WO2006045872A1

WO2006045872A1 - Information management method and system

Info

Publication number: WO2006045872A1
Application number: PCT/ES2005/000570
Authority: WO
Inventors: Francesc D'asis Sans Pons; Carles Sans Pons
Original assignee: Elephant Memo, S.L.
Priority date: 2004-10-25
Filing date: 2005-10-25
Publication date: 2006-05-04
Also published as: ES2276563A1; ES2276563B1

Abstract

The invention relates to an information management method and system. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of managing information in the form of a set of electronic files, comprising the following steps consisting in: A) accessing an electronic file; B) assigning an accessibility index to the electronic file; C) positioning the file among the set of electronic files according to the accessibility index thereof, which is based on the instances of said file being accessed; D) determining a new accessibility index for each of the electronic files in the set, using formula in which t is the time at which the accessibility index is determined, ti is the time at which the file was last opened, tj is the time at which the file was last closed, • is a value between 0 and 1, and • is any value; and E) assigning a deactivation attribute to some of the files in the set.

Description

Procedure and system to manage information

The present invention relates to a system for managing information, and more specifically to a system for the storage and retrieval of information, especially digital data in the form of electronic files, such as documents or programs, preferably in a personal environment. It also refers to a procedure to manage information.

Background of the invention

A person's documentary collection is made up of all the information he receives and generates. Some of this information is structured and processed by the person, becoming part of the organization of his "personal file", whose objective is to allow him to later recover the desired information. Each person uses their own methods and mechanisms of classification and retrieval of such information, some of them being based on standards.

At the end of the last century, with the appearance of the first personal computers, a process of migration of part of said "personal file" began to an electronic support, with the intention of facilitating the tasks of organization, storage, treatment and recovery of the information that makes up the "personal file".

For years, people have used personal computers to manage the electronic part of their "personal file", adapting to the available organization and recovery systems, although it has been demonstrated over time that such environments are often poorly suited to The real needs of people. An example of an inadequate environment is that of conventional file systems, based on hierarchies of tree directories, that offer indexes such as file names, directory structure, access dates, and text search. Basically, it is an unsuitable environment because:

- They are rigid systems;

- They are not scalable to a large number of files;

- They offer a unique categorization without cross references; and - The only interrelation that can exist between files is that of belonging to the same folder.

A standard person maintains a constant struggle to organize and retrieve their own electronic documents, anticipating such an even more arduous struggle in the coming years in view of the progressive increase in the volume of information stored in electronic "personal files."

A personal computer is capable of storing gigabytes of information and it is expected that in a few years the hard drives will allow you to store terabytes of information at a reasonable price, giving people a virtually unlimited storage capacity. A person may have a greater amount of information on his personal computer than the one he can process throughout his life; The concept of deletion will tend to disappear because the time needed to remove an item from the file will be more expensive than the space to maintain it. However, this policy should not imply that people are exceeded by the volume of their file, given a more than possible overload of human memory (sometimes a person must strive to remember where in a particular hierarchy of folders has saved a document, being necessary that the human mind store the hierarchy of folders for a quick and accurate recovery of the information).

With the intention of avoiding this overload of human memory and make an adequate management of the information, in the 90s they started a series of projects in this regard with some premises that were true at that time, but which at present is when they charge higher force. That is to say, what in the 90s was an aspect to improve, and probably for that reason the majority of projects were stagnant, at present it is an inconvenience.

Some of these projects focused on the field of document management of complex institutions or entities, while others focused on the management of all the information that a person manages individually. Within this last group, the following projects stand out:

Havstack (MIT opensource project): It aims to manage local, remote, and even written information. The system is intended to learn, that is, the system must respond intelligently after analyzing a person's query history. It also incorporates the concept of "collaboration" between users of the system, in the sense of allowing a person to make inquiries about the system of other users.

Forget-Me-Not (research department of Rank Xerox in Cambridge): The system places the person in a world full of electronic devices that exchange information with their own electronic device (advanced PDA called ParcTab, whose prototype was developed in February 1994). The PDA collects enough information to help the person remember past situations in based on the memory episodes that you remember and that may be parallel in time to the episode you intend to remember.

LifeLoq (research department of the Pentagon -DARPA): It aims to develop a PDP (Personal Digital Partner) that saves life-long information of a soldier and allows him to use this knowledge in future situations and, in turn, optimize the automatic systems of training based on interactions between them and Ia

PDP It is also intended to incorporate PDPs already loaded in robot soldiers.

pStore (research division of Hewlet-Packard): File platform that manages semantic metadata and is very focused for multi-personal environments.

IPtk (Almaden Research Center - IBM): High-level toolkit that supports the development of applications that allow people to refer to documents by semantic, interrelational structures and context. It also implements the "promiscuous indexing", consisting of saving information in many possible ways and then allowing the user to retrieve that information when necessary without taking into account as recalled.

Time-Machine (Sony research center): Desktop capable of time travel and recover the situation as it was at the time selected by the user. The user uses the desktop as a single folder where he spatially distributes the files that are necessary in his present life. If a file does not interest you at that time, you can delete it since at any time you can recover a previous context. It also allows you to navigate to the future and create files when that time becomes present. Closer to the present invention is the Scopeware Vision project of

Mirror Worlds Technologies, Inc., which has given rise to the international patent application WO 03/001345, entitled "Systems for managing information in personal and business environments through sequential ordering based on time". The invention is based mainly on replacing the classic sorting of folders with a time-based sorting and creating much more intuitive file collections for the user.

Search results are displayed in cascade showing the most recent files first.

There is also the Microsoft MyLifeBits project, which has been developed on a Microsoft SQL Server database and aims to store all the electronic information of the same individual in a way that is easily accessible to him. For this, the user is provided with an integrated environment on which he can make annotations, both text and audio, on any type of file (documents, images, video, audio), the audio annotations being transcribed through the ASR of Microsoft The system also allows the user to create relationships between files, which are called "transclusions", which can later be used to "browse" their information. On the other hand, the system basically serves to determine a probability that a file will be accessed again, but in no case is it used as a sort order for the information.

All the aforementioned projects are models of organization and information retrieval that are not fully adapted to people's needs. In addition, they are not very intuitive, complicated to use and, above all, do not allow people to transfer their own storage and recovery mechanisms transparently. All this entails, in addition, a significant loss of time for a person to The time to want to access the files.

Description of the invention

From what has been described above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for managing information of the type referenced initially, which allows to overcome the drawbacks known in the state of the art, described above.

This object is achieved in accordance with claim 1 by providing a method for managing information in the form of a set of electronic files. Said procedure comprises the steps of (A) accessing an electronic file; (B) assign an accessibility index to the electronic file; and (C) arrange the file among the set of electronic files, in a position that depends on its accessibility index, which is based on accesses made on said file.

In this way, a procedure is achieved that allows the arrangement of electronic files according to their use, said use being represented by the accessibility index. Thus, it is an intelligent desktop that learns automatically based on user behavior patterns (it detects these patterns from the user's use of the files). The fact of organizing the files according to their use means providing a person with a more adequate organization of their files and recovering them better adapted to their needs, which means a significant reduction in time when accessing the desired files , that is, it is a predictive and non-reactive system. Since this arrangement is based on mechanisms similar to those used by human memory, the procedure is more intuitive for people, easy to use, and above all allows each person to transfer their own storage and recovery mechanisms transparently. By Io Therefore, it is a tool that allows a person to store and retrieve information from their "personal file", in the same way that it is stored in human memory and with the advantages of electronic support: volume, reliability, diversity and speed. In addition, it is not necessary for the person to know in advance the hierarchical structure of the folders and subfolders for an agile and rapid recovery of the stored information, as is the case in known file systems. With the present invention, the internal organization is not relevant.

Preferably, the method may comprise a step D for determining a new accessibility index for each of the electronic files in the set.

Said stage D is carried out to adapt the index of accessibility of the files at the moment in which one of them has been accessed. In most cases, said stage will be carried out between stages B and C described above, after closing the accessed file, to update the accessibility indexes of the files before the file is available among the rest of the files. There is also the possibility that said stage D is carried out continuously, without the need for any file to be accessed. It is important to note that an open file can preserve the accessibility index it had at the time of its opening or its accessibility index can be recalculated from time to time.

On the other hand, the procedure can comprise a stage E of assigning a deactivation attribute to some files of the set, the stage D of determining the new accessibility index being performed only for those files that do not have said attribute assigned.

In this way a significant reduction of the resources (hardware, etc.) of calculation, of the calculation times, and of the requirements is achieved of the resources. All this also means a reduction in costs.

In addition, the method may comprise a step G of assigning a file recovery attribute to those electronic files in the set that meet a predetermined condition.

