the computer file system according to a corresponding filter to select items; and adding one or more of the additional interactive segments to the virtual address bar, wherein each additional interactive segment also restricts the articles referenced by the preceding interactive segments; wherein the first interactive segment and one or more additional interactive segments comprise a virtual path. 72. - The method according to claim 71, wherein the filter is provided in the presentation that can be selected by a user to filter articles based on the metadata property specified by the filter. 159. The method according to claim 71, wherein a quick link is provided in the presentation that can be selected by a user to view a specific collection of articles. 74.- The method according to claim 71, wherein a library is provided that includes a collection of articles and a group of tools to manipulate the articles of the library. 75. - The method according to rei indication 71, where articles in a virtual folder can be physically stored in memories in different physical locations. 76. - The method according to claim 75, wherein the different physical locations comprise a present computer and at least one different computer, a location in a network, and an external storage device. 77. - The method according to claim 71, wherein the articles comprise both archival items and articles that are not archival. 78. - The method according to claim 77, wherein the non-archive items comprise at least one of contacts or emails. 79. - The method according to claim 71, further comprising an interpreter navigator method for allowing a user to modify metadata within an interpreter navigator, the interpreter navigator method comprises: 160 presenting a plurality of articles; receiving a first user entry representing a selection of at least one submitted article, presenting metadata associated with at least one selected article; and provide a control for the modification of the metadata presented by the user. 80. - The method according to claim 71, further comprising a previewing method for allowing the use of third-party previewers in an interpreter browser that supports article multiples, the previewing method comprising: providing an interpreter browser having a default previewer for the multiple types of articles; and provide an extension mechanism that allows a third party to develop an alternative previewer for at least one of the multiple article types. 81. - A method implemented by computer to allow a user to modify metadata within an interpreter browser, the method comprising: presenting a plurality of articles; receiving a first user entry representing a selection of at least one submitted article; present metadata associated with at least one selected article; and provide a control for the modification by the user of the presented metadata. 82. - The method according to claim 81, wherein the filter is provided in the presentation that can be selected by a user to filter articles based on the metadata property specified by the filter. 83. - The method according to claim 81, wherein a quick link in the presentation that can be selected by a user to view a specific collection of articles is provided. 84. The method according to claim 81, wherein a library is provided that includes a collection of articles and a group of tools for manipulating the articles of the library. 85. - The method according to claim 81, wherein the articles in a virtual folder can be physically stored in memories in different physical locations. 86. - The method according to claim 85, wherein the different physical locations comprise a present computer and at least one different computer, a location in a network, and an external storage device. 87. - The method according to claim 81, wherein the articles comprise both archival articles and non-archival articles. 88. - The method according to claim 87, wherein the non-archive items comprise at least one of 162 contacts or emails. 89. - The method according to claim 81, further comprising a virtual address bar method for providing a virtual path to items stored in a computer file system using a virtual address bar, the address bar method virtual comprises: presenting a virtual address bar that operates to include a first interactive segment, wherein the first interactive segment refers to items in the computer file system according to a corresponding filter to select items; and adding one or more additional interactive segments to the virtual address bar, wherein each additional interactive segment also restricts the articles referenced by the preceding interactive segments; wherein the first interactive segment and one or more additional interactive segments comprise a virtual path. 90. - The method according to claim 81, further comprising providing a virtual address bar user interface control for selecting items accessible to a computer system for presentation, the virtual address bar comprising: a plurality of segments interactive, where each interactive segment corresponds to a filter to select 163 articles for the presentation. 91. - A computer-implemented method to allow the user of third-party previews of an interpreter browser that supports multiple types of articles, the method comprises: providing an interpreter browser that has a default previewer for multiple types Of articles; and providing an extension mechanism that allows a third party to develop an alternative previewer for at least one of the multiple article types. 92. - The method according to claim 91, wherein the filter is provided in the presentation that can be selected by a user to filter articles based on the metadata property specified by the filter. The method according to claim 91, wherein a quick link in the presentation is provided that can be selected by a user to view a specific collection of articles. 94. - The method according to claim 91, wherein a library is provided that includes a collection of articles and a group of tools for manipulating the articles of the library. 95. - The method according to claim 91, wherein the articles in a virtual folder can be physically stored in memories in different physical locations. 164. The method according to claim 95, wherein the different physical locations comprise a present computer and at least one different computer, a location in a network, and an external storage device. 97. The method according to claim 91, wherein the articles comprise both archival articles and articles that are not archives. 98. - The method according to claim 97, wherein the non-archive items comprise at least one of contacts or emails. 99. - The method according to claim 91, comprising a virtual address bar method for providing a virtual path to items stored in the computer file systems using a virtual address bar, the address bar method comprises: presenting a virtual address bar that operates to include a first interactive segment, wherein the first Interactive segment refers to items in the computer file system, according to a corresponding filter to select files; and add one or more additional interactive segments to the virtual address bar, where each additional interactive segment also restricts the articles referenced by the preceding Interactive segments; wherein the first interactive segment and one or more additional 165 interactive segments comprise a virtual path. 100. - The method according to claim 91, further comprising providing a virtual address bar user interface control for selecting accessible items for a computing system for presentation, the virtual address bar comprising: a plurality of segments interactive, where each interactive segment corresponds to a filter to select articles for the presentation. 