Method and System for Displaying Files Indicating File Location

Abstract

An illustrative method according to a set of instructions stored on a memory of a computing device includes determining, by a processor of the computing device, a presence of a plurality of electronic files stored on a plurality of electronic devices. The plurality of electronic files are associated with a user account. The method also includes displaying, by the processor, in a single window format of a graphical user interface (GUI), representative information of the plurality of electronic files. The representative information includes descriptive information relating to the plurality of electronic files and location information indicating actual locations of the plurality of electronic files.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method according to a set of instructions stored on a memory of a computing device, the method comprising:
 determining, by a processor of the computing device, a presence of a plurality of electronic files stored on a plurality of electronic devices, wherein the plurality of electronic files are associated with a user account;   displaying, by the processor, in a single window format of a graphical user interface (GUI), representative information of the plurality of electronic files, wherein the representative information comprises descriptive information relating to the plurality of electronic files and location information indicating actual locations of the plurality of electronic files.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of electronic files comprises a plurality of e-mail files and a plurality of other files, wherein the single window format of the GUI comprises a two tab configuration, and further comprising:
 displaying, by the processor, the representative information of the plurality of e-mail files in a first tab of the two tab configuration;   displaying, by the processor, the representative information of the plurality of other files in a second tab of the two tab configuration;   receiving, by the processor, a single step tab change input, wherein the single step tab change input comprises a single mouse click, a single tap of a touchscreen, a single keystroke, a single voice command, or a single gesture command;   alternating, by the processor, in response to receiving the single step tab change input, information displayed on the GUI between the representative information of the plurality of e-mail files displayed in the first tab and the representative information of the plurality of other files displayed in the second tab, wherein the first tab and the second tab are not simultaneously displayed on the GUI.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the processor, a status of each of the plurality of the electronic devices, wherein
 the status of each of the plurality of the electronic devices comprises a connection status, an online status, an offline status, a passive status, an active status, a connected status, an unconnected status, a currently operational status, a currently non-operational status, or a set in a lower functional mode status;   the location information comprises the status of the plurality of the electronic devices for the electronic device in which each of the plurality of electronic files is located; and   the representative information of the plurality of electronic files is displayed irrespective of the status of each of the plurality of the electronic devices.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving, by the processor, a user manipulation of at least one of the representative information of the plurality of electronic files. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the representative information further comprises a visual preview representation of the plurality of electronic files, and wherein generating the visual preview representation is performed by:
 extracting, by the processor, content from the plurality of electronic files;   generating, by the processor, the visual preview representation from the content; and   displaying, by the processor, the visual preview representation on the GUI.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the visual preview representation comprises a first page of a document, an image with a decreased resolution relative to one of the plurality of electronic files, a first group of words from an electronic communication, a contact information, or a task information from one of the plurality of electronic files. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 displaying, by the processor, a pointer on the GUI, wherein the pointer is configured to be controlled by a motion translation device and wherein the pointer is configured to move about the GUI according to inputs received from the motion translation device;   receiving, by the processor, an input from the motion translation device such that the pointer is positioned over the representative information of one of the plurality of electronic files; and   displaying, by the processor, in response to the pointer being positioned over the representative information of one of the plurality of electronic files, a context menu.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the processor, a first selection input from the motion translation device, wherein the first selection input is received when the pointer is positioned over the representative information of the one of the plurality of electronic files; and   displaying, by the processor, in response to the first selection input, the context menu.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 displaying, by the processor, a pointer on the GUI, wherein the pointer is configured to be controlled by a motion translation device and wherein the pointer is configured to move about the GUI according to inputs received from the motion translation device;   receiving, by the processor, an input from the motion translation device such that the pointer is positioned over the representative information of one of the plurality of electronic files;   receiving, by the processor, a first selection input from the motion translation device, wherein the selection input is received when the pointer is positioned over the representative information of one of the plurality of electronic files;   opening, by the processor, the one of the plurality of electronic files utilizing a software application associated with the one of the plurality of electronic files; and   displaying, by the processor, the one of the plurality of electronic files on the GUI.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 determining, by the processor, that one of the plurality of electronic devices where the one of the plurality of electronic files is located is offline;   determining, by the processor of the computing device, the presence of the one of the plurality of electronic files on a second one of the plurality of electronic devices, wherein the one of the plurality of electronic files is opened from the second one of the plurality of electronic devices.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a first group of the representative information of the plurality of electronic files is displayed more prominently in the GUI than a second group of the representative information of the plurality of electronic files. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the representative information of the first group is displayed larger than the representative information of the second group. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the first group comprises electronic files that:
 have been updated more recently relative to the second group,   have been created more recently relative to the second group,   have more relevance to a search term relative to the second group,   have been modified more times relative to the second group,   have been commented on more times relative to the second group,   are larger in size relative to the second group,   are associated with a tag that electronic files in the second group are not associated with, or   have been accessed more times relative to the second group.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying, by the processor, in the GUI, a representation of a current storage utilization of a device in which the GUI is being displayed. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the representative information further comprises a hierarchical tree structure, wherein different portions of the hierarchical tree structure represent the plurality of electronic devices, and further wherein the different portions of the hierarchical tree structure are displayed on the GUI regardless of whether any of the plurality of electronic devices are online or offline. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the representative information of the plurality of electronic files is organized in the hierarchical tree structure according to which of the plurality of the electronic devices at least one copy of each of the plurality of electronic files is stored. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the location information comprises a particularly colored icon, a particularly shaped, a particularly sized icon, or particular text. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the representative information comprises an amalgamation of the representative information of multiple of the plurality of electronic files, such that the amalgamation indicates a device name where the multiple of the plurality of electronic files are stored, a file type of the multiple of the plurality of electronic files, a file size of the multiple of the plurality of electronic files, or a preview of the multiple of the plurality of electronic files. 
     
     
         19 . An apparatus comprising:
 a memory;   a processor coupled to the memory; and   a first set of instructions stored on the memory and configured to be executed by the processor, wherein the processor is configured to:   determine a presence of a plurality of electronic files stored on a plurality of electronic devices, wherein the plurality of electronic files are associated with a user account; and   display in a single window format of a graphical user interface (GUI), representative information of the plurality of electronic files, wherein the representative information comprises descriptive information relating to the plurality of electronic files and location information indicating actual locations of the plurality of electronic files.   
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations, wherein the instructions comprise:
 instructions to determine a presence of a plurality of electronic files stored on a plurality of electronic devices, wherein the plurality of electronic files are associated with a user account; and   instructions to display in a single window format of a graphical user interface (GUI), representative information of the plurality of electronic files, wherein the representative information comprises descriptive information relating to the plurality of electronic files and location information indicating actual locations of the plurality of electronic files.