Represented object groups
View Patent ↗A method, system and article of manufacture for organizing and grouping objects is provided. By assigning property names and values to a plurality of related objects, they may be organized into a group and one object of the group may be displayed as the representative. Grouping objects and displaying a representative provides a single way to keep objects organized, keep “reminders” of things to do or future events, all accessible through a central interface, and reduces the amount of display and storage space required to view and store all the objects. Additionally, the group of objects may be treated as a single document and the representative returned as a result of a search where one of the objects meets the search parameters.
1. A method of organizing a plurality of objects, comprising the steps of:
receiving user selections of multiple objects from the plurality of objects;
creating one or more groups of objects from the multiple objects;
for each of the one or more groups of objects:
assigning a set of property names to each of the objects in the group, for properties associated with objects in the group, and each object having the same set of property names;
for each object in the group, assigning property values to the object for the property names, the property values determined from the object content;
assigning a unique hidden property value for the group to each of the objects in the group;
automatically designating a representative object for each of the groups of objects;
searching the plurality of objects using a search parameter, and
for the plurality of objects that meet the search parameter and that are part of one or more groups, returning the representative objects of groups of which any of the plurality of objects that meet the search parameter are members, such that the object is part of a particular one of the one or more groups, if the object was assigned the particular group's hidden property value; and
for particular ones of the plurality of objects that meet the search parameter and that are not part of one or more groups, returning the particular objects, such that object is not part of the one or more groups if the object was not assigned any of the one or more groups' hidden property values;
displaying the returned representative objects of the groups of objects, the returned representative objects improving organization of objects and saving display space; and
displaying the particular objects.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the plurality of objects comprises being part of more than one of the one or more groups of objects.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of displaying the representative object of the group further includes not displaying the other objects of the group, and indicating that the object being displayed is a representative object of the group.
4. The method of claim 1 , further including the steps of:
detecting an additional object; and,
adding the additional object to one or more of the groups of objects, responsive to the detecting step.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, for a returned representative object of a group, displaying objects of the group other than the representative object by selecting the representative object.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising changing the representative object of any of the groups of objects.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of designating a representative object is performed by designating the first object selected during the step of creating one or more groups of objects.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein each returned representative object is expandable to show all the members of the group and collapsible to show only the representative object.
9. An article of manufacture including an information storage medium wherein is stored information for programming a computer to perform a method of organizing a plurality of objects, the method comprising the steps of:
receiving user selections of multiple objects from the plurality of objects;
creating one or more groups of objects from the multiple objects;
for each of the one or more groups of objects:
assigning a set of property names to each of the objects in the group, for properties associated with objects in the group, and each object having the same set of property names;
for each object in the group, assigning property values to the object for the property names, the property values determined from the object content;
assigning a unique hidden property value for the group to each of the objects in the group;
automatically designating a representative object for each of the groups of objects;
searching the plurality of objects using a search parameter, and
for the plurality of objects that meet the search parameter and that are part of one or more groups, returning the representative objects of groups of which any of the plurality of objects that meet the search parameter are members, such that the object is part of a particular one of the one or more groups, if the object was assigned the particular group's hidden property value; and
for particular ones of the plurality of objects that meet the search parameter and that are not part of one or more groups, returning the particular objects, such that object is not part of the one or more groups if the object was not assigned any of the one or more groups' hidden property values;
displaying the returned representative objects of the groups of objects, the returned representative objects improving organization of objects and saving display space; and
displaying the particular objects.
10. An article of manufacture wherein information is stored for programming as in claim 9 , wherein one or more of the plurality of objects comprises being part of more than one of the one or more groups of objects.
11. An article of manufacture wherein information is stored for programming as in claim 9 , wherein the step of displaying the representative of the group further includes not displaying the other objects of the group, and indicating that the object being displayed is a representative object of the group.
12. The article of manufacture wherein information is stored for programming as in claim 9 , further including the steps of:
detecting an additional object; and
adding the additional object to one or more of the groups of objects, responsive to the detecting step.
13. An article of manufacture wherein information is stored for programming as in claim 9 , further comprising, for a returned representative object of a group, displaying objects of the group other than the representative object by selecting the representative object.
14. An article of manufacture wherein information is stored for programming as in claim 9 , further comprising changing the representative object of any of the groups of objects.
15. The article of manufacture wherein information is stored for programming as in claim 9 , wherein the step of designating a representative object is performed by designating the first object selected during the step of creating one or more groups of objects.
16. The article of manufacture wherein information is stored for programming as in claim 9 , wherein each returned representative object is expandable to show all the members of the group and collapsible to show only the representative object.
