Abstract:
A data processing system receives a first user input comprising a search query. The data processing system displays in a search interface accessible across a plurality of computer application programs, a plurality of results matching the search query. The results are categorized into a plurality of categories and only a first subset of all results are displayed for each of the plurality of categories. The data processing system receives a second user input comprising a selection of one of the plurality of categories. In response to the second user input, the data processing system displays, in the search interface, a second subset of results, wherein the second subset is categorized into one or more subcategories of the selected category.

Description:
CLAIM OF PRIORITY 
     This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/023,449, filed Feb. 8, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This invention relates to the field of data management and, in particular, to faceted search results for the data. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Modern data processing systems, such as general purpose computer systems, allow the users of such systems to create a variety of different types of data files. For example, a typical user of a data processing system may create text files with a word processing program or may create an image file with an image processing program. Numerous other types of files are capable of being created, modified, edited, or otherwise used by one or more users for a typical data processing system. The large number of the different types of files that can be created or modified can present a challenge to a typical user who is seeking to find a particular file which has been created. 
     Modern data processing systems often include a file management system which allows a user to place files in various directories or subdirectories (e.g. folders) and allows a user to give the file a name. Further, these file management systems often allow a user to find a file by searching for the file&#39;s name, or the date of creation, or the date of modification, or the type of file. An example of such a file management system is the Finder program which operates on Macintosh computers from Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. Another example of a file management system program is the Windows Explorer program which operates on the Windows operating system from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. Both the Finder program and the Windows Explorer program include a find command which allows a user to search for files by various criteria including a file name or a date of creation or a date of modification or the type of file. However, this search capability searches through information which is the same for each file, regardless of the type of file. Thus, for example, the searchable data for a word processing file is the same as the searchable data for an image processing file, and this data typically includes the file name, the type of file, the date of creation, the date of last modification, the size of the file and certain other parameters which may be maintained for the file by the file management system. The file management system is an independent program that must be opened separately from other programs running in the data processing system. In existing systems, a user is typically not able to search for a file or program and narrow in on a desired result with a faceted search in a single interface without resorting to the separate file management system. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DESCRIPTION 
     A data processing system receives a first user input comprising a search query. The data processing system displays in a search interface accessible across a plurality of computer application programs, a plurality of results matching the search query. The results are categorized into a plurality of categories and only a first subset of all results are displayed for each of the plurality of categories. The data processing system receives a second user input comprising a selection of one of the plurality of categories. In response to the second user input, the data processing system displays, in the search interface, a second subset of results, wherein the second subset is categorized into one or more subcategories of the selected category and the second subset of results can be limited to a number of matching results which is less than the total number of matching results in the selected category. 
     In one embodiment, a data processing system can provide a display list of “top hits” from a search. In other words, the display of the results of the search are limited to a number of matches to the search that is less than all of the matches, and the top hits can be displayed in a menu or window which is not scrollable. The top hits menu can include a user selectable option (e.g., a command) to “show all” search results and when this option is selected; all of the matches (e.g., all of the search results) are displayed in another window which can be scrollable in order to view a potentially long list of search results. The top hits, in this embodiment, can include user selectable categories that allow a user to expand one or more categories within the top hits menu and concurrently to shrink or eliminate other categories not selected for expansion in the top hits menu. In this embodiment, when one or more categories within the top hits menu is expanded in response to a user selection of the one or more categories, other categories not selected are automatically shrunken or eliminated within the top hits menu, and this allows a user to selectively view more results within a category or subcategory, all within the context of the top hits menu without invoking the “show all” option. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings. 
         FIGS. 1A ,  1 B and  1 C are diagrams illustrating a system-wide search input user-interface for faceted search results, according to an embodiment. 
         FIGS. 2A ,  2 B and  2 C are diagrams illustrating a system-wide search input user-interface for faceted search results, according to an embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating faceted search results in a system-wide search input user-interface, according to an embodiment. 
         FIGS. 4A ,  4 B and  4 C are diagrams illustrating faceted search results in a system-wide search input user-interface, according to an embodiment. 