Basically, the assignment of said attribute is necessary to be able to distinguish the files that have a higher accessibility index assigned from the rest, and the number of files to which said recovery attribute can be configured can be configured by the user. Files with the assigned attribute are immediately accessible by the user, while files without said assigned attribute, whose volume is much larger, must be properly organized for retrieval from searches. Considering that the memory in which the set of files is located can be divided into surface memory (SM) and internal memory (IM), the assigned attribute files belong to the SM, while the rest of the files belong to the IM. The use of these types of memory will be described later.

Advantageously, the method may comprise a step H of displaying the electronic files assigned to said recovery attribute, by means of a graphical user interface, through a display screen.

Thus, the files belonging to the SM, that is, the files that have been assigned the recovery attribute, are immediately accessible by the user with the simple visual navigation through said graphic user interface.

Preferably, the method may comprise a stage F, prior to stage B, of determining the accessibility index of the electronic file. At this stage it is necessary to consider different cases. First, if the file accessed is a new file or is a file that is in the IM (it has not been assigned a recovery attribute), it must be arranged in the first position of the sorting (LIFO strategy - Last In First Out). For this, stage F must determine an accessibility index greater than the accessibility index assigned to the first file of the arrangement, before accessing the file. Thus, for example, the new accessibility index can be determined by adding a point to the accessibility index of the first sort file. Secondly, if the file accessed is a file of the SM, the determination of its accessibility index must be carried out in the same way as for the rest of the files in the set of electronic files.

According to a characteristic of the invention, the step D of determining the new accessibility index for each of the electronic files of the set, can be made from the formula:

(tt _j ) part _ new entity _ Index = old _ index + β * part _ whole 3600

{t _j - t,) \ a

where t is the instant in which the accessibility index is determined, t is the instant that corresponds to the last time the file was opened, t is the instant that corresponds to the last time the file was closed, a is a value between 0 and 1, and β is any value.

Said formula takes into account the absolute time equivalent to date and time of access and the duration of said access to the file. In general, the formula has a fixed part and a variable part, so that, each time an accessibility index is calculated, the variable part is assumed by the fixed part and a new variable part begins. This variable part is modulated by β depending on its value, so that the accessibility index is more or less dispersed (the default value of β is 1). It is important to note that the more time has passed since the last access to the file, the variable part becomes smaller. It is clear that the use of this formula responds to the use that a person or user makes of the file, since the accessibility index increases proportionally to the time of use, with a proportionality factor that becomes smaller the larger the elapsed time since the last closing of the file.

As a consequence, step E of assigning a deactivation attribute to an electronic file can be performed when the function

TU-O) I part _ whole]

3600

(t _j - t _t ) xa for this file is less than one.

When this function is less than 1, the new accessibility index is equal to the old accessibility index, that is, the accessibility index assigned to the file remains unchanged, so it is not necessary to re-determine its accessibility index until the File is accessed again. If the value of the constant α is properly selected, it is possible to take into account more or less files back in time to recalculate its accessibility index.

Preferably, the method may comprise a stage I of assigning search attributes to the electronic file, as well as a search stage J, for access to files that are not assigned the recovery parameter, from the assigned search attributes to said files in stage I.

As previously mentioned, the IM files are practically only accessible through searches, since their volume is usually very large. For this it is necessary that all files of the set of files have assigned attributes on which to perform such searches when they are in the IM. The assignment of these attributes can be manual (for example, through a graphical user interface) by the user, or automatic.

In addition, the method may comprise a stage N of text indexing of at least one of the files in the file set. In this way, the indexing is only performed on those files once accessed by the user, that is, only those files that are part of the user's space (those that are part of the Memo folder) are indexed, and not all indexed files in the operating system's file system, as in some known systems, in which even system files are indexed. On the other hand, it is possible to select the type of files to be indexed. In the case of the types of files that do not want to be indexed, the indexing is not done automatically, but it is possible to do it manually, for a specific file, from, for example, an option in the context menu of the file.

According to another characteristic, the system according to the invention can be configured to encrypt the filesystem documents, so that, when the user 102 is validated in the system of the invention, when accessing the documents, they are automatically decrypted without The user has to do it every time. Therefore, the indexer can also access the encrypted information, while the indexer's own information is also encrypted so that it is not searchable by third parties, that is, the user can encrypt all documents through the system, but allows the indexer to access to the contents without affecting the security, since the encrypted indexer's own database. Said feature and the fact that the entire file system is not indexed, provides an improvement from the security point of view, taking into account the privacy of the user (there may be files with particular information) and important data (even confidential) that the files may contain, avoiding their possible misuse.

With this, it is possible to obtain a more significant access to the files that have not been assigned a recovery parameter and that have been located in the search stage J, since after a first filtering from the search attributes assigned to the files, a second filtering is performed by a text index search of only the files previously located in said first filtering.

According to a characteristic of the invention, at least one file in the set of electronic files may comprise a path to an electronic file external to said set of electronic files, said external file being able to be located in a remote storage unit. There is also the possibility that said external file is in other locations, such as locally in the file system of the operating system of the personal computer in which the set of files is stored, on an external hard drive connected to said computer, or on another networked computer.

On the other hand, it is also possible that any file external to the set of electronic files that is accessed, is automatically linked to the system solely by the fact of having been accessed. This means that, over time, all electronic files that have been accessed at least once by the user will be linked, except in the event that the user voluntarily chooses to unlink them.

Preferably, the method may comprise a step K of modifying the accessibility index of at least one of the electronic files of the set, when a user acts on said file. Normally, the way to modify the accessibility index will be by selecting the file and dragging it through the graphic user interface to a new position within the set of files. According to the chosen position, a new accessibility index will be automatically assigned.

Step A of accessing an electronic file may comprise the sub-stages of A.1) create a new electronic file; A.2) verify that the electronic file does not exist; and A.3) in case of negative result, notify the duplication of the file.

By means of said sub-stages, it is possible to check if an added file is really a new file or it is a duplicate, meaning a duplicate is the file that has identical attributes as the added file. In the event that there is a file that is a version of the file added, that is, a file with the same name but with one or more different attributes, the user may decide between canceling the operation, replacing the existing document with the one added, or Create a new file.

In a preferred embodiment, the method may comprise a stage L for exporting the set of electronic files, the stage of which may also include exporting the attributes assigned to the electronic files of said set of files. These attributes can also include the accessibility index of the exported files.

In this way, a simple export system is achieved to, for example, migrate from a computer and in a short time have the set of files as it was in the original computer. In the same way, it is also suitable to make backup copies of all the information represented by the set of files, and avoid traumatic and / or irreparable loss of information. This backup can be sent, by for example, through the Internet to a DataCenter that ensures the integrity and existence of the copy (the backup can be sent manually by the user or can be requested automatically by the DataCenter). In addition, there is the possibility of working with the system, with the information stored on a remote server.

The export stage L of the set of electronic files can be performed in compressed format, with the intention that it occupies less space in destination and so that its transmission is faster.

The method may also comprise an import stage M of at least one electronic file. Basically, said stage is complementary to the export stage, since any export made must subsequently be imported in order to access the information it contains.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, the method may comprise a stage O of creating a workflow for at least one file in the set of files. Thus, it is possible to make at least one file disappear (it is temporarily stored in a location destined for it), which the user knows that he will not need until after a certain time, so that it appears later on a date in which Ie It will be useful. In principle, the file that is recovered must maintain the same metadata (search attributes, etc.) that it had when the workflow was created. Obviously, some could be modifiable, such as the accessibility index, so that when the workflow is created, the position that it should occupy in the set of files could be established. Normally this stage will be suitable for files with the recovery parameter assigned. Basically it is about generating a workflow by the user for the user. According to another aspect, the invention provides a system for managing information in the form of a set of electronic files, characterized by comprising means for accessing an electronic file; means for assigning an accessibility index to the electronic file; and means for arranging the file between the set of electronic files, in a position that depends on its accessibility index, which is based on accesses made on said file.

According to yet another aspect, the present invention provides a computer program comprising program instructions to cause a computer system to perform the procedure described above.

Said computer program, for example, may be contained in recording media, in a memory of the computer system, in a read-only memory, or it may be carried by an electrical carrier signal.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a communication system is provided comprising at least two computer systems, and means of transmitting information shared by said computer systems, each of the computer systems comprising a system for managing information described above, said systems interconnecting to manage information through the means of information transmission.

In this way a system is achieved that allows the interconnection of intelligent interfaces represented by the system to manage information. Preferably, said system is formed by a local area network to which computer systems are connected, such as computers, PDAs, or mobile phones. From this system of communications according to the invention, computer systems can share files with each other, either in a manual way (eg if a document must be corrected by a person, the user who has prepared said document can send it to said person) or through The use of the means to create a workflow for at least one file in the set of files (a user can generate a workflow so that one of his documents appears in the system to manage information from another user.

