Patent ID: 8527890

Claim:
A file management apparatus comprising: a storage device that stores therein pieces of file management information, each of which serves as a unit for managing files, and files managed by each piece of the file management information, in an associated manner, the pieces of the file management information being information of a display layout configuration customized for each of a plurality of users, the display layout configuration including a predefined hierarchy of layers and different categories of the files corresponding to each of the layers; a first display control unit that displays respective symbol images of the files in a matrix form on a display unit in accordance with the display layout configuration; a receiving unit that receives information corresponding to an operation performed by a user; a second display control unit that displays, upon receiving a command for selecting one symbol image from among the symbol images displayed on the display unit, thumbnail images of respective files that are stored in association with a piece of the file management information that is corresponding to the selected symbol image, on the display unit; a third display control unit that displays information at a position adjacent to the thumbnail images being displayed on the display unit, wherein the information indicates a symbol image arranged adjacent to a symbol image corresponding to the thumbnail images being displayed among the symbol images displayed by the first display control unit; and a background setting unit that stores, upon reception of setting information of a background image of a screen for displaying the thumbnail images, the setting information in association with a corresponding symbol image, and, when a symbol image corresponds to a file that is shared by the plurality of users, the background setting unit sets a background image selected by a user, the background image being identified as one of a shared background image and a user background image, and, in response to the background image being identified as the shared background image, the shared background image being set as a same background image for the plurality of users, wherein the second display control unit displays the thumbnail images in a three-dimensional manner, and the second display control unit displays images in a plurality of lanes in a three-dimensional manner, and arranges the thumbnail images on a lane displayed in the center on the display unit.