         FIGS. 5A and 5B  are diagrams illustrating faceted search results in a system-wide search input user-interface, according to an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  is a flow diagram illustrating a faceted search results method, according to an embodiment. 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram illustrating a user-interface presented by a file management system program, according to an embodiment. 
         FIG. 8  is a block diagram illustrating a data processing system for implementing faceted search results, according to an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that logical, mechanical, electrical, functional and other changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims. 
       FIGS. 1A ,  1 B and  1 C are diagrams illustrating a system-wide search input user-interface for faceted search results, according to an embodiment. In one embodiment, the user interface may be available on the entire system for all applications which run on the system and all files and metadata, and even address book entries within an address book program, such as a personal information manager, and calendar entries within a calendar program, and emails within an email program, etc.  FIG. 1A  shows a portion of a display controlled by a data processing system. This portion includes a menu bar  102  which has at one end a search interface command  105 . Menu bar  102  may be part of a main operating system user-interface which is displayed (e.g., at the top of the screen), across all applications running in the data processing system. In some embodiments menu bar  102  may display additional icons for various purposes, such as a Bluetooth connectivity indicator, a wireless network strength indicator, a system volume level indicator, a date and time indicator, or other icons. The user can select the search interface command  105  by positioning a cursor, using a mouse for example, over the search interface command  105  and by pressing a button or by otherwise activating or selecting the command. This may cause a display of a text entry region  107  into which a user can enter text, as shown in  FIG. 1B . 
     In the example shown in  FIG. 1C , which is a portion of the display, the user has entered the text “button” causing the display of a search interface, including search result region  103 , immediately below a “show all” command region  109 , which is itself immediately below the text entry region  107 . In one embodiment the search interface may be a menu, however in other embodiments, it may be a window, or some other type of user interface. In one embodiment the search interface may display a limited number of results (as opposed to all of the results matching the search query), and it is not necessary to scroll in the interface to see the displayed results. In one exemplary embodiment, the system begins performing the search and begins displaying the results of the search as the user types text into the text entry field  107 . The search results may be organized by categories and may be displayed as a short list which is intentionally abbreviated in order to present only a selected number of the most relevant (scored) matches or hits for the search query. The user can ask for the display of all the hits by selecting a command, such as the “show all” command  109 . 
     It can be seen that the hits or matches are grouped into categories (e.g., “Applications”, “Documents”, “Images” and “Folders”) shown by categories  111 ,  113 ,  115  and  117  within the search result region  103 . In some embodiments, depending on the search query, a large number of hits may be obtained, while only a few are shown in the search result region  103 . Each category may be restricted in terms of the number of items displayed within the search result region  103  in order to permit the display of multiple categories at the same time within the search result region. For example, the number of hits in the documents category may greatly exceed the available display space within the search result region  103 , but the hits for this category are limited to a predetermined or dynamically determinable number of entries within the search result region  103  for the category  113 . An additional category, “Top Hit”  119  may be selected based on a scoring or relevancy using techniques which are known in the art. The “Top Hit” category  119  may include one result, deemed most likely to be what the user is searching for. The user may also select the “Show All” command  109  causing the display of a window, such as window  701  shown in  FIG. 7 . This window may be, for example, part of a file management system program and be opened separately from the search interface. 
       FIGS. 2A ,  2 B and  2 C are diagrams illustrating a system-wide search input user-interface for faceted search results, according to an embodiment. As discussed above, the search result region  103  may include a number of hits or matches organized into categories (e.g.,  111  and  113 ). The user can select any of the displayed search results by positioning the cursor, using a mouse for example, over the desired result and pressing a mouse button or by otherwise activating or selecting the result. The selections or other user actions can also be through a touch interface, such as a touch screen. This selection may cause the data processing system to open a file or program corresponding to the selected result in a new window. 
     In some embodiments, the search interface may provide faceted search results, which may allow multiple classifications of an object and allow the user to find a desired result by filtering available information. For example, the user may select one of the displayed category names, such as the category “Documents”  113 . The user may select the category with a cursor  202 , or as described above, and an indication of the selection may be provided. For example, as shown in  FIG. 2A , the selected category  113  may be highlighted  204 , or as shown in  FIG. 2B , an arrow or other indicator  206  may be displayed next to the selected category. In other embodiments, the category selection may be indicated in some other fashion. Upon selection of a displayed category, the search interface may be updated, as will be described below. 