101. - In a computer system with a presentation and a memory for storing articles, the articles being of a plurality of different types, a method for presenting libraries of the articles, comprising: providing libraries for containing articles of similar type; and provide a similar group of Ul characteristics for each of the libraries. 102. - The method according to claim 101, wherein the different types comprise at least two of documents, images and music. 103. - The method according to claim 101, wherein the similar group of features Ul includes a feature for editing. 104 - The method according to claim 101, wherein 166 the similar group of features Ul includes a feature to create new categories. 105. The method according to claim 101, wherein the similar group of Ul features includes an aspect for editing the article metadata. 106. - The method according to claim 101, wherein the similar group of features Ul includes a feature for altering pivots. 107. - The method according to claim 101, wherein the addition to contain articles of similar type, the libraries may also contain articles of different types. 108. - The method according to claim 101, further comprising an interpreter navigator method for allowing a user to modify metadata within an interpreter browser, the interpreter navigator method comprising: presenting a plurality of articles; receiving a first user entry representing a selection of at least one submitted article; present metadata associated with at least one selected article; and provide a control for the modification, by the user, of the presented metadata. 109. - The method according to claim 101, further comprising providing an interpreter browser, the interpreter browser comprising: 167 a window presenting a group of articles, wherein the window also presents metadata values associated with one or more of the articles presented; and an edit control that allows the modification by the user of at least a portion of the metadata values presented in the window. 110. - The method according to the rei indication 101, which further comprises a previewing method for allowing the use of third-party previews in an interpreter browser, which supports multiple types of articles, the previewing method comprising: providing a interpreter browser that has a default previewer for the multiple types of articles; and providing an extension mechanism that allows a third party to develop an alternative previewer for at least one of the multiple article types. 111. - The method according to claim 101, further comprising providing an interpreter browser configured to present a plurality of articles representing multiple types of articles, the interpreter browser comprising: a default previewer that provides a standard level of functionality for multiple types of items; and a tension mechanism that allows functionality beyond the standard level provided by the default previewer for one or more of the multiple article types. 168. The method according to claim 101, further comprising a virtual address bar method for providing a virtual path to items stored in a counting file system using a virtual address bar, the bar method of virtual address comprises: presenting a virtual address bar that operates to include a first interactive segment, wherein the first interactive segment refers to items in the computer file system according to a corresponding filter to select items; and adding one or more additional interactive segments to the virtual address bar, wherein each additional interactive segment also restricts the articles referenced by the preceding interactive segments; wherein the first interactive segment and one or more of the additional interactive segments comprise a virtual path. 113. - The method according to claim 101, further comprising providing a virtual address bar user interface control for selecting items accessible to a computer system for presentation, the virtual address bar comprising: a plurality of segments interactive, where each interactive segment corresponds to a filter to select articles for presentation. 169. The method according to claim 101, further comprising a method for filtering articles, the method for filtering articles comprises: providing a plurality of presentation objects in the presentation that each represents one or more items; filtering the items represented by the presentation objects based on a filter term; and modify the presentation objects that are provided in the presentation in order to represent the articles that remain after the filtering of the articles. 115. - The method according to claim 101, further comprising a method for presenting articles, the method for presenting articles comprises: defining a screen of the physical memory locations from which items are to be traced, the screen comprising a present computer memory and at least one other physical location; receive a query, and in response to the query, trace items from the physical locations as defined on the screen; and present the traced articles of the query in a view in the presentation. 116. - The method according to claim 101, further comprising a method for representing the articles to a user, the method for presenting the articles to the user comprises: 170 providing a database that allows both articles that are not file as articles that are files are searched by a query; receive a query, and in response to the query, trace both articles that are not files and articles that are files that match the query; and present both articles that are not archives and articles that are files that coincide with the query in the presentation. 117. - A computer-implemented method for enabling the use of third-party previsualizers in an interpreter browser, which supports multiple types of articles, in the method comprising: providing an interpreter browser that has a default previewer for the multiple types of interpreters; articles; and provides an extension mechanism that allows a third party to develop an alternative previewer for at least one of the multiple article types. 118. - The method according to claim 101, wherein the filter is provided in the presentation that can be selected by a user to filter articles based on the metadata property specified by the filter. 119. - The method according to claim 101, wherein a quick link in the presentation that can be selected by a user to view a specific collection of articles is provided. 171 120. - The method according to claim 101, wherein a library is provided that includes a collection of articles and a group of tools for manipulating the articles of the library. 121. - The method according to claim 101, wherein the articles in a virtual folder can be physically stored in memories in different physical locations. 122. - The method according to claim 121, wherein the different physical locations comprise a present computer and at least one different computer, a location in a network, and an external storage device. 123. - The method according to claim 101, wherein the articles comprise both archival items and articles that are not archival. 124. - The method according to claim 123, wherein the non-archive items comprise at least one of contacts or emails.