Another point to note is that the network is distributed (distributed intelligence), that is, there is no server on which all the computer systems attack, but, at the same time, all the computer systems are information servers.

In addition, for example, in the event that a company has the externalized email server, the communications system of the invention provides security, since users of the company's network will not have to send the files through the mail electronic (the information leaves the company and then returns), but they can do it through the network, through the interconnection between the systems to manage information.

On the other hand, it allows adding to each of the systems to manage information, search attributes related to the company, so that the location of documents related to it is facilitated. In this case, it is possible to incorporate a central server that stores all the documents of the company, so that they are accessible to all users of the network.

According to a characteristic of the invention, the communication system may comprise peer-to-peer links between the computer systems. The use of said type of links favors that there is no saturation in the network, since a server that generates a bottleneck does not intervene. The computer systems involved in the communication talk to each other and files are passed between them, without the intervention of another computer system.

Therefore, the system of the invention allows the sharing of files and the workflow associated with them, on peer-to-peer links in a local area network. This interconnection between the systems to manage information opens multiple possibilities for collaboration and document sharing following very parallel processes to those established naturally in human groups.

The system may comprise a repository of undelivered files, so that if the file must be delivered to a computer system that is not present at that time (eg it is turned off), said repository stores it until the system computing is back online. In principle, it should be the computer system itself that interrogates the repository about whether it contains any files for it and, if so, it should be the one that downloads it.

The system can also comprise a repository of backup copies of the information contained in the systems for managing information, said repository being able to be arranged locally or remotely. In the event that it is remote, the system must comprise means of communication between the computer systems and said repository of backups. Such means of communications may be, for example, an extranet or the Internet.

Thus, a secure repository is achieved, managed automatically and that allows more efficient recoveries of the protected information, since the backup only includes the information used by the user, that is, the information contained in his system to manage information (data traffic is reduced). With respect to known repositories, said repository allows to accelerate the restoration of lost data or access to it from different systems to manage information, regardless of the place of connection.

The system may also comprise means for adapting the contents of a content server to the system for managing information.

According to another aspect, the invention provides a communication system between at least one computer system and a content server, in which the computer system comprises a system for managing information described above, said communication system comprising means for adapt the contents of the content server to the system to manage information.

In this way, a system is achieved that allows a preclassification of the contents (e.g. digital) from the query parameters used by the user during their access to the content database. These parameters are added by means of adaptation (e.g. a gateway or intelligent gateway) to the files at the time of download, and allows their subsequent classification in the system to manage information. In this way, the user can ignore the task of assigning metadata (e.g. search attributes) to their documents and digital content.

Brief description of the drawings

For a better understanding of how much has been exposed, some drawings are attached in which, schematically and only by way of non-limiting example, a practical case of realization is represented. In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of a computer system that integrates the system for managing information, in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2a shows a schematic representation of the operations of moving and copying an internal system document, from the system to the operating system shell; Figure 2b shows a schematic representation of the operations of moving and copying an internal document of the system, from the system to the system of the invention itself;

Figure 2c shows a schematic representation of the operations of moving and copying a linked system document, from the system to the operating system shell;

Figure 2d shows a schematic representation of the operations of moving and copying a linked document from the system, from the system to the system itself;

Figure 2e shows a schematic representation of the operations of moving and copying an external document to the system, from the operating system shell to the system;

Figure 2f shows a schematic representation of the operations of moving and copying a linked document, from the operating system shell to the system; Figure 2g shows a schematic representation of the operations of moving and copying a linked document, from the operating system shell to the shell itself;

Figure 2h shows a schematic representation of the operations of moving and copying a linked document, from the operating system shell to the shell itself (same origin);

Figure 3 shows a representation of a flow chart of the procedure for managing information, in accordance with the invention;

Figure 4 shows a graphic representation of a first graphic user interface generated by the system for managing information, object of the invention; Figure 5 shows a graphical representation of a second graphical user interface generated by the system for managing information, object

The invention;

Figure 6 shows a graphic representation of a third graphical user interface generated by the system for managing information, object of the invention;

Figure 7 shows a graphical representation of the taskbar of

Microsoft Windows ® that incorporates the search bar of the invention;

Figure 8 shows a graphic representation of a dialog window for configuring searches performed from the search bar of Figure 7;

Figure 9 shows a graphical representation of Windows Explorer, which includes a context menu of interaction with the system, according to

The invention;

Figure 10 shows a graphical representation of a fourth graphical user interface generated by the system;

Figure 11 shows a schematic representation of a communication system, in accordance with the invention;

Figure 12 shows a schematic representation of the system of the figure

11, which incorporates a repository of backups; and Figure 13 shows a schematic representation of the system of Figure

11, which incorporates an intelligent gateway for the adaptation of digital content.

Description of preferred embodiments

The present invention aims to provide a user with a tool that Ie allow you to organize the huge amounts of information, in the form of electronic files, which accumulates over time, and must allow you to access any electronic file that has been stored at some time. For this, the invention is based on a model of organization and recovery of information with mechanisms similar to those used by human memory. Next, a brief description will be made of the theory of operation of said human memory.

Most scientists agree to describe human memory as a set of stores that are "sites" for putting information, in addition to a set of processes that act in stores.

A very simple model could contain three types of warehouses:

- Sensory Information Store (SIS)

- Short-Term Store (STS)

- Long-Term Store (LTS)

And three processes:

- Encoding (put information in a warehouse)

- Maintenance (keep this information alive)

- Retrieval (find coded information)

SIS memory is everything that interferes with the senses but is only stored when attention is paid. Sensory information (of the eyes, ears, etc.) enters the Sensory Information Store (SIS) and can be ignored or attention can be paid. The ignored information is not the last to have entered for a long time. The new information perceived quickly overwrites (masks) the old one, a process that is sometimes described as "interference." The information attended is not only protected from interference but is processed by higher level mechanisms that understand what it means. For example, an information in the S / S may indicate that there is a red dot in a given position, so that when this information is attended to and the information is processed visually, it is determined that the red dot is a Stop signal. . When the information is processed in this way, it can be encoded in the Short-Term Store (STS). In the human brain, the STS has a limited storage capacity (7 ± 2 elements) that "decays" and becomes inaccessible in a matter of seconds (between 12 and 30 seconds). In addition to decay, the loss of information from the STS may occur due to interference when new information displaces older information. The interference does not always cause the loss of information, but it can cause errors in the recovery of the memory when one remembers information that is similar but not identical to the one needed.

There are two ways to make the information last in the memory and allow it to be encoded in the Long-Term Store [LTS):

- Maintenance Rehearsal (MR) - Elaboration Rehearsal (ER)

MR consists of mentally repeating the information so that it is kept active and accessible in the S7S memory and ends up coding in the LTS. ER consists of elaborating the information to achieve the same objective (this second technique works better than the first one).

Long-term memory can store a large amount of information and can keep that information for very long periods of time. It supports many types of information, such as facts, events, motor or perceptual abilities, knowledge of physical laws, spatial models or family environments, or attitudes and stories about Self and others. Many and various factors seem to affect the difficulty of accessing memory stored in the LTS. Some of these factors are the similarity between the current conditions and those that existed when the memory was stored, the time elapsed since the memory was last used, its degree of inter-relativity with other knowledge, or its exclusivity in relation to another information contained in the LTS. Much of the scientific research that remains to be done focuses on specifying the effects of these factors in detail and determining the mechanisms that produce these effects.

If an analogy is made with document management, the institution would be the person, the documentary fund, which is the set of documentation that the person receives and generates, would be the STS, and the organization of the file, which is the structured information processed by The person would be the LTS. The searches are performed on the file, Ia LTS, because it is organized for that purpose.

Next, the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention will be carried out, in the form of a system for managing information, more specifically, for managing electronic files.

As can be seen in Figure 1, said system is executed on a personal or end-user computer 100 that has as an operating system, for example, Microsoft Windows XP Professional, which, as is known, includes a file system (or several ) own (since you do not work directly on the content of electronic files, it makes no sense to create a new file system). Said operating system could be any other as long as it includes a graphical user interface. Therefore, when, throughout the memory, an electronic document or file 103 is spoken interchangeably, the element, such as an icon or the name of the file, of the graphic interface of user representing the physical file stored in the operating system's filesystem (access to the files).

The personal computer comprises a display screen 101 through which the different graphic user interfaces generated by the system for managing information are displayed, in accordance with the invention; and a pointing device, such as a mouse, so that a user 102 can interact with said interfaces, connected to the computer. All those elements of the interfaces that perform an action when the user acts on them through, for example, the mouse or keyboard combinations are called control elements, while the actions they perform are generated by control signals.