17. An apparatus for organizing a plurality of objects, comprising:
a processor;
a display device in communication with the processor; and,
a processor readable storage medium in communication with the processor, containing process readable program code for programming the apparatus to perform the method of organizing a plurality of objects, the method comprising the steps of:
receiving user selections of multiple objects from the plurality of objects;
creating one or more groups of objects from the multiple objects;
for each of the one or more groups of objects:
assigning a set of property names to each of the objects in the group, for properties associated with objects in the group, and each object having the same set of property names;
for each object in the group, assigning property values to the object for the property names, the property values determined from the object content;
assigning a uniciue hidden property value for the group to each of the objects in the group;
automatically designating a representative object for each of the groups of objects;
searching the plurality of objects using a search parameter, and
for the plurality of objects that meet the search parameter and that are part of one or more groups, returning the representative objects of groups of which any of the plurality of objects that meet the search parameter are members, such that the object is part of a particular one of the one or more groups, if the object was assigned the particular group's hidden property value; and
for particular ones of the plurality of objects that meet the search parameter and that are not part of one or more groups, returning the particular objects, such that object is not part of the one or more groups if the object was not assigned any of the one or more groups' hidden property values;
displaying the returned representative objects of the groups of objects, the returned representative objects improving organization of objects and saving display space; and
displaying the particular objects.
18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein one or more of the plurality of objects comprises being part of more than one of the one or more groups of objects.
19. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the step of displaying the representative object of the group further includes not displaying the other objects of the group, and indicating that the object being displayed is a representative object of the group.
20. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the processor readable program code contained in the processor readable storage medium further includes the steps of:
detecting a additional object; and,
adding the additional object to one or more of the groups of objects, responsive to the detecting step.
21. The apparatus of claim 17 , further comprising, for a returned representative object of a group, a displaying objects of the group other than the representative object by selecting the representative object.
22. The apparatus of claim 17 , further comprising a change of the representative object of any of the groups of objects.
23. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the step of designating a representative object is performed by designating the first object selected during the step of creating one or more groups of objects.
24. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein each returned representative object is expandable to show all the members of the group and collapsible to show only the representative object.
25. A method of organizing a plurality of objects, comprising the steps of:
receiving user selections of multiple objects from the plurality of objects;
creating one or more groups of objects from the multiple objects;
for each of the one or more groups of objects:
assigning a set of property names to each of the objects in the group, for properties associated with objects in the group, and each object having the same set of property names;
for each object in the group, assigning property values to the object for the property names, the property values determined from the object content;
assigning a uniciue hidden property value for the group to each of the objects in the group;
automatically designating a representative object for each of the groups of objects;
assigning a first value to each representative object;
assigning a second value to the other objects in each of the groups of objects;
searching the plurality of objects using a search parameter, and
for the plurality of objects that meet the search parameter and that are part of one or more groups, returning the representative objects that are those objects having a first value, of groups of objects for which any of the plurality of objects that meet the search parameter are members, such that the object is part of a particular one of the one or more groups, if the object was assigned the particular group's hidden property value; and
for particular ones of the plurality of objects that meet the search parameter and that are not part of one or more groups, returning the particular objects, such that object is not part of the one or more groups if the object was not assigned any of the one or more groups' hidden property values;
displaying the returned representative objects of the groups of objects, the returned representative objects improving organization of objects and saving display space; and
displaying the particular objects.
26. The method of claim 25 , wherein one or more of the plurality of objects comprises being part of more than one of the one or more groups of objects.
27. The method of claim 25 , wherein the step of displaying the representative object of the group further includes not displaying the other objects of the group, and indicating that the object being displayed is a representative object of the group.
28. The method of claim 25 , further including the steps of:
detecting an additional object;
assigning the second value to the additional object; and,
adding the additional object to one or more of the groups of objects, responsive to the detecting step.
29. The method of claim 25 , further comprising, for a returned representative of a group, displaying objects of the group other than the representative object by selecting the representative object.
30. The method of claim 25 , wherein the step of designating a representative object is performed by designating the first object selected during the step of creating one or more groups of objects.
31. The method of claim 25 , wherein each returned representative object is expandable to show all the members of the group and collapsible to show only the representative object.
32. A method of organizing a plurality of objects, comprising the steps of:
receiving user selections of multiple objects from the plurality of objects;
creating one or more groups of objects from the multiple obiects;
designating a representative object for each of the groups of objects;
assigning a first value to each representative object;
assigning a second value to the other objects in each of the groups of objects;
searching the plurality of objects using a search parameter, and
for the plurality of objects that meet the search parameter and that are part of one or more groups, returning the representative objects that are those objects having a first value, or groups of objects for which any of the plurality of objects that meet the search parameter are members; and
for particular ones of the plurality of objects that meet the search parameter and that are not part of one or more groups, returning the particular objects;
displaying the returned representative objects of the groups of objects, the returned representative objects improving organization of objects and saving display space;
displaying the particular objects;
changing the representative object of a particular one of the groups of objects;
assigning the first value to the changed representative object; and
assigning the second value to the other objects in the particular group of objects.