Patent ID: 7614016

Claim:
A method for allowing a user to interact with multiple root nodes displayed in a navigation pane of a shell browser window displayed as part of a graphical user interface on a display device connected to a data processing device, said shell browser being usable for navigating data stored on the data processing device, comprising steps of: displaying a first root node in the navigation pane of the shell browser window, said first root node corresponding to a first collection of related data items, wherein said first root node is selectable to display in the shell browser window a first page view of the first collection of related data items, and wherein said first root node is selectable to display in the navigation pane one or more children nodes of said first root node; creating a second root node representing a second collection of related data items to be simultaneously displayed with said first root node, said second root node is a former descendent of the first root node, wherein creation of the second root node creates the visual appearance that said second collection of related data is a root node without actually modifying the underlying structure of said data processing device; simultaneously displaying said second root node in the navigation pane of the shell browser window, wherein said second root node is selectable to display in the shell browser window a second page view of the second collection of related data items, and wherein said second root node is selectable to display in the navigation pane one or more children nodes of said second root node; and responsive to user input, reordering the first root node and the second root node in the navigation pane, wherein the second root node is ordered in a position before the first root node.