Methods, Systems, And Computer Program Products For Identifying A Container Associated With A Plurality Of Files

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer program products for identifying a change in a container associated with a plurality of files are disclosed. According to one aspect, a method includes providing for identify a change in a container associated with a plurality of associated files. The prevailing metadata is not required to be from all of the plurality of associated files. Further, the container may be named based on the prevailing metadata.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for identifying a container associated with a plurality of files, the method comprising:
 identifying a change in a container associated with a plurality of associated files;   determining prevailing metadata among the plurality of associated files including ranking the prevailing metadata based on a respective number of occurrences of each metadata, wherein the prevailing metadata is not required to be from all of the plurality of associated files; and   renaming the container based on the prevailing metadata,   wherein at least one of the preceding actions is performed on at least one electronic hardware component.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein at least one of the plurality of files comprises one of an image file, an audio file, a video file, a word processing file, and a text file. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein at least one of the plurality of files comprises one of a digital folder, a shortcut, a pointer for associating the plurality of associated files, and a directory. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein determining prevailing metadata among the plurality of associated files includes determining one or more of a prevailing file name among the plurality of associated files, a prevailing file creation date among the plurality of associated files, a prevailing file author name among the plurality of associated files, a prevailing photographer name among the plurality of associated files, a prevailing image-related tag attached by a user among the plurality of associated files, a prevailing file attribute among the plurality of associated files, and a prevailing portion or entirety of content among the plurality of associated files. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein determining prevailing metadata among the plurality of associated files includes determining the prevailing metadata based on a number of occurrences of like metadata among the plurality of associated files. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein determining prevailing metadata among the plurality of associated files includes determining the prevailing metadata based on a categorization of metadata among the plurality of associated files. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein determining prevailing metadata among the plurality of associated files includes associating a plurality of different metadata among the plurality of associated files with a respective number of occurrences of each metadata and determining prevailing metadata based on the respective number of occurrences of each metadata. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein determining prevailing metadata among the plurality of associated files includes applying one or more acceptability rules to the metadata of the plurality of associated files to qualify use of the metadata for identifying the container. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein applying one or more acceptability rules to the metadata includes excluding metadata for use in identifying the container based on the one or more acceptability rules. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the container comprises a shortcut to another container and renaming the container based on the prevailing metadata comprises:
 providing for renaming the other container based on the prevailing metadata. 
 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein renaming the container based on the prevailing metadata includes determining a user-preferred naming convention and naming the container using the user-preferred naming convention. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  wherein renaming the container based on the prevailing metadata includes:
 determining whether the at least one name is acceptable to a user; and 
 naming the container based on whether the at least one name is acceptable to the user. 
 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein determining whether the name is acceptable to a user comprises:
 prompting a user with the at least one determined name for the container; and 
 receiving a user preference indicating at least one of an acceptable name among the at least one determined names and an alternate name. 
 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein determining whether the name is acceptable to a user includes determining whether the container was previously identified with the name and the previously identified name was changed to another name. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1  wherein renaming the container based on the prevailing metadata includes naming the container based on a plurality of different metadata among the plurality of associated files. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1  wherein renaming the container based on the prevailing metadata comprises:
 determining a name change history for the container; and 
 determining whether to rename the container based on the name change history. 
 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1  wherein renaming the container based on the prevailing metadata comprises:
 determining whether a renaming hold is associated with the container, the renaming hold indicating that the container should not be renamed; and 
 determining whether to rename the container based on the renaming hold determination. 
 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising suggesting to a user that one or more of the plurality of files be associated with another container, and the method comprising suggesting an identity for the other container based on the prevailing metadata. 
     
     
         19 . A system for identifying a container associated with a plurality of files, the system comprising:
 a container monitor configured to provide for identifying a change in a container associated with a plurality of associated files; and   a container identifier configured to:
 determine prevailing metadata among the plurality of associated files including ranking the prevailing metadata based on a respective number of occurrences of each metadata, wherein the prevailing metadata is not required to be from all of the plurality of associated files; and 
 rename the container based on the prevailing metadata. 
   
     
     
         20 . A system for identifying a container associated with a plurality of files, the system comprising:
 means for providing for identifying a change in a container associated with a plurality of associated files;   means for determining prevailing metadata among the plurality of associated files including ranking the associated metadata based on a respective number of occurrences of each metadata, wherein the prevailing metadata is not required to be from all of the plurality of associated files; and   means for renaming the container based on the prevailing metadata.   
     
     
         21 . A computer program product comprising computer executable instructions embodied in a computer readable medium for performing steps comprising:
 providing for identifying a change in a container associated with a plurality of associated files;   determining prevailing metadata among the plurality of associated files including ranking the associated metadata based on a respective number of occurrences of each metadata, wherein the prevailing metadata is not required to be from all of the plurality of associated files; and   renaming the container based on the prevailing metadata.