System and method for data item filtering based on character sequence entry

1. A method of filtering a plurality of data items according to user input, wherein each of the data items is identified by a multiple-character identifier, the method comprising:

presenting a collection of individual characters to a user via a computer device, wherein any of the individual characters may be selected by the user;

receiving to the computer device a character sequence from the user having Y characters, wherein the character sequence comprises at least one character selection selected from the collection of individual characters, and wherein Y is a number less than the multiple-character identifier for at least one data item;

for each character selection of the character sequence, associating at the computer device more than one character from the collection of individual characters with the character selection;

filtering the plurality of data items via the computer device based on the associated characters corresponding to each character selection, wherein the filtering comprises a comparison of the associated characters of the character sequence to every Y subset of characters within the multiple-character identifiers of the data items; and

presenting a list of filtered data items to the user, wherein at least one data item of the list includes associated characters of an entirety of the character sequence received from the user as an internal character string of the at least one data item, and wherein the internal character string does not include a first character of the multiple-character identifier of the at least one data item.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

associating the more than one character with the character selection comprises associating the selected character and at least one other character of the collection of individual characters, wherein the at least one other character is adjacent to the selected character based on a relative positioning of the collection of individual characters as presented to the user.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein filtering the plurality of data items comprises:

comparing each character of the multiple-character identifier of each of the plurality of data items with the characters associated with a first character selection of the character sequence;

comparing each subsequent character of the multiple-character identifier with the characters associated with each subsequent character selection of the character sequence in order; and

based on the comparison, filtering out the data items with multiple-character identifiers having at least one character not matching one of the associated characters of the corresponding character selection of the sequence.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

displaying the multiple-character identifiers for the plurality of data items prior to receiving the character sequence; and

updating the multiple-character identifiers being displayed as each character selection of the character sequence is received based on the filtering.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

displaying the multiple-character identifiers for the data items as each character selection of the character sequence is received, wherein the multi-character identifiers that match the character selections of the character sequence are displayed before the multiple-character identifiers that do not match the character selections of the character sequence.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the collection of individual characters is organized into multiple distinct groups of characters, wherein all characters of a group are associated with a character selection if the selected character comprises one of the characters of the group.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein:

the collection of individual characters as presented to the user is organized in rows; and

each group of characters is located within one of the rows.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the collection of individual characters is organized into multiple overlapping groups of characters, wherein the selected character determines remaining characters of one of the overlapping groups of characters.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the data items comprise media content files.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the data items comprise contact information entries.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the data items comprise words of text.

12. An electronic device, comprising:

control circuitry configured to process data items, wherein each of the data items is identified by a multiple-character identifier comprising a series of characters;

an output interface configured to output the multiple-character identifiers of the data items for presentation to a user; and

a user input interface configured to receive a character sequence having Y characters from the user via a collection of individual characters visible to the user, wherein the character sequence comprises at least one character selection selected from the collection of individual characters, and wherein Y is a number less than the series of characters for at least one data item;

wherein the control circuitry is configured to:

associate more than one character from the collection of individual characters with each character selected by the user from the collection of individual characters;

filter the multiple-character identifiers being presented based on the associated characters corresponding to each character selection by comparing the associated characters of the character sequence to every Y subset of characters within the series of characters of the data items; and

present a list of filtered data items to the user, wherein at least one data item of the list includes associated characters of an entirety of the character sequence received from the user as an internal character string of the at least one data item, and wherein the internal character string does not include a first character of the multiple-character identifier of the at least one data item.

13. The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein:

the control circuitry is configured to display the multiple-character identifiers remaining after filtering via the output interface.

14. The electronic device of claim 13 , wherein:

the control circuitry is configured to prioritize for display the multiple-character identifiers that match the character sequence over the multiple-character identifiers remaining after filtering.

15. The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein:

the output interface comprises a display; and

the user input interface is incorporated within the display so that each of the collection of individual characters is selectable by the user via the display.

16. The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein:

the user input interface comprises a plurality of depressible keys; and

each key of the plurality of depressible keys corresponds to one character of the collection of individual characters.

17. A method of filtering a plurality of data items according to user input, wherein each of the data items is identified by a multiple-character identifier, the method comprising:

presenting a collection of individual characters to a user via a computer device, wherein any of the individual characters may be selected by the user;

receiving at the computer device a character sequence from the user having a first number of characters having at least two characters in a first character order;

for each character selection of the character sequence, associating at the computer device more than one character from the collection of individual characters with the character selection including the received characters;

filtering the plurality of data items via the computer device based on the associated characters corresponding to each character selection, wherein the filtering comprises a comparison of the associated characters of the character sequence in the first character order to every subset of characters equal to the first number of characters within the multiple-character identifier of each item of the plurality of data items; and

presenting a list of filtered data items to the user, wherein at least one data item of the list includes associated characters of an entirety of the character sequence received from the user as an internal character string of the at least one data item, and wherein the internal character string does not include a first character of the multiple-character identifier of the at least one data item.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the multiple-character identifier of the at least one data item comprises in order at least a first character and a second character, and wherein the internal character string does not include the first character.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the multiple-character identifier of the at least one data item comprises a second number of characters greater than the first number of characters of the received character sequence, wherein the multiple-character identifier comprises a first character and a last character in order of the second number of characters, and wherein the internal character string includes the last character of the second number of characters.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein the multiple-character identifier of the at least one data item comprises at least two words in order, and wherein the internal character string consists of characters of a second word of the at least two words.