Patent ID: 7734635

Claim:
A method for managing an index of ordered elements, the method comprising: employing a processor to execute computer readable instructions stored on a computer readable medium to perform the following acts: obtaining an index having a number of ordered elements; selecting a first subset of two or more ordered elements through selection of an equal distribution of the ordered elements of the index corresponding to a first index display depth, the first subset of selected elements are separated by a first selection interval corresponding to the first index display depth; displaying the first subset of the two or more ordered elements on a display screen; display indicia indicative of at least one index depth property of the first subset of the two or more elements corresponding to actionable display objects that facilitate movement through various index display depths, the indicia including a reference to a visual indicator of the first index display depth and a reference to a location of the first subset of two or more ordered elements within the index; obtaining a request to display a second subset of ordered elements corresponding to a second index display depth, the first index depth and second index depth not being equal; selecting a second subset of two or more ordered elements corresponding to the second index display depth, the second subset of selected elements are separated by a second selection interval different from the first selection interval and correspond to the second index display depth, the first subset and second subset are different at least in part, wherein the selecting enables a user to see either a closer distribution of elements related to the selected second subset of two or more ordered elements or a larger distribution of elements related to the selected second subset of two or more ordered elements; displaying the second subset of two or more ordered elements on the display screen; identifying a relevant index element of the first subset or second subset; displaying a representation of at least a portion of the index of ordered elements on the display screen, the representation being dynamically adjustable and the representation including an illustration of an overall length of the index as a thumbnail image, wherein the displaying includes: conducting a test to determine whether all identified elements can be displayed on the display screen; limiting a number of index elements that are displayed on the display screen based upon user preferences and available screen size; and selecting a portion of the first subset and the second subset to be displayed on the display screen when a number of the identified elements in the index satisfying a search criteria exceeds a display threshold; displaying a location of each displayed ordered element in the representation of at least a portion of the index of ordered elements; and highlighting the identified relevant index element upon the display.