       FIG. 2C  illustrates one embodiment of a user-interface which may be implemented on a mobile device, such as for example, a smartphone or tablet computing device. In this embodiment, the search interface may also include search results displayed in a search results area  103 . The search results may be organized into categories, similarly to the interfaces shown in  FIGS. 2A and 2B , however in this embodiment, the categories may be represented by icons, such as icons  210 ,  220  and  230 . The icons  210 ,  220  and  230  may serve the same function as the category names discussed above, however they may save space on the smaller screen of the mobile device. In addition, the icons  210 ,  220  and  230  may be selected by the user to implement similar faceted search techniques, as will be discussed further below. 
       FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating faceted search results in a system-wide search input user-interface, according to an embodiment. In the example shown in  FIG. 3  the user has selected the category “Documents”  113 , as described above. In this embodiment, the search results region  103  has updated to display additional hits for the search query button that are categorized as “Documents.” This list of hits in search results region  103  may still be an abbreviated list, although showing more results than in  FIG. 1C . In addition, the remaining categories (i.e., those that were not selected:  111 ,  115 ,  117 ) may be removed from the search interface. In some embodiments, the “Show All” command  109  remains in the search interface. If the user selects the “Show All” command  109  at this point (i.e., after having selected the category “Documents”  113 ), the system may display a window, such as window  1001  shown in  FIG. 10 , showing all of the results that are categorized as “Documents.” As discussed above, this window may be part of a file management system program and be opened separately from the search interface. 
       FIGS. 4A ,  4 B and  4 C are diagrams illustrating faceted search results in a system-wide search input user-interface, according to an embodiment. In the example shown in  FIG. 4A  the user has selected the category “Applications.” The category selection may be made according to the description provided above. In this embodiment, rather than merely displaying additional hits for the selected category, as described with respect to  FIG. 3 , the selected category “Applications” is displayed in a selected category region  403 . In addition, one or more subcategories  405 ,  407  and  409  of the selected category are displayed. Search results region  103  may also be updated with the previously displayed hits from the selected category, and/or additional hits organized by subcategory. For example, for the selected category “Applications,” the subcategories may include “Games”  405 , “Productivity”  407 , and “Finance”  409 . In other embodiments, there may be more or fewer or different subcategories specific to the selected subcategory. The hits displayed in search results region  103  for each subcategory may be restricted in terms of the number of items displayed in order to permit the display of multiple subcategories at the same time within the search results region  103 . At this or any point, the user can select any of the displayed search results which may cause the data processing system to open a file or program corresponding to the selected result in a new window. 
     In another embodiment, rather than selected a search result, the user may select one of the subcategories. In the example of  FIG. 4B , the user has further selected the subcategory “Games.” The selected subcategory “Games” may be displayed in selected category region  403 , along with the selected category “Applications.” In addition, one or more additional subcategories (i.e., sub-subcategories)  411  and  413  may be displayed. Search results region  103  may also be updated with the hits organized by subcategory, as shown. In another embodiment, selection of a subcategory (e.g., Games) may expand the list of displayed hits in search results region  103 , similarly to the display as shown in  FIG. 3 . There may be any number of levels of categories and subcategories according to a category hierarchy stored and managed by the data processing system. In addition, each item may be categorized into any number of categories and subcategories, so that the item may be located in multiple ways. 
     In one embodiment, after the user has selected one or more categories and/or subcategories, and the search results in search results region  103  have been updated accordingly, the user may broaden the search results by removing one or more of the selections from selected category region  403 . In one example, as shown in  FIG. 4C , the user may place the mouse cursor over one of the previously selected categories or subcategories in selected category region  403 , such as “Finance” and an “X” icon may appear. The user may then select the “X” icon, such as by clicking on it with the mouse, to remove the subcategory “Finance” from the search results. In other embodiments, the user may take some other action to remove a category or subcategory. Upon removing “Finance,” the search results displayed in search results region  103  may be updated to include results that are categorized as “Applications” and “Personal,” as those are the remaining category selections. In some embodiments, this may increase the number of displayed results, as the search criteria is broadened, however the number of displayed results may not exceed the limit for the search interface. 
