Method for displaying files from a plurality of devices in a multi-view interface and for enabling operations to be performed on such files through such interface
View Patent ↗In a synchronization or back-up system that synchronizes and/or back-ups files from multiple computing devices, the present invention provides a method for (1) displaying files from multiple computing devices in a multi-view user interface and (2) enabling content and file operations to be performed on such files through the user interface. The multi-view interface includes a file-system view and one or more media-specific views. In the file-system view files are organized in the same way in which they are organized on the devices on which they are stored. The file-system view in the interface looks essentially the same as the file-system view on client devices. In the file-system view, users can perform file operations on files. In the media-specific view files are organized by media category. In one embodiment of the media-specific view, files are organized by metadata that relates to the files content. In the media-specific view, users can perform content operations on the files.
1. A method for displaying files from a plurality of devices in a multi-view interface and for enabling operations to be performed on such files through such interface, the method comprising:
providing an interface having a view window, wherein, within the view window, a user is able to view, at the user's discretion, either a media-specific view or one of a plurality of file-system views, wherein each file-system view corresponds to a local file-system view on a different one of the plurality of devices and files within each file-system view are organized in the same way as files are organized in the corresponding local file-system view, wherein the media-specific view is a compilation view of all files from the plurality of devices that are designated with a particular media category, and wherein a user may view and edit files on one or more devices corresponding to the selected view in the view window;
enabling a user to perform file operations in each of the file-system views in the interface, wherein file operations include deleting files from folders, copying files in folders, and pasting files to folders and wherein performing a file-system operation in a file-system view in the interface causes the file-system on the device to which the file-system view corresponds to be altered in accordance with the performed file-system operation and wherein the changes are also propagated to other devices having synchronized copies of the affected files;
enabling a user to perform content-specific operations to be performed in a media-specific view in the interface; and
enabling a user to switch between the file-system and media-specific views, and switching automatically from the media-specific view to the file-system view responsive to a file system operation performed in the media-specific view.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the interface is a web interface.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the media-specific view is one of the following: a photo view in which photo files are displayed, a music view in which music files are displayed, a video view in which video files are displayed, and a document view in which document files are displayed.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a user also can view and edit data objects through the interface and the media-specific view corresponds to a type of data object.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein data objects include email messages.
6. The method of claim 4 , wherein data objects include contacts.
7. The method of claim 4 , wherein data objects include calendar items.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the interface, the user is able to select a media-specific view to see in the view window from one of a plurality of media-specific views available for view in the view window.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of media-specific views include a photo view, a music view, a video view, and a documents view.
10. A method for viewing files from a plurality of devices, the method comprising:
storing by a server files from a user's plurality of devices;
providing an interface to the server via which the user is able to view the stored files, wherein the interface has a view window and, within the view window, the user is able to view, at the user's discretion, either a media-specific view or one of a plurality of file-system views, wherein each file-system view corresponds to a local file-system view on a different one of the plurality of devices and files within each file-system view are organized in the same way as files are organized in the corresponding local file-system view, and wherein the media-specific view is a compilation view of all the stored files that are designated with a particular media category;
enabling the user to perform file operations in each of the file-system views in the interface, wherein file operations include deleting files from folders, copying files in folders, and pasting files to folders and wherein performing a file-system operation in a file-system view in the interface causes the file-system on the device to which the file-system view corresponds to be altered in accordance with the performed file-system operation;
enabling the user to perform content-specific operations in the media-specific view in the interface; and
enabling a user to switch between the file-system and media-specific views in the view window, and switching automatically from the media-specific view to the file-system view responsive to a file system operation performed in the media-specific view.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the interface is a web interface.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the media-specific view is a photo view in which a compilation of all the stored files designated as photos are displayed.
13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the media-specific view is a music view in which a compilation of all the stored files designated as music files are displayed.
14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the media-specific view is a video view in which a compilation of all the stored files designated as video files are displayed.
15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the media-specific view is a document view in which a compilation of all the stored files designated as documents are displayed.
16. The method of claim 10 , wherein a user also can view and edit data objects through the interface and the media-specific view corresponds to a type of data object.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein data objects include email messages.
18. The method of claim 16 , wherein data objects include contacts.
19. The method of claim 16 , wherein data objects include calendar items.
20. The method of claim 10 , wherein in the interface, the user is able to select a media-specific view to see in the view window from one of a plurality of media-specific views available for view in the view window.
21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the plurality of media-specific views include a photo view, a music view, a video view, and a documents view.
22. The method of claim 10 , wherein one or more of the stored files are synchronized across two or more of the plurality of devices and, in response to a user making a change, via the interface, to a synchronized file, propagating the change to all the user's devices having the synchronized file.
23. The method of claim 10 , wherein the stored files are organized into folders and wherein one or more folders are synchronized across two or more of the plurality of devices, and in response to a user making a change, via the interface, to a synchronized folder or to a file within the synchronized folder, propagating the change to all the devices having the synchronized folder.
24. A computer program embodied on one or more non-transitory computer-readable media and comprising code that when executed by a computer system, enables the computer system to perform the following method for viewing files from a plurality of devices, the method comprising:
storing by a server files from a user's plurality of devices;
providing an interface to the server via which the user is able to view the stored files, wherein the interface has a view window and, within the view window, the user is able to view, at the user's discretion, either a media-specific view or one of a plurality of file-system views, wherein each file-system view corresponds to a local file-system view on a different one of the plurality of devices and files within each file-system view are organized in the same way as files are organized in the corresponding local file-system view, and wherein the media-specific view is a compilation view of all the stored files that are designated with a particular media category;
enabling the user to perform file operations in each of the file-system views in the interface, wherein file operations include deleting files from folders, copying files in folders, and pasting files to folders and wherein performing a file-system operation in a file-system view in the interface causes the file-system on the device to which the file-system view corresponds to be altered in accordance with the performed file-system operation;
enabling the user to perform content-specific operations in the media-specific view in the interface; and
enabling a user to switch between the file-system and media-specific views in the view window, and switching automatically from the media-specific view to the file-system view responsive to a file system operation performed in the media-specific view.