Visual cues based on file type

摘要

The subject disclosure relates to providing more effective visual cues for distinguishing between files based upon file types. Given that users typically browse and select files based upon their file types, and further that various collections of files often share identical or similar naming conventions, the subject disclosure provides a useful mechanism to reduce the need for close inspection of file names in order to locate desired files. In particular, various file types can be assigned to a set of groups and each group can be associated with a particular color. Thus, visual representations (e.g., icons or tabs) of the various files can be presented with a color-coded element to serve as the visual cue.

主权项

1. A system that facilitates visual cues in connection with file type groupings, comprising:
a categorization component configured to assign at least one file to a group associated with a color based upon a file type of the at least one file; a settings component configured to enable user selection of one or more file extension types for designation of the group to configure the categorization component; and a gestalt component, in a computer-readable storage medium, that operatively couples to a file system of an operating system (OS) and to a file editor of a software development environment that presents a content view of contents of the at least one file, wherein the gestalt component is configured to apply the color to visual representations of the at least one file in accordance with a color-coding scheme common to multiple types of views presented by the OS and displayed in a user interface of the software development environment, the visual representations being presented by the software development environment and the OS to enable a user to open the at least one file in the file editor via selection of the visual representation, wherein the at least one file is one of a plurality of different types of software development files to be opened by the file editor and displayed by the file editor in respective content views of code-based contents of the software development files for editing, wherein the gestalt component is further configured to apply respective colors to the respective content views of the file editor in accordance with the color-coding scheme and the different types of software development files, and wherein the gestalt component is further configured to apply the respective colors to respective visual representations of the software development files in a directory view of the software development files displayed by a file manager of the software development environment.