According to a preferred embodiment, the system according to the invention comprises a computer program for managing the information, in the form of electronic files or documents, stored in data storage means, such as a local hard disk or a remote unit, said computer program being executed on the personal computer 100 mentioned above. Said computer program comprises a module for accessing an electronic file 103; a module to assign an accessibility index to said file; a module for arranging the file between a set of electronic files, in a position that depends on the accessibility index assigned to it, which is based on accesses made on said file; a module to determine a new accessibility index for each of the electronic files in the set; a module to assign a deactivation attribute in certain files of the set, the module acting to determine a new accessibility index only on the files that are not assigned the deactivation attribute; a module to determine the accessibility index of the accessed electronic file; a module to assign, to those files in the set that meet a predetermined condition, a recovery attribute of the file; a module for displaying, through a graphical user interface, the electronic files assigned to said recovery attribute; a module to assign search attributes to the electronic file; a module to search among the electronic files that are not assigned the recovery attribute, those files that have assigned search attributes that match the search strategy established by the user 102; a module to modify the accessibility index of an electronic file when a user acts on said file; a module for exporting the system, the set of files together with the attributes assigned to each of the files in the set of files; a module to index the text of the files in the file set; a module to create a workflow for at least one file in the file set; and a module to import at least one file from the exported file set. It is important to note that, because the operating system has a graphical user interface, most modules must generate, during their process, a user interface, such as a dialogue window, in order to interact with a user and achieve its objective. Obviously, it is possible that some of the aforementioned modules is a computer program separate from the main computer program of the system of the invention.

The module for accessing an electronic file may comprise a module for creating a new electronic file; a module to verify that the electronic file does not exist; and a module for, in case of negative result of the verification module, to notify the user of the duplication of the file.

The module to determine a new accessibility index for each of the files in the file set is executed when the module to access an electronic file has accessed any of them. Normally, said execution will take place when the accessed file has been closed, to update the accessibility indexes of the files in the file set before the file accessed between the rest of the files is available. There is also the possibility that said module will run continuously, without the need for a file to be accessed.

On the other hand, the module to determine the new accessibility indexes can be based on the application of the following formula:

part _entera \ new _ index = old _ index + β * part _ whole 3600

(t. - tj x a

where t is the instant in which the accessibility index is determined, /, ^• is the instant that corresponds to the last time the file was opened, t is the instant that corresponds to the last time the file was closed , a is a value between 0 and 1, and β is any value. As can be seen from the formula, the absolute time equivalent to the date and time of access and the duration of said access to the file are taken into account. In general, the formula has a fixed part and a variable part, so that, each time an accessibility index is calculated, the variable part is assumed by the fixed part and a new variable part begins. Said variable part is modulated by β depending on its value, so that the accessibility index is more or less dispersed (the default value of β is 1). It is important to note that the more time has passed since the last access to the file, the variable part becomes smaller. It is clear that the use of this formula responds to the use that a person or user makes of the file, since the accessibility index increases proportionally to the time of use, with a proportionality factor that becomes smaller the larger the elapsed time since the last closing of the file.

The module to assign a deactivation attribute in certain files _ileral part - of the set Io assigns when the function 3600

(t _j - t,) xa for said

file is less than one.

When this condition exists, the new accessibility index is equal to the old accessibility index, that is, the accessibility index assigned to the file remains unchanged, so it is not necessary to re-determine its accessibility index until the file returns To be accessed. If the value of the constant α is properly selected, it is possible to take into account more or less files back in time to recalculate its accessibility index. In this way, the module to determine the new accessibility index only acts on those files that have not been assigned said deactivation attribute.

The module to assign a file recovery attribute acts only on those files that meet a certain condition, so that it is possible to distinguish the files that have a higher accessibility index assigned from the rest, and the number of files can be configured to than assign said recovery attribute. The fact that a file has this attribute assigned makes it accessible directly by the user, through a graphical user interface, while files that do not have that attribute assigned can only be accessed through a search.

The module to determine the accessibility index of the accessed electronic file must consider different cases. First, if the file accessed is a new file or is a file that has not been assigned a recovery attribute (the file is in the IM), it must be arranged in the first position of the sorting (LIFO strategy - Last In First Out) .

For this, the present module must determine an accessibility index greater than the accessibility index assigned to the first file of Ia sorting, before accessing the file. Thus, for example, the new accessibility index can be determined by adding a point to the accessibility index of the first file of the arrangement. Secondly, if the file accessed is a file that has a recovery attribute assigned (the file is in the SM), the determination of its accessibility index must be performed in the same way as for the rest of the files in the set of files. electronic files, that is, from the formula mentioned above.

The module to assign search attributes to the electronic file must interact with the user to obtain the attributes to be assigned to the file. This assignment is necessary to be able to search the files when they have not been assigned a recovery attribute, that is, when they are in the IM. The module can automatically assign the search attributes, or said assignment can be manual, based on the interaction between the user and the module, for example, through a graphical user interface.

The system presents two types of attributes according to the type of list of values. We can have two types of lists of values for an attribute: • Multivalue • Univalor

Attribute values are labels that we can add to attributes.

A multivalued attribute is an attribute that allows classification using more than one value at a time. These values are complementary to each other. For example: the "Contains" attribute allows you to classify by one or more of the values: "Interesting examples", "Video promotion", "Note editor", etc.

A univalor attribute is an attribute that allows classification using only one value. These values are exclusive among them. For example: the "Importance" attribute It allows you to classify only one of these values: "High", "Medium" or "Low".

Thus, an example of automatic association of attributes for documents can be the following. For a document of the type "C: \ Documents \ Work \ reports \ Medical Report.doc", the system will automatically associate the attributes to facilitate its search and classification. The document, after sending it to the system, has the following attributes:

- C - Documents

- Job

- Reports

An example of automatic association of attributes for messages can be the following. For a Microsoft Outlook message, the system will automatically associate its attributes to facilitate its search and classification. The message, after sending it to the system, has the following attributes:

- Sender

- Importance - Subject

The module to search among the electronic files that are not assigned the recovery attribute, must locate those files that have assigned search attributes that match the search strategy established by the user 102. Likewise, said module must interact with the user through a graphical user interface (eg a dialog window), to obtain what search attributes the files to be located must comprise.

The module to modify the accessibility index of a file is usually based on a user action on the file, such as dragging it to through a graphical user interface to a new position within the set of files. According to the chosen position, the module Ie assigns the new accessibility index that corresponds.

The module to index the text of the files in the set of files makes an indexing of only those files ever accessed by the user, that is, only those files that are part of the user's space are indexed (those that are part of the folder "Memo", which will be described later). On the other hand, from the interaction between said module and the user through a user interface, the module can determine the type of files that the user wishes to index. In the case of the types of files that do not want to be indexed, the indexing is not done automatically, but it is possible to do it manually, for a specific file or files, from, for example, an option in the menu contextual file. With the performance of said module, it is possible to obtain more significant access to files that have not been assigned a recovery parameter and that have been located by the search module, since after a first filtering from the search attributes assigned to the files, a second filtering is performed by a text index search of only the files previously located in said first filtering.

The module to create a workflow (workflow) for at least one file from the set of system files, allows the user to make at least one file disappear from the system and, later, on a suitable date, re-arrange it in the set of files. The use of this module allows the user to improve the number of files they have accessible, especially when they know that a certain file will not be needed until after a specific date. To interact with user 102, the module generates a graphical user interface that allows said user to configure the workflow. Said interface may comprise, by For example, a group box that includes an option button to do nothing with the file, an option button to make the file appear on a certain date, and an option button to make the file appear on a certain date, warning from it to the user through an on-screen message. Obviously said interface must also include a text box so that the user can enter the text of the message (although said text may come predefined) and a calendar to be able to select the date of appearance of the file. In order to activate this module there are different paths, although the most efficient may be to select the document or documents to be processed and make its context menu appear, to select the workflow option.

The system according to the invention allows the user documents to be organized in separate areas. Each zone allows working in the same way, but grouping, those documents according to the user's needs. Common examples of the use of zones can be: the work zone (professional) and the personal zone. For each zone you can define a list of different attributes and values, particular to that zone. Thus, if you talk about the work area, you can have attributes such as Project, Phase, or State. However, if you talk about the personal area you can have attributes such as: Interesting for ... (Juan, Pedro, Ana), or Photos ... (Birthday, Work, Family). By default, the system of the invention creates by default two zones with their corresponding attributes and values. While the user is in an area, all the operations he performs with the documents are associated with the active zone at that time. To change the active zone it is possible to use the taskbar or the options that appear in the main system bar. Each zone may or may not have a specific time slot associated with it, so that the professional zone could correspond to the time slot in which the user is developing his professional activity, while the personal zone could correspond by default to the rest of the hours in which those that the user does not know Or find in the professional zone.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, the computer program is executed on the operating system of the personal computer 100. Within the Windows file system, a folder referred to as "MEMO" is created to which all electronic files are sent. , more specifically, the accesses to the files (in the present embodiment these are user documents) that the invention must manage. The fact of using a folder can facilitate the integration of the system with existing products. It is also possible that there are documents outside the directory, for example, on a server or locally in the operating system's file system, or that said documents have the form of written paper. In any of these cases it is necessary to create "locator files" (in this case it appears as a linked file) to these documents, said "locator files" being created and processed in the same way as the rest of the files. In addition, in the case of paper documents, another possible solution may be to digitize said documents so that they are managed in the usual way.