       FIGS. 5A and 5B  are diagrams illustrating faceted search results in a system-wide search input user-interface, according to an embodiment. In the example shown in  FIG. 5A  the user has selected the category “Images,” for example, from the list of categories in  FIG. 1C . The category selection may be made according to the description provided above. In this embodiment, the selected category “Images” is displayed in a selected category region  403 . In addition, one or more subcategories  505  and  507  of the selected category are displayed. Search results region  103  may also be updated with the previously displayed hits from the selected category, and/or additional hits organized by subcategory (e.g., by date: December 2010, January 2011, etc.). In one embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 5A , the items in search results region  103  may be displayed in a different form than a list of all the items matching the selected category. For example, for the category “Images,” the results may be displayed as thumbnails. These thumbnails display a scaled down version of the matching image itself, so that the user can see each specific result. The items in search results region  103  may be displayed in a number of other different ways as well, including for example, tiles, icons, detailed lists, etc. The manner in which search results region  103  is configured can be controlled, for example, by user input. 
     In another embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 5B , the displayed subcategories can also be configured by the user. For example, the user may place the cursor over the selected category bringing up a subcategory selection interface  512 . Interface  512  may have a number of subcategory options, from which the user may select. The subcategory options may be tailored to the specific category that was previously selected. In this embodiment, for the selected category “Images,” the subcategory options may include “date,” “camera,” “location,” “people,” or other options. One option (e.g., “date”) may be configured as a default option, however, if the user selects one of the other options (e.g., using a mouse cursor or touch screen), the displayed subcategories may be updated along with the displayed results. 
     In another embodiment, the displayed subcategories may be dynamically selected by the system. The system may determine which subcategories may be best suited to display the results of the search in a useful manner for the user. The system may use metadata stored with each item to make this determination. For example, for the selected category “Images,” there may be metadata stored with each image indicating which camera was used to capture the image. If all the items in the category “Images” were taken with the same camera, then sorting the results by the subcategory “Camera” would not be particularly useful to a user. In that case, the system may select another subcategory (e.g., date). 
       FIG. 6  is a flow chart illustrating a faceted search results method, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method  600  may be performed by processing logic that comprises hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic, microcode, etc.), software (e.g., instructions run on a processing device to perform hardware simulation), or a combination thereof. The processing logic is configured to display faceted search results for a user. In one embodiment, method  600  may be performed by the data processing system  101  shown in  FIG. 1  or the data processing system  800  shown in  FIG. 8 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , at block  610 , method  600  receives a selection of a search interface command  105 . The search interface command  105  may be part of menu bar  102  which is part of a main operating system user-interface displayed across all applications running in the data processing system. The user can select the search interface command  105  (e.g., with a mouse cursor or touch screen), causing a display of a text entry region  107  into which a user can enter text. At block  620 , method  600  receives user input including a search query in text entry region  107 . The search query may be a textual search term entered with a textual input device, such as a keyboard. At block  630 , method  600  begins performing a search based on the search query and begins displaying the results of the search as the user types text into the text entry field  107 . The search results may be organized by categories and may be displayed as a short list (e.g., a “top hits” list) which is intentionally abbreviated in order to present only a selected number of the most relevant (scored) matches or hits for the search query. At block  640 , method  600  receives a user input including a selection of one of the displayed categories. U.S. Pat. No. 7,437,358, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, provides further examples of top hits lists. 
     At block  650 , method  600  determines whether a hierarchy of categories includes any subcategories for the selected categories. The hierarchy may be stored in memory by the data processing system. If at block  650 , method  600  determines that there are subcategories for the selected category, at block  660 , method  600  displays one or more of the subcategories. The results matching the search query may be displayed in the search results region  103  may also be updated with the previously displayed hits from the selected category, and/or additional hits, organized by subcategory. This hits displayed in search results region  103  for each subcategory may be restricted in terms of the number of items displayed in order to permit the display of multiple subcategories at the same time within the search results region  103 . At block  670 , method  600  receives user input including a selection of one of the displayed subcategories. 
