Patent ID: 8190661

Claim:
At a computer system, a method for providing repository item information from one or more different perspectives using virtual repository items within a customizable presentation scheme, the method comprising: an act of accessing one or more actual repository items from a repository; an act of accessing one or more user-defined presentation schemes that describe different manners in which repository items are to be presented; an act of generating virtual repository items for the one or more actual repository items based on the one or more user-defined presentation schemes, wherein a plurality of different virtual repository items are generated for some of the actual repository items in accordance with the one or more user-defined presentation schemes; an act of mapping the virtual repository items to one or more different virtualized sets of repository items according to the one or more user-defined presentation schemes, wherein the one or more different virtualized sets comprise at least one actual repository item and at least one virtual repository item; and an act of presenting the virtualized sets of repository items, presentation of the virtualized sets including simultaneously presenting a plurality of different presentation perspectives for one or more actual repository items based on the one or more user-defined presentation schemes, including simultaneously presenting multiple versions of at least one actual repository item, the multiple versions including: for each actual repository item, the actual repository item and one or more virtual repository items for the actual repository item.