System for displaying hierarchical information
A system of displaying hierarchical information in a user interface includes displaying a first plurality of icons aligned in a first arc course on a display device, selecting one of the first plurality of icons using a user input device, rotating the first plurality of icons to position the selected one of the first plurality of icons to a front position of the first arc course in response to the selecting to define a first selection indicator and displaying a second plurality of icons aligned along a second-level arc course, the second-level arc course displayed adjacent to and positioned co-axial with the first arc course, and the second plurality of icons representing sub-hierarchical data for the first selection indicator.
1. A method of displaying hierarchical information, comprising
displaying a first plurality of icons aligned in a first arc course on a display device, the first arc course displayed as a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional arc course in a first plane;
selecting one of said first plurality of icons using a user input device;
rotating said first plurality of icons to position said selected one of said first plurality of icons to a front position of said first arc course towards an observer in response to said selecting to define a first selection indicator;
displaying a second plurality of icons aligned along a second-level arc course, said second-level arc course displayed as a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional arc course in a second plane, said second-level arc course displayed stacked adjacent to, and positioned co-axial with said first arc course and said second plurality of icons representing sub-hierarchical data for said first selection indicator;
wherein the first and second arc courses are displayed using a two-dimensional visualization of three-dimensional co-axial arc courses that are separated from each other by a distance measured approximately orthogonal to the first and second planes, and the first and second arc courses having approximately identical radii of curvature along their respective lengths.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said displaying a first plurality of icons aligned along a first arc course further comprises displaying a first plurality of icons along a perimeter of a first rotatable disk having a width.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein said displaying a second plurality of icons aligned along a second-level arc path further comprises displaying a second plurality of icons along a perimeter of a second rotatable disk having a width and positioned co-axial with said first rotatable disk.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein said first rotatable disk and said second rotatable disk are separated by a distance between a bottom surface of said first rotatable disk and a top surface of said second rotatable disk.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein an entire perimeter of said first rotatable disk is visible.
6. The method of claim 3 , wherein only a portion of a perimeter of said first rotatable disk is visible.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
selecting one of said second plurality of icons along said second-level arc course; and
rotating said one of said second plurality of icons to a front position of said second-level arc course in response to said selecting to define a second-level selection indicator.
8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
displaying a third plurality of icons aligned along a third-level arc course, said third-level arc course displayed stacked adjacent to and positioned co-axial with said first arc course and said second-level arc course, said third plurality of icons representing sub-hierarchical data for said second-level selection indicator.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising selectively emphasizing each respective one of said first plurality of icons as each icon moves closer to said front position and de-emphasizing each respectively one of said first plurality of icons as each icon moves away from said front position.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein said selectively highlighting comprises enlarging each respective one of said first plurality of icons to create the impression of movement towards an observer.
11. The method of 1 , further comprising:
selecting a detail pane associated with one of said first plurality of icons to display associated information.
12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
selecting a second one of said first plurality of icons; and
rotating said first plurality of icons to present said second one of said first plurality of icons to said front position.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein said rotating said first plurality of icons further comprises:
removing at least one of said first plurality of icons as said at least one of said first plurality of icons is visibly rotated off an end of said first arc course; and
adding at least one new icon to said first arc course as proportionate spacing becomes available on said first arc course.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first arc course forms one of a partial perimeter of a circle and a partial perimeter of a bow shape.
15. An apparatus for displaying hierarchical information, comprising:
a display device to display a first plurality of icons aligned in a first arc course displayed as a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional arc course in a first plane;
a user input device to enable a user to select one of said first plurality of icons; and
a network-attached storage (NAS) server configured to visually rotate said first plurality of icons to position said selected one of said first plurality of icons to a front position on said display device in response to a user selecting said one of said first plurality of icons, said one of said first plurality of icons thus defined as a first selection indicator, said NAS server further configured to display a second plurality of icons aligned along a second-level arc course, said second-level arc course displayed as a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional arc course in a second plane and stacked adjacent to and positioned co-axial with said first arc course and said second plurality of icons representing sub-hierarchical data for said first selection indicator;
wherein the first and second arc courses represent two-dimensional visualization of three-dimensional co-axial arc courses separated by a distance measured approximately orthogonal to the first and second planes, and the first and second arc courses having approximately identical radii of curvature along their respective lengths.
16. The apparatus of claim 15 , further comprising:
a serial ATA (SATA) device in communication with said NAS server, said SATA device represented by a SATA icon on said second-level arc course on said display device, and wherein said NAS server is configured to visually display at least one third-level icon representing hierarchical data for said SATA device on a third-level arc course displayed stacked adjacent to and positioned co-axial with said first and second arc courses, said at least one third-level icon positioned in a front position of said third-level arc course to define a third-level selection indicator.
17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein said NAS server is further configured to display a plurality of fourth-level icons on a fourth-level arc course displayed stacked adjacent to, and positioned co-axial with said first, second and third arc courses, said plurality of fourth-level icons representing hierarchical data for said third-level selection indicator.
18. The apparatus of claim 15 , further comprising:
a direct attached storage device in communication with said NAS server, said NAS server configured to display a direct attached storage icon on said second arc course in response to a user selecting a devices icon displayed on said first arc course.
19. A method of displaying hierarchical information to configure a RAID array and NAS server site, comprising:
displaying a first plurality of icons aligned in a first arc course, said first arc course displayed as a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional arc course in a first plane on a display device, at least one of said first plurality of icons representing a plurality of memory storage devices in communication with a NAS server;
selecting said at least one of said first plurality of icons using a user input device;
rotating said first plurality of icons to position said selected one of said first plurality of icons to a front position of said first arc course in response to said selecting; and
displaying a second plurality of icons aligned along a second-level arc course, said second-level arc course displayed as a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional arc course in a second plane and stacked adjacent to and positioned co-axial with said first arc course, and each of said second plurality of icons representing a respective memory storage device;
wherein the first and second arc courses are displayed using a two-dimensional visualization of three-dimensional co-axial arc courses that are separated from each other by a distance measured approximately orthogonal to the first and second planes, and the first and second arc courses having approximately identical radii of curvature along their respective lengths.
20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
selecting one of said second plurality of icons, said one of said second plurality of icons representing a first memory storage device; and
displaying a third-level icon on said display device, said third-level icon representing a logical unit (“LUN”) in said first memory storage device.
21. A method of displaying hierarchical information, comprising:
displaying a top-level icon representing subject matter of a collective hierarchical information;
displaying a first plurality of icons aligned in a first arc course on a display device, the first arc course orbiting about the top-level icon;
selecting one of said first plurality of icons using a user input device;
rotating said first plurality of icons to position said selected one of said first plurality of icons to a front position of said first arc course in response to said selecting to define a first selection indicator;
displaying a second plurality of icons aligned along a second-level arc course, said second-level arc course displayed stacked adjacent to, and positioned co-axial with said first arc course and said second plurality of icons representing sub-hierarchical data for said first selection indicator, wherein said first and second arc courses are displayed as two-dimensional representations of respective three-dimensional arc courses that are separated from each other by a distance, and the first and second arc courses having approximately identical radii of curvature along their respective lengths.