     Method  600  returns to block  650  to determine whether the hierarchy includes any additional subcategories. If there are additional subcategories in the hierarchy, they may be displayed as described above with respect to blocks  660  and  670 . If at block  650 , method  600  determines that there are no additional subcategories for the selected category, at block  680  method  600  displays additional results of the selected category. The additional results may include more results than were previously displayed, but still may be limited to a set number of results at block  680 , rather than all results matching the search query. In order to see all of the search results, a user can selection “show all” to cause the display of window  701 , for example, shown in  FIG. 7 . At block  690 , method  600  receives user input including a selection of one or more of the displayed results. This user input may also be received at any point during which results of the search query are displayed in search results region  103  (e.g., when there were multiple categories or subcategories displayed). An appropriate program may open the selected result. 
       FIG. 7  is a diagram illustrating a window  701  which displays search results within a display region  702 , according to an embodiment. Window  701  may be part of a user interface created by a file management system program. In one embodiment, window  701  may be opened by the file management system program upon receiving the selection of the “Show All” command  109 , as shown in  FIG. 1C . The window  701  may be a closeable, minimizeable, resizeable, and moveable window having a resizing control  710 , a title bar  705  which may be used to move the window, a text entry region  706 , a user configurable portion  703 , and a system specified portion  704 . The window  701  may further includes buttons for selecting various views, including an icon view, a list view, and a column view. In this embodiment, the list view button  716  has been selected, causing the display of the search results in a list view manner within the display region  702 . It can be seen that the text (“button”) has been entered into the text entry region  706  and this has caused the system to respond with the search results shown in the display region  702 . The user has specified a search in every location by selecting “everywhere” button  717 . Further, the user has searched for any kind of document by selecting the “kind” option from the pull down menu  715  and by selecting the “any” option in the pull down menu  719 . The where or location slice  707  includes a “+” button which may be used to add further search parameters, and similarly, the slice  708  includes a “+” and a “−” button for adding or deleting search parameters, respectively. The slice  707  further includes a “save” button  709  which causes the current search query to be saved in the form of a folder which is added to the user configurable portion  703  for use later. The search input user interface shown in  FIG. 7  is available within, in certain embodiments, each and every window controlled by a graphical user interface file management system. This interface includes the text entry region  706 , as well as the slices  707  and  708 . 
       FIG. 8  is a block diagram illustrating a data processing system for implementing faceted search results according to an embodiment. In one embodiment, data processing system  800  may be a general purpose computer system which may operate in any of the various methods described herein. In other embodiments, data processing system  800  may be some other system, such as a desktop computer, laptop computer, notebook computer, netbook, tablet computing system, smartphone, or other computing system. While  FIG. 8  illustrates various components of a computer system, it is not intended to represent any particular architecture or manner of interconnecting the components as such details are not germane to the present invention. It will also be appreciated that network computers and other data processing systems which have fewer components or perhaps more components may also be used with the present invention. 
     As shown in  FIG. 8 , the computer system  800 , which is a form of a data processing system, includes a bus  802  which is coupled to a processing device (e.g., microprocessor(s))  803 , a ROM (Read Only Memory)  807 , volatile RAM (Random Access Memory)  805  and a non-volatile storage  806 . The bus  802  interconnects these various components together and also interconnects these components  803 ,  807 ,  805 , and  806  to a display controller  804  and display device  810  and to peripheral devices such as input/output (I/O) devices which may be one or more touch screens or touch interface devices, mice, keyboards, modems, network interfaces, printers and other devices which are well known in the art. Typically, the input/output devices  809  may be coupled to the system  800  through input/output controllers  808 . The volatile RAM  805  may be implemented as dynamic RAM (DRAM) which requires power continually in order to refresh or maintain the data in the memory. Non-volatile storage  806  may include a magnetic hard drive, an optical drive, a DVD RAM or other types of memory systems which maintain data (e.g. large amounts of data) even after power is removed from the system. Typically, the mass storage  806  will also be a random access memory, although this is may not be required. While  FIG. 8  shows that the mass storage  806  is a local device coupled directly to the rest of the components in the data processing system  800 , it will be appreciated that the present invention may utilize a non-volatile memory which is remote from the system, such as a network storage device which is coupled to the data processing system through a network interface such as a modem or Ethernet interface. The bus  802  may include one or more buses connected to each other through various bridges, controllers and/or adapters, as is well known in the art. In one embodiment the I/O controller  808  includes a USB (Universal Serial Bus) adapter for controlling USB peripherals and an IEEE 1394 controller for IEEE 1394 compliant peripherals. 
