One or more non-transitory computer readable media storing instructions which, when executed by one or more hardware processors , cause: displaying, in a display window , a first subset of nodes which represents a first section of a hierarchical tree of nodes , the hierarchical tree of nodes being stored on a remote machine ; receiving a request for displaying a target node of the hierarchical tree of nodes , the target node not being displayed when the request is received; based on a configuration corresponding to the display window , determining an ordered list of nodes to fill the display window and which represents a second section of the hierarchical tree which is to be displayed in the display window when displaying the target node, the ordered list of nodes comprising the target node and a second subset of nodes in the hierarchical tree of nodes , wherein said determining said ordered list of nodes further involves using a local cache storing portions of the hierarchical tree of nodes as locally cached hierarchy of nodes, wherein a placeholder is used in the locally cached hierarchy of nodes to represent a set of contiguous ordered nodes of the hierarchical tree of nodes stored on the remote machine that are not stored in the local cache; wherein said determining said ordered list of nodes using the local cache involves searching subtrees in the locally cached hierarchical tree of nodes closest to the target node, and successively expanding the search to more distant relatives of the target node only as needed until a sufficient number of nodes to fill the display window has been determined; wherein, while searching the locally cached hierarchical tree of nodes, a placeholder is encountered that indicates a contiguous set of child nodes that exist in the hierarchy of nodes stored at the remote machine but that are not locally cached, at least a portion of the child nodes is fetched from the remote machine; concurrently displaying the target node and the second subset of nodes. displaying, in a display window , a first subset of nodes which represents a first section of a hierarchical tree of nodes , the hierarchical tree of nodes being stored on a remote machine ; receiving a request for displaying a target node of the hierarchical tree of nodes , the target node not being displayed when the request is received; based on a configuration corresponding to the display window , determining an ordered list of nodes to fill the display window and which represents a second section of the hierarchical tree which is to be displayed in the display window when displaying the target node, the ordered list of nodes comprising the target node and a second subset of nodes in the hierarchical tree of nodes , wherein said determining said ordered list of nodes further involves using a local cache storing portions of the hierarchical tree of nodes as locally cached hierarchy of nodes, wherein a placeholder is used in the locally cached hierarchy of nodes to represent a set of contiguous ordered nodes of the hierarchical tree of nodes stored on the remote machine that are not stored in the local cache; wherein said determining said ordered list of nodes using the local cache involves searching subtrees in the locally cached hierarchical tree of nodes closest to the target node, and successively expanding the search to more distant relatives of the target node only as needed until a sufficient number of nodes to fill the display window has been determined; wherein, while searching the locally cached hierarchical tree of nodes, a placeholder is encountered that indicates a contiguous set of child nodes that exist in the hierarchy of nodes stored at the remote machine but that are not locally cached, at least a portion of the child nodes is fetched from the remote machine; concurrently displaying the target node and the second subset of nodes. <EOS>