| 摘要 |
A method to access appropriate versions of files or objects in a computer with a graphical user interface. The invention creates a container "movie" object which "contains" a user or program selected group of contained objects-which are typically versions of a file, data at different stages in processing or any other set of files which are temporally related. Since such temporally related objects are usually accessed "one at a time", the container displays within itself an icon for only one of the contained objects-typically the most recent or currently active file. The other non-active versions are kept hidden, to prevent accidental access and reduce visual clutter. To access any of these hidden versions, a method is disclosed which forces the user to "rewind" or "forward" in a movie like fashion to the past or recent versions with an animation rate indicative of the date proximities between adjacent versions-thereby giving the user a "feel" for recency or newness. The user may change the active version during animation using a keystroke or pointing action. The major new effect of the present method is that when a plurality of movie icons are browsed the computing environment or file system can be made partially reversible, assisting users to revert back and allowing programs to access older files or drivers which were known to be stable.
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