     It will be apparent from this description that aspects of the present invention may be embodied, at least in part, in software. That is, the techniques may be carried out in a computer system or other data processing system in response to its processor, such as a microprocessor, executing sequences of instructions contained in a memory, such as ROM  807 , RAM  805 , mass storage  806  or a remote storage device. In various embodiments, hardwired circuitry may be used in combination with software instructions to implement the present invention. Thus, the techniques are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software nor to any particular source for the instructions executed by the data processing system. In addition, throughout this description, various functions and operations are described as being performed by or caused by software code to simplify description. However, those skilled in the art will recognize what is meant by such expressions is that the functions result from execution of the code by a processor, such as the processing device  803 . 
     The above description sets forth numerous specific details such as examples of specific systems, components, methods, and so forth, in order to provide a good understanding of several embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art, however, that at least some embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known components or methods are not described in detail or are presented in simple block diagram format in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention. Thus, the specific details set forth are merely exemplary. Particular implementations may vary from these exemplary details and still be contemplated to be within the scope of the present invention. 
     Embodiments of the present invention include various operations, which are described above. These operations may be performed by hardware components, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. As used herein, the term “coupled to” may mean coupled directly or indirectly through one or more intervening components. Any of the signals provided over various buses described herein may be time multiplexed with other signals and provided over one or more common buses. Additionally, the interconnection between circuit components or blocks may be shown as buses or as single signal lines. Each of the buses may alternatively be one or more single signal lines and each of the single signal lines may alternatively be buses. 
     Certain embodiments may be implemented as a computer program product that may include instructions stored on a machine-readable medium. These instructions may be used to program a general-purpose or special-purpose processor to perform the described operations. A machine-readable medium includes any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form (e.g., software, processing application) readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). The machine-readable medium can be tangible and non-transitory media, and may include, but is not limited to, magnetic storage medium (e.g., floppy diskette); optical storage medium (e.g., CD-ROM); magneto-optical storage medium; read-only memory (ROM); random-access memory (RAM) such as DRAM; erasable programmable memory (e.g., EPROM and EEPROM); flash memory; or another type of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions. 
     Additionally, some embodiments may be practiced in distributed computing environments where the machine-readable medium is stored on and/or executed by more than one computer system. In addition, the information transferred between computer systems may either be pulled or pushed across the communication medium connecting the computer systems. 
     The digital processing devices described herein may include one or more general-purpose processing devices such as a microprocessor or central processing unit, a controller, or the like. Alternatively, the digital processing device may include one or more special-purpose processing devices such as a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or the like. In an alternative embodiment, for example, the digital processing device may be a network processor having multiple processors including a core unit and multiple microengines. Additionally, the digital processing device may include any combination of general-purpose processing devices and special-purpose processing device(s). 
     Although the operations of the methods herein are shown and described in a particular order, the order of the operations of each method may be altered so that certain operations may be performed in an inverse order or so that certain operation may be performed, at least in part, concurrently with other operations. In another embodiment, instructions or sub-operations of distinct operations may be in an intermittent and/or alternating manner. 
     In the above descriptions, embodiments have been described in terms of objects in an object-oriented environment. It should be understood, that the invention is not limited to embodiments in object-oriented environments and that alternative embodiments may be implemented in other programming environments having characteristics similar to object-oriented concepts. 
     In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broader scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.