WO2007102108A2

WO2007102108A2 - Method of graphically merging lists of items

Info

Publication number: WO2007102108A2
Application number: PCT/IB2007/050691
Authority: WO
Inventors: Alexander Petrus Paulus Vrijsen
Original assignee: Pace Plc; U.S. Philips Corporation
Priority date: 2006-03-06
Filing date: 2007-03-02
Publication date: 2007-09-13
Also published as: WO2007102108A3

Abstract

A method of merging at least two predefined lists (100) of items (110) to create a combined list includes displaying a plurality of lists (100) of items (110); receiving from a user an indication of at least a first list (100) and a second list (100) to be merged into a tentative merge list (150); displaying to the user the tentative merge list (150) including items (110) from the first and second lists (100), applying a first graphical identification (130) to items (110) in the tentative merge list (150) that were added to the tentative merge list (150) from the first list (100), and applying a second graphical identification (130) to items (110) in the tentative merge list (150) that were added to the tentative merge list (150) from the second list; and converting the tentative merge list (150) into a combined list (170) in response to a user instruction.

Description

METHOD OF GRAPHICALLY MERGING LISTS OF ITEMS

This invention pertains to a method of organizing data, and more particularly to a method of merging two or more lists of items to create a new combined list.

As data storage capacities of various data storage devices continue to increase, users are enabled to store an ever-increasing number of data items in a single device. A typical personal computer these days has tens or even hundreds of gigabytes of storage capacity built-in, capable of storing tens of thousands or more files. For example, an 80GB hard disc drive can store 800,000 data files of 100 kB each. Even in the case of larger media files of, say, 4 Mbytes, an 80GB hard disc drive can store 20,000 such files.

Not only do personal computers have such large storage capacities, but portable devices are increasing being equipped with large capacity storage media. For example, one model of the popular APPLE® IPOD® has 60GB of storage capacity, and APPLE® advertises that the device is capable of storing 15000 songs.

With the capability to store so many items, it becomes increasingly important to provide powerful and convenient features for organizing the items. Devices like the IPOD® provide a feature wherein a user can create many playlists of songs that are stored in the device. Playlists can group songs in any convenient fashion, such as by artist, by album, by musical genre, etc. Meanwhile, in the case of personal computers, typically a hierarchical tree-like directory structure is provided and users can create within each branch of the tree as many sub-branches as desired.

However, as users move items from one list to another, or merge lists, it can become difficult to determine whether all items that are desired have been moved or merged into a new list. It is also often confusing trying to determine or remember which items in a combined list came from which of the original lists.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved method of organizing items. It would also be desirable to provide an improved method of merging two or more lists of items to create a combined list, which makes it easier to identify each item's origin. The present invention is directed to addressing one or more of the preceding concerns. In one aspect of the invention, a method of merging at least two predefined lists of items to create a new combined list comprises: displaying to a user a plurality of lists of items; receiving from a user an indication of at least a first one of the plurality of lists, and an indication of a second one of the plurality of lists, to be merged into a tentative merge list; displaying to the user the tentative merge list comprising items from the first and second lists, including applying a first graphical identification to items in the tentative merge list that were added to the tentative merge list from the first list, and applying a second graphical identification to items in the tentative merge list that were added to the tentative merge list from the second list; and converting the tentative merge list into a new combined list in response to an instruction by the user.

In another aspect of the invention, a method of merging at least two predefined trees to create a new combined tree comprises: displaying to a user a plurality of trees hierarchically organizing items; receiving from a user an indication of at least a first one of the plurality of trees, and an indication of a second one of the plurality of trees, to be merged into a tentative tree; displaying to the user the tentative tree comprising items from the first and second trees and maintaining the hierarchical organization of items in the first and second trees, including applying a first graphical identification to items in the tentative tree that were added to the tentative tree from the first tree, and applying a second graphical identification to items in the tentative tree that were added to the tentative tree from the second tree; and converting the tentative tree into a new combined tree in response to an instruction by the user.

