Computer system with graphical user interface including automated enclosures

Claim 1

An apparatus for finding objects in a computer including a display and a pointing device with which a user drags a pointer on the display, comprising: an input that receives an input signal to indicate a drag operation, said input being coupled to said computer; memory that stores a plurality of objects including enclosures in the memory, wherein said enclosures comprise objects which may enclose other objects, said memory being coupled to said computer; window opening logic, coupled with the display, that draws windows on the display corresponding to opened enclosures, wherein a window for an opened enclosure includes identifiers within the window corresponding to objects enclosed by the opened enclosure; temporary window logic, coupled to the display and the pointing device, that opens a temporary window for a particular enclosure to display identifiers within the temporary window corresponding to objects enclosed by the particular enclosure, in response to a drag during a drag operation of the pointer over an identifier corresponding to the particular enclosure; and logic, coupled to the display, that determines whether the display includes an existing window for the particular enclosure during the drag operation to open a temporary window, and if so, then removes the existing window from the display.

Claim 2

An apparatus for finding objects in a computer including a display and a pointing device with which a user drags a pointer on the display, comprising: an input that receives an input signal to indicate a drag operation, said input being coupled to said computer; memory that stores a plurality of objects including enclosures in the memory, wherein said enclosures comprise objects which may enclose other objects, said memory being coupled to said computer; window opening logic, coupled with the display, that draws windows on the display corresponding to opened enclosures, wherein a window for an opened enclosure includes identifiers within the window corresponding to objects enclosed by the opened enclosure; temporary window logic, coupled to the display and the pointing device, that opens a temporary window for a particular enclosure to display identifiers within the temporary window corresponding to objects enclosed by the particular enclosure, in response to a drag during a drag operation of the pointer over an identifier corresponding to the particular enclosure; and logic, coupled to the display, that determines whether the display includes an existing window for the particular enclosure during the drag operation to open a temporary window, and if so, then removes the existing window from the display.

Claim 3

An apparatus for finding objects in a computer including a display and a pointing device with which a user drags a pointer on the display, comprising: an input that receives an input signal to indicate a drag operation, said input being coupled to said computer; memory that stores a plurality of objects including enclosures in the memory, wherein said enclosures comprise objects which may enclose other objects, said memory being coupled to the computer window opening logic, coupled with the display, that draws windows on the display corresponding to opened enclosures, wherein a window for an opened enclosure includes identifiers within the window corresponding to objects enclosed by the opened enclosure; temporary window logic, coupled to the display and the pointing device, that opens a temporary window for a particular enclosure to display identifiers within the temporary window corresponding to objects enclosed by the particular enclosure, in response to a drag during a drag operation of the pointer over an identifier corresponding to the particular enclosure; and logic, coupled to the display, that determines whether the display includes an existing window for the particular enclosure during the drag operation to open a temporary window, and if so, then removes the existing window from the display; and logic, coupled to the display, that draws the temporary window on the display over the identifier corresponding to the particular enclosure.

Claim 4

An apparatus for finding objects in a computer including a display and a pointing device with which a user drags a pointer on the display, comprising: an input that receives an input signal to indicate a drag operation, said input being coupled to said computer; memory that stores a plurality of objects including enclosures in the memory, wherein said enclosures comprise objects which may enclose other objects, said memory being coupled to the computer window opening logic, coupled with the display, that draws windows on the display corresponding to opened enclosures, wherein a window for an opened enclosure includes identifiers within the window corresponding to objects enclosed by the opened enclosure; temporary window logic, coupled to the display and the pointing device, that opens a temporary window for a particular enclosure to display identifiers within the temporary window corresponding to objects enclosed by the particular enclosure, in response to a drag during a drag operation of the pointer over an identifier corresponding to the particular enclosure; and logic, coupled to the display, that determines whether the display includes an existing window for the particular enclosure during the drag operation to open a temporary window, and if so, then removes the existing window from the display; and logic, coupled to the display, that draws the temporary window on the display over the identifier corresponding to the particular enclosure.

Claim 7

An apparatus for finding objects within a hierarchy of enclosures in a computer including a display and a pointing device with which a user drags a pointer on the display, comprising: memory to store a plurality of objects including at least one hierarchy of enclosures in the memory, wherein said enclosures comprise objects which may enclose other objects, the memory being coupled to the computer; window opening logic, coupled with the display, that draws windows on the display corresponding to opened enclosures, wherein a window for an opened enclosure includes identifiers within the window corresponding to objects enclosed by the opened enclosure; an input to receive an input signal to indicate a drag operation, the input being coupled to the computer; a particular enclosure, the particular enclosure displayed within one of the windows, said particular enclosure representing a folder in a storage system hierarchy; temporary window opening logic, coupled to the display and the pointing device that opens a current temporary window for the particular enclosure to display identifiers within the current temporary window corresponding to objects enclosed by the particular enclosure, in response to a drag during the drag operation of the pointer over an identifier corresponding to the particular enclosure, including logic that maintains a hierarchy of opened temporary windows and the current temporary window; temporary window closing logic, coupled to the temporary window opening logic and the pointing device, that closes the current temporary window in response to a drag during the drag operation of the pointer outside the current temporary window; and wherein the temporary window closing logic includes logic that closes temporary windows in the hierarchy except the current temporary window, in response to a drag operation that ends in the current temporary window.

