Method and apparatus for graphically representing information stored in electronic media
US5987469A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 13, 1997 |
| Grant date | Nov 16, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 13, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S707/99945
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus is provided for displaying nested rectangles which graphically illustrate the directories and files located in a storage medium such a computer hard disk drive or the nodes of a tree data structure. The sizes of the rectangles are proportional to the size of the directory or file they represent, and the rectangles are nested in a recursive manner in accordance with the branch structure of the directories and files on the storage media. Preferably, the dimensions of the rectangles are chosen to maximize the number of rectangles, especially those capable of displaying the names of the directories and files. Yet further, the invention preferably assigns colors to the rectangles based upon certain criteria and suppresses directories or files from being shown if their rectangles will be too small to be accurately perceived.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.