Further and other aspects will become evident from the description to follow.

FIGs. IA-C illustrate various stages of a process of merging two or more lists into a combined list;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a method of merging two or more lists into a combined list.

The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided as teaching examples of the invention. FIGs. IA-C illustrate various stages of a process of merging two lists of items into a combined list.

As shown in FIG. IA, a user interface displays a plurality of lists 100 of items 110 stored on a storage media, such as a disk drive, FLASH memory array, random access memory, etc. In the embodiment of FIG. IA, the lists 100 have tree-like structures including a plurality of branches. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, some of the branches include sub-branches. Branches and sub-branches in turn list a plurality of items 110 belonging thereto. Thus each tree can be viewed as a list 100 of items 110; the list 100 including all of the items 110 named in the branches and sub-branches of the tree. Regardless of the structure, a list may have one or more sub-lists and thereby includes all of the items in the sublist(s), if any.

As shown in FIG. IA, a user may indicate two or more lists 100 of items 110 to be combined. This can be done in a variety of different ways depending on the nature of the user interface and input devices available to the user. After having identified two or more lists 100 of items 110 to be combined, the user may provide an instruction to merge the selected lists 100. Such an instruction may be provided by selecting a predefined button in the user interface (e.g., clicking a mouse or click-wheel), selecting a function from a pull-down menu, etc. In response to this instruction, as shown in FIG. IB, a tentative combined list 150 is created. All items 110 from all selected input lists 100 are added to the new tentative combined list 150. When the lists 100 have tree-like structures for hierarchically organizing items, as described above, then beneficially tentative combined list 150 is a tentative tree, maintaining the treelike structures and hierarchical organization of the selected input lists/trees 100.

As shown in FIG. IB, each item 110 in the new tentative combined list 150 is marked with a graphical identification 130 that indicates the origin of the item (i.e., from which selected list 100 the item 110 originated). In the embodiment of FIG. IB, a first unique symbol (ft-) is applied to all of the items 110 that came from a first list 100, a second unique symbol (¥) is applied to all of the items 110 that came from a second list 100, etc. In another embodiment, all items 110 that came from the same input list 100 are given a unique color to identify the original list 100 from which they came. In that case, if tentative combined list 150 designates items 110 with icons, then the icon should be colored. Otherwise, if tentative combined list 150 identifies items 110 by text (e.g., item name), then the text should be colored. In yet another embodiment, items in tentative combined list 150 have different shades of gray to indicate the original lists 100 from which they came. That is, all items 110 that came from a first selected list 100 would have a first shade of gray, and all items that came from a second selected list 100 would have a second shade of gray. In still another embodiment, additional text is provided for each item 110 in tentative combined list 150 to indicate the original list from which it came. For example, items 110 that came from a first list may be identified with an additional "1" or "A," items 110 that came from a second list may be identified with an additional "2" or "B," items 110 that came from a third list may be identified with an additional "3" or "C," etc.

In some cases, an item 110 may appear in two or more lists 100. In that case, in one embodiment the item 110 may be added to tentative combined list 150 only once. Also, in that case no graphical identification may be applied to the item 110 in tentative combined list 150 (e.g., the color is black). In another embodiment all of the graphical identifications may be applied to the item 110 corresponding to all of the original input lists 100 that included the item 110 (e.g., multiple symbols). In yet another embodiment, a unique graphical identification (e.g., color, symbol, gray-shade, etc.) is applied to all files that came from two or more lists 100. Furthermore, in one embodiment, a message is displayed to the user advising her/him that the item 110 has only been added to list 100 once.