The "MEMO" folder is an extended folder that is integrated into the operating system's file system, allowing the user 102 to use the system according to the invention as if it were one more folder (from this folder it is possible to access all the operations). This folder is displayed on a special level in "Windows Explorer" and also appears as an option in the "Save as ..." dialogs. Basically it is also possible to access said folder from, for example, a desktop icon or quick access from the taskbar.

Just as a document or file of the operating system is a visual representation for a physical file stored in the file system, a document or file of the system according to the invention is You can understand as an extension of the file system document, that is, the system saves for each document or file, information about the document in the file system, but also other information (metadata) of the system, using a particular storage system .

Just as a file system allows the existence of a direct access, that is, a link to a document in the file system, the system according to the invention allows the concept of a linked document. A linked document represents an existing document to which metadata (e.g. search attributes) can be added, and can be found both inside and outside the system of the invention. Its identification is made from a visual mark so that the user can differentiate them from other documents. This linked document concept is a non-existent concept in the file system. All this means being able to perform a series of operations, some already existing, but also add some not available so far.

Existing: - Move document

- Copy document

- Delete document

- Create document

- Create shortcut Added:

- Link a document

- Send a document

- Move linked documents

- Copy linked documents - Unlink a linked document

- Restore an internal document to the original location - Move internal documents

- Copy internal documents

Moving a document is the operation that involves moving a document from a source folder to a destination folder (the document disappears from the source folder). There are several options to move a document.

Copying a document is the operation that consists in copying a document from a source folder to a destination folder (the document is kept in the source folder). There are also several options to copy a document.

Deleting a document is the operation of sending the document to the Recycle Bin.

Creating a document is the operation that consists of creating a document, that is, the operating system offers this option ("New") from the context menu for some of the installed programs, and failing that it is possible to create a specific document using Ia own edition application.

Creating a shortcut is the operation that consists of creating a shortcut from a document. The shortcut created allows the user to access the document in question.

Linking a document is the operation that consists in creating a logical input in the system of the invention. The system registers the information in the source folder of the document with other internal information, keeping the document in its original folder, and without modifying the document. Therefore, the document becomes a linked document in the system of the invention. This logical input has several implications, since the system of the invention modifies the "Windows Explorer" to display specific information, modifying the behavior and functionality available for the linked document (see figure 10). The document, from which it is linked, is shown with a mark to help distinguish it from other documents. Thus, the system enriches the document allowing the user the following functionality: - Metadata management. The user can associate attributes and values to the document.

- Temporary management. The user can associate internal actions of the system of the invention to be performed according to a pattern of repetitions. For example, at a certain time or day of the week, daily or weekly.

- Zone management. The user can assign the document to an area (private vs. professional) within the system.

- Desk management. The user can place the document on several desks to perform their document-related tasks.

Thus, a linked document acts within the system of the invention as the original document, that is to say, apparently the same document is had in two folders: the source folder and the system folder according to the invention. This is so, although the operations of moving and copying linked documents have a special behavior.

Sending a document is the operation that consists in creating a logical entry in the system, registering the information in the document's source folder with other internal information. The document moves from its source folder to an internal system folder. This operation does not modify the document, making the document an internal document to the system.

The logical input has several implications (identical to the operation of linking a document) since the system modifies the "Windows Explorer" to display specific information, modifying the behavior and functionality available for the internal document. For an internal document move and copy operations behave normally.

Moving linked documents is the operation that involves moving linked documents from a source folder to a destination folder. This operation can be done from inside or outside the system, presenting different behaviors. Thus, when a linked document is moved from within the system to another folder, the result is equivalent to moving the document that has been linked to the destination folder of the operation. When a linked document is moved from outside the system to the system, the result is equivalent to copying the linked documents, that is, the linked document is kept, but in addition, a copy remains as an internal document.

Copying linked documents is the operation that consists in copying documents from a source folder to a destination folder. This operation can be performed from inside or outside the system, presenting different behaviors. When a document linked from within the system is copied to another folder, the result is equivalent to copying the document that has been linked to the destination folder of the operation, with the difference that another logical entry corresponding to the linked document is obtained. to the copy in the new folder, but without metadata. When a linked document is copied from outside the system to the system, the result is equivalent to copying the linked documents, that is, the linked document is kept, but a copy is also obtained as an internal document. If a document linked within the system is copied to the system, a copy of the document is obtained but it will be internal and will have the same metadata of the original document. If the same operation is performed in a non-system folder, the operation will result in a copy of the document but without the copy of the metadata. Unlink a linked document is the operation that consists in eliminating the internal information of the document in the system. The document stops showing a mark in the "Windows Explorer" and loses the functionality and behaviors specific to the system of the invention. Among other information, the document loses its metadata.

Restoring an internal document to an original location is the operation that consists in creating a new logical entry in the system of the invention, which points to the restored document, maintaining the metadata.

Moving internal documents is the operation that consists of moving internal documents of the system to a destination folder. This operation can only be performed from within the system to the outside, showing a behavior equal to the usual operation. When internal documents are copied from the system to another folder, the result is equivalent to moving the document that was sent to the destination folder of the operation. Internal documents cannot be moved to the system, since internal documents cannot exist outside the system.

Copy internal documents is the operation that consists of copying internal documents of the system to a destination folder. This operation can only be carried out inside the system, showing a behavior equal to the usual operation. When internal documents are copied from within the system to another folder, the result is equivalent to copying the document normally to the destination folder, losing the metadata. If an internal document is copied into the system into the system, a copy of the document is obtained, but the same metadata of the original document is also available.

In general, in any "move" operation of a linked document, metadata is always maintained, while in an operation of "copy" of a document, metadata can only be maintained if the user performs the operation from the system of the invention.

To clarify what is described, Figure 2 is attached, which is divided into several sub-figures according to the copy and move operations, taking into account the origin and destination.

Figure 2a schematically shows the operations of moving and copying internal documents from the system to the operating system shell. In the move operation, you have the option of removing the document, losing the metadata, or the option of re-linking it with the same metadata. In the copy option the metadata is lost.

Figure 2b shows the operations of moving and copying internal documents from the system to the system. In the case of moving, it has no effect, while in the case of copying, it should not have information of the origin (o1) since a restoration could erase the original with this copy.

Figure 2c shows the operations of moving and copying documents linked from the system to the shell of the operating system, while in Figure 2d the operations of moving and copying documents linked from the system to the system are shown. Figure 2e shows the operations of moving and copying an external document from the shell to the system. In the case of moving, the document has new metadata (it is equivalent to the send operation), while in the case of copying, the document has new metadata and the restore operation of the internal document will have to ask if you want to overwrite.

Figure 2f shows the operations of moving and copying linked documents from the shell to the system. In the case of moving you can say that It is equivalent to send. Figure 2g shows the operations of moving and copying linked documents from the shell to the shell itself. In the case of the copy operation, the documents must have the same metadata to be a copy. Figure 2h shows the operations of moving and copying linked documents from the shell to the shell with the same origin. In the case of moving, the operation has no effect, while in the case of copying, the documents must have the same metadata to be a copy.

As described above, each of the system documents is assigned an accessibility index that represents the use made of them. The way to determine it must be proportional to the accesses to the document with or without modification and the moment in which these accesses have occurred and the duration that they have had must be taken into account. Returning to the comparison with human memory, the fact of opening a file without modifying it (viewing and / or printing it) can be seen as a Maintenance Rehearsal (MR) operation or maintenance of the information contained in the document, while the Opening a document and modifying it (editing it) can be considered as a Rehearsal Elaboration (ER) or processing operation.

The value of the accessibility index obtained for each document allows to sort the documents in a queue according to the importance they have for the user and the accessibility they must have (the way to determine the index has to respond to the use made of it by the user). In the present embodiment, the formula used to determine the accessibility index of a document is the one mentioned above.

It follows from the formula that the first document in the queue, that is, the most important for the user, must have the highest accessibility index. It is also clear that the accessibility index increases proportionally to the time of use of the document, with a proportionality factor that becomes smaller the larger the time elapsed since the last closing of the file.

The way to assign to each document its accessibility index is the following.