Claim 8

An apparatus for finding objects within a hierarchy of enclosures in a computer including a display and a pointing device with which a user drags a pointer on the display, comprising: memory to store a plurality of objects including at least one hierarchy of enclosures in the memory, wherein said enclosures comprise objects which may enclose other objects, the memory being coupled to the computer; window opening logic, coupled with the display, that draws windows on the display corresponding to opened enclosures, wherein a window for an opened enclosure includes identifiers within the window corresponding to objects enclosed by the opened enclosure; an input to receive an input signal to indicate a drag operation, the input being coupled to the computer; a particular enclosure, the particular enclosure displayed within one of the windows, said particular enclosure representing a folder in a storage system hierarchy; temporary window opening logic, coupled to the display and the pointing device that opens a current temporary window for the particular enclosure to display identifiers within the current temporary window corresponding to objects enclosed by the particular enclosure, in response to a drag during the drag operation of the pointer over an identifier corresponding to the particular enclosure, including logic that maintains a hierarchy of opened temporary windows and the current temporary window; temporary window closing logic, coupled to the temporary window opening logic and the pointing device, that closes the current temporary window in response to a drag during the drag operation of the pointer outside the current temporary window; and wherein the temporary window closing logic includes logic that closes temporary windows in the hierarchy except the current temporary window, in response to a drag operation that ends in the current temporary window.

Claim 9

An apparatus for finding objects within a hierarchy of enclosures in a computer including a display and a pointing device with which a user drags a pointer on the display, comprising: memory to store a plurality of objects including at least one hierarchy of enclosures in the memory, wherein said enclosures comprise objects which may enclose other objects, the memory being coupled to the computer; window opening logic, coupled with the display, that draws windows on the display corresponding to opened enclosures, wherein a window for an opened enclosure includes identifiers within the window corresponding to objects enclosed by the opened enclosure; an input to receive an input signal to indicate a drag operation, the input being coupled to the computer; a particular enclosure, the particular enclosure displayed within one of the windows, said particular enclosure representing a folder in a storage system hierarchy; temporary window opening logic, coupled to the display and the pointing device that opens a current temporary window for the particular enclosure to display identifiers within the current temporary window corresponding to objects enclosed by the particular enclosure, in response to a drag during the drag operation of the pointer over an identifier corresponding to the particular enclosure, including logic that maintains a hierarchy of opened temporary windows and the current temporary window; temporary window closing logic, coupled to the temporary window opening logic and the pointing device, that closes the current temporary window in response to a drag during the drag operation of the pointer outside the current temporary window; and wherein the temporary window closing logic includes logic that after termination of the drag operation closes temporary windows opened during the drag operation in response to movement of the pointer out of the temporary windows, except for particular temporary windows selected by user input before movement of the pointer out of the temporary windows.

Claim 10

An apparatus for finding objects within a hierarchy of enclosures in a computer including a display and a pointing device with which a user drags a pointer on the display, comprising: memory to store a plurality of objects including at least one hierarchy of enclosures in the memory, wherein said enclosures comprise objects which may enclose other objects, the memory being coupled to the computer; window opening logic, coupled with the display, that draws windows on the display corresponding to opened enclosures, wherein a window for an opened enclosure includes identifiers within the window corresponding to objects enclosed by the opened enclosure; an input to receive an input signal to indicate a drag operation, the input being coupled to the computer; a particular enclosure, the particular enclosure displayed within one of the windows, said particular enclosure representing a folder in a storage system hierarchy; temporary window opening logic, coupled to the display and the pointing device that opens a current temporary window for the particular enclosure to display identifiers within the current temporary window corresponding to objects enclosed by the particular enclosure, in response to a drag during the drag operation of the pointer over an identifier corresponding to the particular enclosure, including logic that maintains a hierarchy of opened temporary windows and the current temporary window; temporary window closing logic, coupled to the temporary window opening logic and the pointing device, that closes the current temporary window in response to a drag during the drag operation of the pointer outside the current temporary window; and wherein the temporary window closing logic includes logic that after termination of the drag operation closes temporary windows opened during the drag operation in response to movement of the pointer out of the temporary windows, except for particular temporary windows selected by user input before movement of the pointer out of the temporary windows.