Meanwhile, on the other hand, different items having the same name may be included in two or more different lists 100. In that case, both items may be added to tentative combined list 150. In one embodiment, a first extension (e.g., a "(I)") is added to the name of the first item in the tentative merge list, and a second extension (e.g., a "(2)") is added to the name of the second item in the tentative merge list having the same name. Additional graphical identifications (e.g., cursive font, italic font, bold font; unique symbols; etc.) can be applied to the first and second items 110. In that case, a warning may be displayed to a user, indicating that one or more items 110 have been renamed, and indicating which items 110 those are. As shown in FIG. IB, when lists 100 have a tree-like hierarchical structure, then in one embodiment new tentative combined list 150 is created at the same level in the a treelike hierarchical structure as the highest- level input list 100. As long as tentative combined list 150 is not closed (see FIG. 1C), the graphical identifications stay visible and the user may use tentative combined list 150 as any other list 100: change the order of tentative combined list 150 (if tentative combined list 150 supports an order), add new items 110 to it, delete items from it, etc. Beneficially, the new items 110 that are added to tentative combined list 150 are assigned different graphical identifications if they originate from different lists 100.

The graphical identifications remain in new tentative combined list 150 until it is closed and thereby converted into a new combined list 170, as shown in FIG. 1C.

Tentative combined list 150 may be closed and thereby converted into a new combined list 170 in a variety of manners, depending upon the particular embodiment. In one case, tentative combined list 150 may be closed and thereby converted into a new combined list 170 in response to an instruction or indication by a user to add a new list 100 to tentative combined list 150. In another case, tentative combined list 150 is closed and thereby converted into a new combined list 170 when a user closes or exits an application that is displaying the lists 100 to the user. In yet another case, tentative combined list 150 is closed and thereby converted into a new combined list 170 in response to a specific instruction by a user to convert tentative combined list 150 into a new combined list 170 (e.g., via selection of "Finish tree/folder" in a popup menu activated via right mouse click on tree, or a button, etc.). As shown in FIG. 1C, in one embodiment, after tentative combined list 150 is closed and thereby converted into a new combined list 170, beneficially the graphical identifications for the items 110, indicating the files 100 from which they originated, are removed. For example, if the items 110 in tentative combined list 150 have two or more different colors to indicate their origins, after tentative combined list 150 is closed and thereby converted into a new combined list 170, then all items 110 are shown in a single color (e.g., black).

If at the time of closure of tentative combined list 150, there are items that have been renamed, then a warning may be displayed to the user indicating that some of the items 110 have been renamed. Also, the message may indicate that some items 110 may no longer operate properly.

FIG. 1C shows a case where the original lists 100 that were selected to form the new combined list 170 remain in the display, with all of their original items 110, after the new combined list 170 is formed. Alternatively, and more typically, an item 110 that is added from an original list 100 into tentative combined list 150 may be removed from the original list 100 so long as it remains in tentative combined list 150 when it is closed to create new combined list 170. Furthermore, if all items 110 from an original list 100 are included in tentative combined list 150 when it is closed, then the entire original list 100 is deleted when new combined list 170 is created.

When the lists 100 have tree-like structures for hierarchically organizing items, as described above, then beneficially new combined list 170 is a tree, maintaining the treelike structures and hierarchical organization of tentative tree 150 at the time it was closed. FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of one embodiment of a method 200 of merging two or more lists into a combined list.

In a first step 210, a system displays a plurality of lists of items to a user. The system displaying the lists and executing the method of FIG. 2 may be a computer system, a media player such as a digital audio player, or another system. The display may be a computer display, a television monitor, a display built-in to a portable media player, etc. The items may be general data files in the case of a computer system, music files in the case of a digital audio player, pictures or video files in the case of a media player, etc. The items may be stored on any convenient storage media, such as a disk drive, FLASH memory array, random access memory, etc. In a system 220, the system receives from a user an indication of at least a first one of the plurality of lists, and an indication of a second one of the plurality of lists, to be merged into a tentative merge list. This can be done in a variety of different ways depending on the nature of the user interface and input devices available to the user (e.g., keyboard, handheld remote control, mouse, click-wheel, trackball, touchscreen pointer, etc.). For example, a user may move a cursor to highlight a desired list with a mouse, trackball, click-wheel, up/down arrow buttons, etc. Then, for example, the user may depress and hold down a designated key (e.g., SHFT key and/or CNTL key) while highlighting a second list to be combined, as described above. In this way, a user may indicate two, three, or more lists of items to be combined. In another embodiment, a user may draw a box around the selected lists.

