Patent ID: 7587682

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for creating and using a task identifier for indexing help file within a system for providing help content to a computer operator, the method comprising: providing a user with a limited, closed set of word selections that can be assigned to represent one of a plurality of elements that together form the task identifier, the task identifier being indicative of a help-related task described in the content of the help file; providing a task name grammar that designates said one of the plurality of elements as requiring an action entry in the form of a common or compound verb; providing access to a collection of taxonomic organization data, wherein the taxonomic organization data relates each word selection in the limited, closed set to a taxonomic category, and wherein the taxonomic category for each word selection is not apparent in the word selection itself; receiving a selection from the user that is indicative of a particular word selection from the limited, closed set of word selections; automatically determining, based at least in part on a referral to a reference included within the taxonomic organization data, a particular taxonomic category that corresponds to the particular word selection, wherein the reference includes a record of an association that links the particular taxonomic category to the particular word selection, wherein automatically determining is a step conducted by a computer processor that is a functional component of the computer; based on said automatic determination, automatically assigning the particular taxonomic category to the file; automatically determining, based at least in part on the referral to the reference included within the taxonomic organization data, a second particular taxonomic category that corresponds to the particular word selection, wherein the reference further includes a record of an association that links the second particular taxonomic category to the particular word selection; and facilitating a user-initiated sorting of the file based on the particular taxonomic category, wherein the result of the sort based on the particular taxonomic category is not the same as a result of a sort based on the particular word selection.