Patent ID: 7539950

Claim:
Apparatus for presenting hierarchical categorized directory information via a plurality of arranged visual elements on a computer-enabled user interface, wherein visual elements represent directory system entities and the arrangement of elements represents the interrelationships of the corresponding directory system entities, the apparatus comprising: a first thread for providing the plurality of arranged visual elements to the user interface; one or more inputs for receiving a user selection of a plurality of the visual elements and for receiving a user request to boost the retrieval priority of a particular one of the selected plurality of visual elements; a program module for boosting the priority of the particular selected visual element in response to receiving the user request; and a second thread for retrieving data associated with the plurality of the visual elements and giving priority to data associated with the particular selected visual element, so that the plurality of arranged visual elements remain responsive to user interaction while data associated with the plurality of the visual elements is being retrieved.