In a step 230, the system displays to the user the tentative merge list comprising items from the first and second lists, including applying a first graphical identification to items in the tentative merge list that were added to the tentative merge list from the first list, and applying a second graphical identification to items in the tentative merge list that were added to the tentative merge list from the second list. Details regarding the tentative merge list and the graphical identifications were discussed in detail above and will not be repeated here.

In a next step 240, in response to an instruction by the user, the system converts the tentative merge list into a new combined list. Details regarding the conversion and the new combined list itself were discussed in detail above and will not be repeated here.

Beneficially, the method 200 includes a subsequent step 250 wherein the system removes the first and second graphical identifications when the tentative merge list is converted into the new combined list.

According to the method described above with respect to FIGs. IA-C and 2, it is easy for a user to keep track of the origin of all items when combining items from two or more existing lists to create a new combined list. While preferred embodiments are disclosed herein, many variations are possible which remain within the concept and scope of the invention. Such variations would become clear to one of ordinary skill in the art after inspection of the specification, drawings and claims herein. The invention therefore is not to be restricted except within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method (200) of merging at least two predefined lists (100) of items (110) to create a new combined list (170), comprising: displaying (210) to a user a plurality of lists (100) of items (110); receiving (220) from a user an indication of at least a first one of the plurality of lists (100), and an indication of a second one of the plurality of lists (100), to be merged into a tentative merge list (150); displaying (230) to the user the tentative merge list (150) comprising items (110) from the first and second lists (100), including applying a first graphical identification (130) to items (110) in the tentative merge list (150) that were added to the tentative merge list (150) from the first list (100), and applying a second graphical identification (130) to items (110) in the tentative merge list (150) that were added to the tentative merge list (150) from the second list (150); and converting (240) the tentative merge list (150) into a new combined list (170) in response to an instruction by the user.

2. The method (200) of claim 1, further comprising deleting items (110) from the first and second lists (100) that are included in the new combined list (170) when the tentative merge list (150) is converted to the new combined list (170).

3. The method (200) of claim 2, further comprising, when all of the items

(110) in any of the plurality of lists are included in the new combined list (170), deleting said list (100) when the tentative merge list (150) is converted to the new combined list (170).

4. The method (200) of claim 1, further comprising removing (250) the first and second graphical identifications (130) when the tentative merge list (150) is converted into the new combined list (170).

5. The method (200) of claim 1 , wherein the instruction that causes the tentative merge list (150) to be converted into the new combined list (170) is an instruction to select a third list (100) to be merged with the new combined list (170).

6. The method (200) of claim 1 , wherein the instruction that causes the tentative merge list (150) to be converted into the new combined list (170) is an instruction to finalize the tentative merge list (150).

7. The method (200) of claim 1 , wherein the instruction that causes the tentative merge list (150) to be converted into the new combined list (170) is an instruction to close an application that displays the tentative merge list (150) to the user.

8. The method (200) of claim 1, wherein the first graphical identification (130) comprises a first color and the second graphical identification (130) comprises a second color different from the first color.

9. The method (200) of claim 1, wherein the first graphical identification (130) comprises a first symbol and the second graphical identification (130) comprises a second symbol different from the first symbol.

10. The method (200) of claim 1, wherein the first graphical identification (130) comprises a first shade of gray and the second graphical identification (130) comprises a second shade of gray different from the first shade of gray.

11. The method (200) of claim 1 , further comprising, when a first item ( 110) is included in both the first and second lists (100), adding only one copy of the first item (110) to the tentative merge list (150), and applying both the first and second graphical identifications (130) to the first item (110) in the tentative merge list (150).