When a new document or a document with an accessibility index lower than a value determined by a limitation of files is accessed (belongs to the IM memory, which will be described later), the highest accessibility index is assigned, more specifically, in the present embodiment the accessibility index of the first document of the queue is assigned before access, plus 1. This is done following a Last In First Out (LIFO) strategy, with which the most valued document is achieved by the user is the one that has been saved later (the last document accessed is the first to be presented to the user or the most valued). In the event that the document accessed has an accessibility index equal to or greater than the value determined by the limitation of files (belongs to the SM memory, which will be described later), the determination of its accessibility index is performed according to the formula described.

In any of the two previous situations, for the rest of the documents in the queue, when the accessed document is closed, the previous formula is applied, with the exception of those documents less used by the user. These documents are assigned a deactivation parameter when the pαi te __cníei α

3600 function "(t _j - t,) x α is less than 1, which indicates that it is not

It is necessary to recalculate the accessibility index until it is re-accessed at some future time, since the new index will always be the same as the old index. By properly selecting the value of the constant α, more or less files can be taken into account back in time to recalculate the accessibility index.

In the present preferred embodiment, any document that is open has the same accessibility index that it had at the time of being opened. Alternatively, the accessibility index of an open document could be recalculated from time to time.

It could also be considered the update of the accessibility index of a file based on future events. Thus, for example, if a user consults a specific document every Monday, the system could automatically increase the accessibility index of the document, so that on Monday it occupies one of the highest positions in the document queue.

The value of the accessibility index of a document does not depend directly on the rest of the accessibility index values of the documents in the queue.

If a document gains in importance, it increases its accessibility index and advances in the queue of documents to the position after the first document that finds a higher accessibility index. By

Therefore, it is evident that a document never moves towards lower positions of the queue, but is displaced by documents that exceed its accessibility index. Again, this operation is analogous to that of the human brain, in which the new information overwrites the old information due to the limitation of the capacity. This mechanism, as previously mentioned, frees the invention from recalculating the value of the accessibility index of most of the documents in the queue.

It is important to emphasize that it is necessary that the accessibility index be dispersed, so that it is very unlikely that two documents coincide in the same value, avoiding conflicts when segmenting the document queue. For this, the formula for calculating the accessibility index has the constant β, whose value makes the accessibility index more or less dispersed, modulating the variable part of the formula, β has a default value of 1, although it can take any value.

In the present preferred embodiment, the memory in which the documents are stored is divided into internal memory or Internal Memory (IM) and surface memory or Surface Memory (SM). Making a new analogy with the human brain, it can be considered that the internal memory is located in the inner part of the brain, making the information less accessible and that it is necessary to perform a search to recover it, while the surface memory corresponds to the surface of the brain, making the information more accessible. As is evident, the operation of the system itself means that the documents stored in the IM are many more than the documents stored in the SM. The number of files present in the SM is determined by the user, being in the present preferred embodiment of 8.

The presence of a document in the SM or in the IM depends exclusively on its accessibility index. Those documents with the highest accessibility index are those that will be, for obvious reasons, in the SM (8 documents in the present preferred embodiment), with which they will be more easily accessible, while the rest of the documents in the queue will be in the IM and it will be necessary to perform a search to access them.

The operation of the SM emulates in a certain way the mechanism of the Short-Term Store (STS), by means of which new information is often stored on old information, generating interference, that is, modification of the old information that can be remembered with Errors in some cases. For the system object of the invention, the document remains intact but passes to a new space that is the IM, in which, as mentioned above, it will be necessary to perform a search when the user wishes to access it. When the user, after the search process, finds the document and make an access by opening the document, it will be incorporated back into the SM. The user, at any time, can manually return the document to the IM, the system determining the new accessibility index of the document, depending on the position of the queue to which it has been moved. Likewise, the user can manually pass a document from the IM to the SM (for example, interacting with a graphical user interface).

The documents of the internal memory that occupy the last positions (the user can determine what documents should be) are stored compressed with the objective of saving memory. Taking into account that the access to said documents is much less than the access to the documents of the SM, the operation is completely optimal. When it is desired to access the documents contained in said package, the system will apply the search attributes in force at the time of the creation of the package. Thus, any future modification (e.g. deletion, modification) of the search attributes will not affect the search for documents in said package.

Over time, each document of the SM is placed in the corresponding position depending on the use that the user makes of it. In the event that, at some point, the user wishes to manually change the order of the documents, they must only drag the document from one location to another and the system assigns an appropriate accessibility index to the new position it occupies in the queue (from the module to modify the accessibility index).

Likewise, the user may wish to send a document found in the SM to the IM. For this, the user must select the document that he wishes to send and, for example, click on an icon destined for sending to the IM present in the corresponding graphical user interface, or select the corresponding option in the context menu of the document. In the event that the user sends the document to the IM, the system causes the opening of a window in which the user is indicated the search attributes and the values he has for the document. Attributes that the user has not valued or that does not value at that time, remain worthless and cannot be used as a criterion for subsequent searches.

To move from the SM to the IM, the system assigns the document a sufficiently lower accessibility index so that the document automatically disappears from the SM. For example, it would be sufficient to assign an accessibility index a point lower than the value of the accessibility index of the document with the highest accessibility index of the IM. Another option may be to ask the user for the desired location of the document in the IM.

As well as the function of the SM is to provide the user with immediate access to the documents he usually uses and the searches are limited to the visual navigation that the user performs on a graphical user interface generated by the system, in the case of Ia IM, in which the volume of information is much larger, it is necessary to organize the documents for later retrieval through searches. For this, it is necessary to assign to each document a series of search attributes, always before the document "falls" to the IM, that is, when a document moves from the SM to the IM by the document management dynamics of the document. system, there is no opportunity to evaluate search fields that have not been previously valued. The optimal assignment of said attributes to documents should be based on the automation of the classification of said documents, while maintaining the possibility that the user assigns them manually using their own sorting mechanisms.

There are two types of assignment of attributes to documents, from the module to assign search attributes to a file: those made explicitly by the user and those performed automatically by the system. Although the participation of the user in the assignment of these attributes is decisive, since it is the one that has the greatest knowledge of their own information, the high dedication time required and the difficulty in determining the appropriate values for the category-value couples are also true . Thus, the classification of documents will be based mainly on the automatic classification by the system. These automatic classification processes are based on user context analysis.

In the present preferred embodiment, two methods of context analysis can be used: the state of the system at the time the user accesses a document, and the propagation of attributes to related documents.

In the case of context analysis according to access, when a document is created or accessed, the system takes the opportunity to assign attributes from the context of the user's session. To do this, it uses two mechanisms: the first uses application help, while the second uses existing user inputs.

In the first case, since the majority of users routinely use a small set of applications and these in turn create the majority of user documents, it is necessary to monitor said applications to obtain clues about the user's context and be able to use them to assign attributes to the documents. For example, if a user saves a document attached to an email with subject "RE: Marketing report", it is clear that the attached document will be related to "marketing" and "report".

In the second case, it is possible to extract information from the entries made by the user, such as the name of the file or the directory to which it belongs, as well as the queries made by the user. If, for example, the user performs a search on "semantic file system" and chooses a document that only has the "semantic" attribute assigned, the rest of the "file" and "system" attributes must be applied to the document. Also, if the result of a search is presented in the order that is considered most relevant, the position of the document chosen by the user can be used as an indication of success or failure. Similarly, it is possible to ask the user to rate the result of the search afterwards.

In the case of context analysis according to relationships between documents, if interrelated sets of documents are established, it is possible to share attributes between said documents, avoiding the individual assignment of attributes to documents that are difficult to classify. In the present embodiment it is possible to use two different methods to automatically create relationships between documents:

1. User access patterns. If, for example, the user accesses

"SemanticFS.ps" and "Gopal.ps" and then perform the update of "realted.tex", it is more than likely that there is a relationship between these three documents. Consequently, accessing "related.tex" and creating "Memo.ps" may indicate a transitive relationship.

2. Similarity of contents between related power files. It is only necessary to perform a content analysis of the documents and detect similarities of content between several documents, so it is used to define relationships based on the content and propagate the attributes automatically. For example, different versions of the same document are easily identified by their content and can be related. In addition, the analysis of the differences between versions of the same document allows the creation of specific attributes for each version, making it easier for the user to locate a specific version. Within the manual classification of documents, the following mechanisms are included:

1. Assignment of a document to a stack of documents (for unclassified documents); Y

2. Manual assignment of values to user-defined attributes (fields), using the method of assigning a document to an attribute-value pair.

1. The battery mechanism is used in the context of documents pending classification and is implemented with specific icons distributed by the user in the graphical user interface generated by the system. These icons contain the documents that the user has dragged over them. In addition, the user can create a new stack of documents at any time from a context menu. A battery has no name for the user, but a specific location within the graphical interface, although there is a possibility that the user can assign a name. The user can drag any document on a stack but without exceeding the maximum capacity of the stack (in the present embodiment, for example, 10 elements). A document must belong to a single stack, and the representative icon of the stack must indicate the number of documents it contains. The user can quickly access the documents of the stack by standing on the cone; The system then displays a pop-up window limited to no more than, for example, 10 elements (maximum capacity of the stack) with information on the type of document and the name. The documents appear in reverse chronological order at the time they were added to the stack (FIFO), the user being able to remove an item from the stack at any time, either by dragging the entry from the list of documents or by clicking on an option of " delete "present in the context menu of the document or through an icon or button in the corresponding graphical user interface. The deleted document is presented in the center of the interface, and can be dragged by the user to another stack.

