Methods and devices for mapping data files

A method of mapping logical relations between a plurality of data files comprising:

• a step of, for a first file, in a display area displaying a first region and one or more second regions, said second regions respectively representing one or more second files logically related to the first file and being spatially related to the first region, the sizes of said second regions being according to a first distance scale;
• and
• for a predetermined value of n, (n−1) further steps, i=2, . . . ,n, of, for the or each i-th file, displaying one or more (i+1)-th regions, said (i+1)-th regions respectively representing one or more (i+1)-th files which are logically related to the i-th file, and being spatially related to the i-th region representing that i-th file, the sizes of said (i+1)-th regions being according to an i-th distance scale smaller than the (i−1)-th distance scale.

A method of mapping logical relations between a plurality of data files comprising:

• a step of, for a first file, in a display area displaying a first region and one or more second regions, said second regions respectively representing one or more second files logically related to the first file and being spatially related to the first region, the sizes of said second regions being according to a first distance scale, and the shape of said second regions being determined by a rule;
• and
• for a predetermined value of n, (n−1) further steps, i=2, . . . ,n, of, for the or each i-th file, displaying one or more (i+1)-th regions, said (i+1)-th regions respectively representing one or more (i+1)-th files which are logically related to the i-th file, and being spatially related to the i-th region representing that i-th file, the sizes of said (i+1)-th regions being according to an i-th distance scale smaller than the (i−1)-th distance scale, and the shapes of said (i+1)-th regions being determined by said rule, said rule being independent of i and/or the number of said (i+1)-th regions.

A method of mapping logical relations between a plurality of data files comprising:

• a step of, for a first file, in a display area displaying a first region and, one or more second regions, said second regions respectively representing one or more second files logically related to the first file, being spatially arranged in relation to the first region, and being spatially arranged relative to each other with an angular relationship determined by a rule, and
• (n−1) further steps, i=2, . . . ,n, of, for the or each i-th file, displaying one or more (i+1)-th regions, said (i+1)-th regions respectively representing one or more (i+1)-th files which are logically related to the i-th file, being spatially arranged in relation to the i-th region, and being spatially arranged relative to each other with an angular relationship determined by said rule;
• said rule being in relation to a predefined direction in the display area, whereby for i=1, . . . n the relative angular locations of the (i+1)-th regions are determined in relation to the predetermined direction.

A method of displaying interconnections between a plurality of data files comprising, upon a user's location changing to correspond to a first file:

• a step of, for the first file, in a display area displaying a first region and one or more second regions, which respectively represent one or more second files logically related to the first file, and which are spatially related to the first region;
• and
• (n−1) further steps, i=2, . . . ,n, of, for the or each i-th file, displaying one or more (i+1)-th regions, which respectively represent one or more (i+1)-th files which are logically related to the i-th file, and which are spatially related to the i-th region representing that i-th files.

A method of mapping logical relations between a plurality of data files comprising:

• a step of, for a first file, in a display area displaying a first region and, one or more second regions, said second regions respectively representing one or more second files logically related to the first file, being spatially arranged in a two-dimensional formation in relation to the first region, and being spatially arranged relative to each other with an angular relationship determined by a rule, and
• (n−1) further steps, i=2, . . . ,n, of, for the or each i-th file, displaying one or more (i+1)-th regions, said (i+1)-th regions respectively representing one or more (i+1)-th files which are logically related to the i-th file, being spatially arranged in a two-dimensional formation in relation to the i-th region, and being spatially arranged relative to each other with an angular relationship determined by said rule.

A method of mapping logical relations between a plurality of data files comprising:

• a step of, for a first file, in a display area displaying a first region and, for M an integer greater than one and q an integer in the range 1, . . . M, q second regions, said second regions respectively representing one or more second files logically related to the first file, being arranged in relation to the first region, having a relative angular relationship according to the first q positions of a predefined sequence of M predetermined positions.
• (n−1) further steps, i=2, . . . ,n, of, for the or each i-th file, for qi an integer in the range 1, . . . , M displaying qi (i+1)-th regions, said (i+1)-th regions respectively representing one or more (i+1)-th files which are logically related to the i-th file, being arranged in relation to the i-rh region, and having a relative angular relationship according to the first qi positions of said sequence of predetermined positions.

A method of mapping logical relationships of a data file, which includes a step of selecting a file, and causing the terminal to perform the method according to any of claims for a set of files including said data file, employing said data file as said first file.

A method of mapping interconnections between plurality of segments of one or more data files, comprising:

• a step of, for a first segment, in a display area displaying a first region and one or more second regions, which respectively represent one or more second segments logically related to the first segment, and which are spatially related to the first region;
• and
• (n−1) further steps, i=2, . . . ,n, of for the or each i-th portion of the file displaying one or more (i+1)-th regions, which respectively represent one or more (i+1)-th segments which are logically related to the i-th segment, and which are spatially related to the i-th region representing that i-th segment.