12. The method (200) of claim 1, further comprising, when a first item (110) is included in both the first and second lists (100), adding only one copy of the first item (110) to the tentative merge list (150), and applying a third graphical identification (130) to the first item (110) in the tentative merge list (150)

13. The method (200) of claim 1, further comprising, when a first item (110) in the first group has a same name as a second item (110) in the second list (100), adding both the first and second items (110) to the tentative merge list (150) and adding a first extension to the name of the first item (110) in the tentative merge list (150), and adding a second extension to the name of the second item (110) in the tentative merge list (150).

14. The method (200) of claim 13, including providing a warning to the user that the names of the first and second items (110) have been changed.

15. The method (200) of claim 1, further comprising, prior to (250) converting the tentative merge list (150) into a new combined list (170): receiving from a user an indication of at least a third one of the plurality of lists (100) to be merged into the tentative merge list (150); and displaying to the user the tentative merge list (150) comprising items (110) from the first, second, and third lists (100), including applying a first graphical identification (130) to items (110) in the tentative merge list (150) that were added to the tentative merge list (150) from the first list (100), applying a second graphical identification (130) to items (110) in the tentative merge list (150) that were added to the tentative merge list (150) from the second list (100), and applying a third graphical identification (130) to items (110) in the tentative merge list (150) that were added to the tentative merge list (150) from the third list (100).

16. The method (200) of claim 1, further comprising, prior to converting (250) the tentative merge list (150) into a new combined list (170): receiving from a user an indication of at least one item (110) from a third one of the plurality of lists (100) to be added to the tentative merge list (150); and displaying to the user the tentative merge list (150) comprising items (110) from the first, second, and third lists (100), including applying a first graphical identification (130) to items (110) in the tentative merge list (150) that were added to the tentative merge list (150) from the first list (100), applying a second graphical identification (130) to items (110) in the tentative merge list (150) that were added to the tentative merge list (150) from the second list (100), and applying a third graphical identification (130) to items (110) in the tentative merge list (150) that were added to the tentative merge list (150) from the third list (100).

17. A method (200) of merging at least two predefined trees (100) to create a new combined tree (170), comprising: displaying (210) to a user a plurality of trees (100) hierarchically organizing items (110); receiving (220) from a user an indication of at least a first one of the plurality of trees (100), and an indication of a second one of the plurality of trees (100), to be merged into a tentative tree (150); displaying (230) to the user the tentative tree (150) comprising items (110) from the first and second trees and maintaining the hierarchical organization of items (110) in the first and second trees (100), including applying a first graphical identification (130) to items (110) in the tentative tree (150) that were added to the tentative tree (150) the first tree (100), and applying a second graphical identification (130) to items (110) in the tentative tree (150) that were added to the tentative tree (150) from the second tree (100); and converting (240) the tentative tree (150) into a new combined tree (170) in response to an instruction by the user.

18. The method (200) of claim 17, wherein the instruction that causes the tentative tree (150) to be converted into the new combined tree (170) is one of an instruction to select a third tree to be merged with the new combined tree (170), an instruction to finalize the tentative tree (150), and an instruction to close an application that displays the tentative tree (150) to the user.

19. The method (200) of claim 17, wherein the first graphical identification (130) comprises at least one of a first color, a first symbol, and a first shade of gray, and wherein the second graphical identification (130) comprises at least one of a second color different from the first color, a second symbol different from the first symbol, and a second shade of gray different from the first shade of gray.

20. The method (200) of claim 17, further comprising, prior to converting the tentative tree (150) into a new combined tree (170) in response to an instruction by the user: receiving from a user an indication of a third one of the plurality of trees (100), to be merged into the tentative tree (150); displaying to the user an updated tentative tree (150) comprising items (110) from the first, second, and third trees (100), including applying a first graphical identification (130) to items (110) in the tentative tree (150) that were added to the tentative tree (150) from the first tree (100), applying a second graphical identification (130) to items (110) in the tentative tree (150) that were added to the tentative tree (150) from the second tree (100), and applying a third graphical identification (130) to items (110) in the tentative tree (150) that were added to the tentative tree (150) from the third tree (100).