There is also the possibility of dragging a battery over another battery, the documents being rearranged according to the highest date in each of the respective batteries. If the capacity of the resulting battery exceeds the maximum allowed capacity, the operation is not performed. There is the possibility of eliminating an entire stack (contextual menu of the stack, button or icon, etc.), being distributed, in this case, the documents throughout the graphic interface.

2. The method of assigning documents to an attribute-value pair is used when the user adds a new document to the system or at any time they are asked to assign attributes to a document. This mechanism works similarly to the battery, but in this case, the user drags the document to an icon that symbolizes the attribute. When placed on the attribute, the most relevant values are shown in the form of satellites on the attribute planet. The user can drag the document on any of these satellites or, in case of not finding any suitable satellite, on the planet corresponding to the attribute. In the latter case, the system shows the rest of the existing values in a pop-up list format, similar to the list of documents in a stack. Browsing the pop-up list is fast because the number of values is limited to a visible number at once. If the list does not exceed a maximum number of values, the user can create a new value, showing immediately as a new satellite within the planet corresponding to the attribute. It is important to note that the same document can be dragged to as many attributes-value as the user wishes. It is also possible to carry out a method of assigning a document of an attribute-value pair, that is, making the assignment in the opposite direction. In this case, the attributes are dragged through the interface on the documents, being able to drag the same attribute on as many documents as the user wishes. It is therefore clear that to retrieve a document from the IM it will be necessary to perform a search on them, due to the volume of stored documents. The system contemplates that said search can be carried out on the document search attributes, by name directly on the file queue of one or another area, or by clicking on an arrow cone present in the graphic interface that shows the documents of the IM , to move from one interface to another, and so on. This last option will only be efficient when the document to be recovered does not have a very low accessibility index (it is not in a very low position in the document queue). In addition, the system can incorporate the text indexing module, from which a more significant access to the documents of the IM is achieved.

Another possibility to facilitate searches is based on establishing categorized relationships between documents, so that documents with a not necessarily high accessibility index can be quickly accessed but have a certain relationship with the document being worked on or obtained. As a result of a search process. The existence of a categorized relationship is shown in the graphical user interface next to the document.

Each type of memory, that is, the internal memory (IM) and the surface memory (SM) can be subdivided into several zones. The present preferred embodiment contemplates the division of said memories into a personal zone (PeZ) and a professional zone (PrZ), although the use of other zones or even the creation of new zones by the user is also possible, as it has been previously described. Each of said zones has a graphical user interface the size of the display screen. The user configures in the system the time distribution of his day, indicating which time slots correspond to his professional life and which to his personal life. When the user accesses the system, it displays the SM panel corresponding to the professional or personal area, depending on the time of day. It should be noted that the same document can belong at the same time to the personal area and the professional area, without implying a double consumption of physical memory of the personal computer, and may have a different accessibility index for each of the areas. From the point of view of internal organization of the system, it is the personal zone and the professional zone which are divided into the two types of memory (SM and IM).

The system establishes a password to be accessed and can indicate if it applies to one of the zones or both. If desired, the system allows you to have independent password passwords for both zones. In the same way, it is possible to open the system by the active zone by default without a password, and request a password to change the zone.

The value of α and β of the formula for calculating the accessibility index can be different and customized for each of the zones.

In the event that the personal computer of the system is connected to a LAN (see figure 11) it is possible to make a mirror of the file memory or only one of the zones, on a server. An administrator of the LAN can consult and access the files of a certain user of both the professional and personal areas, but without using the user organization and recovery structures, that is, the administrator only has access to the contents . It is also possible that the administrator has an own password assigned, so that when accessing a user's documents, these documents are sorted according to the organizational structures of the administrator and not of the user.

At any time the user may wish to switch between the personal zone and the professional zone. For this, there is, for example, an icon in a graphical system interface.

There is also the possibility that the user wishes to send a document from the professional area to the personal or vice versa. In this case, the sending can be done by means of a cone or button destined for it, or by means of an option of the contextual menu of the document. Sending a document from one area to another is equivalent to moving the document, that is, the document ceases to belong to the active zone.

If the user wishes to copy a document from the personal zone to the professional or vice versa, he must select the document from the active zone and copy it to the other zone by means of an option from its contextual menu or by clicking on an existing icon for this purpose. Copying a document to the other zone means that the document still exists in the active zone.

Given the existence of the professional zone and the personal zone, it is necessary to index the electronic files. The system uses two queues for sorting by use: a queue for personal files and a queue for professional files. Each of these queues is ordered according to the index of accessibility of the files that compose it and its elements are pointers to the memory locations in which said files are stored. The same physical file can be referenced in each of the queues, so if the same file has two references it means that it is duplicated in the personal area and the professional area, although the accessibility index values are different.

From everything described so far, a description of a preferred embodiment of the procedure for managing information, object of the invention will be carried out below.

As can be seen in Figure 3, after a start stage 100, the The procedure comprises a step (A) in which a document is accessed. Access to that document may be due to the fact that it has been sent, moved or copied from the Microsoft Windows file system, or that an existing document or a new document has been opened. If an existing document has been opened it may have been modified (edited) or it may not have been modified (display / print). If it is a new document (sub-stage A.1), there will most likely be an edition of it. Whatever the case, in a step 102, the document is closed, which causes, in a stage I, an automatic assignment to the search attributes document according to the context of the user's session, to subsequently request, the manual assignment of search attributes by the user. In said stage I it is possible to show the attributes assigned automatically for the user to modify or validate.

Next, if it has been determined that the document is a new document (sub-stage A.1), the verification of the existence of a duplicate document (sub-stage A.2) is performed. In case of affirmative result, the user is informed, in a sub-stage A.3, the existence of said duplicate document and the procedure is terminated. In case of negative result, in a step F, the determination of the accessibility index of the document is made. In the case of a new document or an IM document, it is necessary that it occupies the first position of the document queue, so that a point is added to the accessibility index of the document that occupied the first place of the queue, before the document was accessed. In the case of an MS document, the determination of the accessibility index is based on the formula described above. In a stage B, the accessibility index obtained to the document is assigned, while in a stage D, the accessibility index of each of the documents that are part of the queue is recalculated, except for those documents that have been assigned a deactivation attribute because they have not been accessed for a long time. Once all accessibility indices have been determined and assigned, the documents in the queue are proceeded in a stage C, based on their accessibility indices, so that the documents advance in the queue to the position after the first document with a higher accessibility index, which means moving to lower positions than documents with a lower accessibility index. When all the documents have been placed in the queue, the 8 documents that occupy the highest positions, that is, the 8 documents with the highest accessibility index, are assigned a recovery attribute to indicate that are part of the SM All documents that are not assigned said recovery attribute are understood to be part of the IM. In a stage H, the documents that are part of the SM are shown to the user through a graphical user interface, so that they can be accessed with the simple visual navigation through said graphic interface.

It is important to note that some of the stages mentioned can be performed in other positions within the procedure. Thus, for example, step D of determining the new accessibility index of the documents in the queue could be carried out at predetermined intervals of time, without waiting for a document to have been accessed. The same happens with the stage I of assigning search attributes, which could be repeated over time according to user convenience.

On the other hand, there may also be other stages not contemplated in the procedure because they do not have a definite position in time. For example, there may be a step K of modification of the accessibility index of a document by the user, which can drag any document to a new position in the queue; a stage L for exporting the document queue, together with its attributes, to perform, for example, a backup copy; an import stage M of at least one document to, for example, recover a backup; or a stage N for indexing the text of at least one document in the system document set.

It is also important to note that the procedure described is the same for both the professional and personal areas.

Since the computer program modules generate a multitude of different graphical user interfaces, some examples that include some of the most important control elements will be described below. It is clear that the generation of the graphical user interfaces, which is a minimal part of the objective of the system, serves primarily to facilitate the interaction between the user and said system. From this interaction, the system obtains the necessary data to perform specific actions.

As can be seen in Figure 4, the system generates a graphical user interface 1 of the size of the display screen, corresponding to one of the zones (professional or personal). Said interface 1, by default, at the start of the system, shows the documents 2 of the surface memory (SM) ₁ more specifically, the 8 documents with the highest index of accessibility of the document queue (they have assigned the recovery attribute), corresponding to the active zone at the time of day, on its right side 1a. The documents 2 within the interface 1 are sorted by default according to their accessibility index 3.

A document 2 in question will disappear from the interface 1 at the moment when its capacity is full and its accessibility index 3 is lower than the rest of the documents of the interface. In a way it will be as if the document had been forgotten by the user due to interference from new documents, but the document will remain stored in the internal memory [IM). As previously mentioned, the maximum capacity of the interface 1 is determined by the user, always taking into account the characteristics of the display screen and the physical limitations of human vision.

As can also be seen in Figure 4, the system does not replace or mask at all the file system of the Microsoft Windows XP operating system. In the left part 1 b of the interface 1 the folder structure 4 of said operating system is shown, in which the directory 5 that stores all the documents managed by the system can be observed. In addition, as mentioned above, it is possible that the system manages files that are not in directory 5, establishing a link to them. For reasons of clarity, when the "Memo" directory is opened, files that are not physically found in the folder are indicated visually with a mark, so that the user, if desired, can make a capture into the folder. The linked files are also visible from outside the system, while the rest of the file is not. When viewed from outside, the files are marked to indicate to the user that they are linked files.

Likewise, any file external to the "Memo" folder, belonging to the operating system's file system, which is accessed, is automatically linked to the system. Thus, over time, all those files that have been accessed by the user for at least once, will be linked to the system, except those files that the user decides to unlink.

In Figure 5 a graphic user interface 6 can be seen, from which the transition from the personal to the professional zone is carried out and vice versa. For this, the interface has an operation bar 7 that integrates an element of control 8 to carry out said zone change, so that when the user acts on said control element 8 by means of, for example, the mouse, a control signal is generated that causes the zone change, showing a new interface with the documents of the SM of the corresponding zone. In said figure 5, the documents 2 are shown in the form of icons, being arranged according to their accessibility index from left to right and from top to bottom (said arrangement can be determined by the user himself). In addition, the operation bar 7 shows the most common operations with respect to the control of the zones.

As can be seen in Figure 6, the system also includes a graphical user interface 9 to perform the assignment of attributes to the documents 2. The interface 9 comprises an operation bar 10 that integrates a control element 11, 12, 13 for each group of attributes ("Urgent", "Author", and "Project"), so that the user only has to drag document 2 on attribute 11; 12; 13 that you want to assign. These attributes are ordered according to the user's use of them. When the document is arranged, for example, on the control element 11 corresponding to the "Urgent" attribute, a control signal is generated that causes the appearance of the different values that the attribute encompasses, in the form of a drop-down menu. The user must drag the document 2 over the desired value and release the mouse button to generate a control signal that assigns that value to the document. It is also possible to assign the general attribute 11; 12; 13 to the document if none of the values corresponds to the desired one. To do this, the user must drag the document on attribute 11 and release the mouse button, which generates a control signal in the system that assigns attribute 11 to the document. It is important to remember that all the attributes that you want can be assigned to the same document.

Figure 7 shows the taskbar 14 of Windows (Taskbar), in Ia that a search control element 15 of documents has been integrated in the internal memory (IM). Said control element comprises an editable text box 15a, in which the search criteria is entered, and a control element in the form of a button 15b, which when activated by the user by means of the mouse, generates a control signal that starts a search within the documents of the internal memory. The result is shown through a graphical user interface. The operation of the search bar 15 is the same in the professional zone and the personal zone.

Alternatively, Figure 8 shows a dialog window 16 with search options 17, which appears when a search is started from the search bar 15 of Figure 7. When the button 15b of said bar 15 is actuated, generates a control signal that causes the appearance of the dialogue window 16. After the user activates or deactivates the desired options, acts on a "Search" button 18 to generate a control signal for the system to perform a search in the documents of the internal memory (IM) according to the options configured in window 16.

As can be seen in Figure 9, the integration of the system object of the invention in Microsoft Windows is total. The figure shows the taskbar 14 of Windows, with the search bar 15 (figure 5), and Windows Explorer 19 with a specific context menu 20 thereof, which includes some of the most common actions 21 to send and / or relate documents to the system.

Thus, if the user wishes to send a document (he can also do it for a plurality of documents) from the Windows file system to the system object of the invention, to be managed by it, there are several options. First, the user must select the document they want to send, and then: - Drag the document on the representative cone of the system on the Windows desktop and release the mouse button, to generate a control signal that causes the document to be sent to the surface memory (SM) of the active zone at that time, if the application is in operation, or in the active zone by default if the system is closed.

- To provoke the appearance of the contextual menu 20 referring to the document that the user wishes to send, with the action of the mouse, and select the "Send" option 22 from among the options 21, to generate a control signal that causes the document to be sent to The surface memory (SM) of the active zone at that time, if the application is in operation, or in the active zone by default if the system is closed. As can be seen in Figure 9, said context menu comprises a submenu named "MeMo" that includes all the operations related to the system accessible from, for example, Windows Explorer. This submenu will only be displayed when the selected file exceeds the filter of the type of file supported by the system. Among the operations supported are: send / remove a file, link / unlink a file, simple direct classification, access to the classification screen, send / remove a file to a zone, or link / unlink a file to a zone.

In any of the cases, the document is considered as a new document for the system and therefore it is stored in the first position of the queue with the largest accessibility index, that is, the highest accessibility index so far , plus 1.

The fact that the system is closed does not mean that it is not active, that is, although the graphical interface that shows the documents of the SM is not open, the background system is always active and running. Bliss feature is indicated visually through the operating system (eg System Tray). Therefore, the automatic sorting of the files made by the system of the invention does not require that any graphical user interface of the system be open.

Figure 10 shows a possible user interface to search the documents belonging to the IM. It should be remembered that the most efficient way to access a document contained in the IM is from a search, defining the search attributes that the documents must have assigned. For this purpose, said interface comprises a toolbar for carrying out actions on the documents, a plurality of search configuration elements 111, a first zone 112 of the interface in which all the information related to the selected file is shown (name , location, assigned attributes, accessibility index, etc.), a second zone 113 of the interface, in which the documents that comply with the search strategy established by the user 102 are shown, each of said documents being represented by its name 114 (or its representative icon), its accessibility index 115, its format 116, that is, if it is an internal document, linked, etc., its current location 117, and its original location 118, in case the user decides Restore the document to its original location.

In the first zone 112 the following information can be seen:

. Alternative name (label) and physical name of the document; . Location of the document;

. Information about pending notices; • List of attributes and values of the document.

The Alternative Name (label) and document name shows the alternative name along with the name of the document. If a document does not have an alternative name, only its name will be displayed. A document can have an alternative name using the option "Change label ..." from the context menu of MemoDesk.

In the location of the document, if the document is linked, the way to find the document in the file system is shown. If the document is in the system, it informs that it is an internal document.

In the Information about pending notices, a summary of the warning information for the document is shown. If the document does not have 10 pending notices it shows nothing. A document can have a pending notice if it has been defined using the option "Assign warning ..." from the contextual menu of the system.

In the List of attributes and values of the document, the list of 15 attributes and values defined for the selected document is shown.

Figure 11 shows a communication system comprising three computers 121, 122, 123 interconnected through a local area network (LAN) 124, each of the computers comprising the system 125, 126,

20 127 to manage information described above. Therefore, said systems for managing information are interconnected through LAN 124. Obviously, the system for managing information can be implemented in the form of a computer program running on computers 121, 122, 123.

25

From said configuration described, computers can share documents with each other through LAN 124, either in a manual way, that is, the user of a system sends a document to another user, such as by using the module to create a workflow

30 (workflow), that is, a user can generate a workflow so that one or more of their documents appear in the system to manage information, from another user

In addition, with said configuration, a distributed network (distributed intelligence) is obtained, in which, therefore, there is no server on which all computers 121, 122, 123 attack, but, at the same time, all computers They act as information servers. In this way a network 124 is obtained with high efficiency.

On the other hand, since all the computers in the network, for example, the network of a company, are interconnected, the system allows, to each of the systems to manage information, add search attributes related to the company, so which facilitates the location of documents related to it. In this case, it is possible to incorporate a central server that stores all the documents of the company, so that they are accessible to all users of the network. Obviously there must be a user administration, to determine, among other things, that users of the network may or may not access said server.

The communication between the different computers is done through peer-to-peer links, which favors that there is no saturation in the network, since a server that generates a bottleneck does not intervene. Computers, for example, computers 121, 122, involved in a communication, talk to each other and pass documents between them, without the intervention of another computer, such as a server. Therefore, the system of the invention allows the sharing of files and the workflow associated with them, on peer-to-peer links in a local area network.

In addition, the system of Figure 11 can incorporate a "dumb" server (not shown) comprising a repository of undeliverable documents, so that if a document must be delivered to a computer, for example, computer 123, and this is not present at that time in the network because it is, for example, off or disconnected, said repository stores the document until computer 123 is back online. In principle, since it is a "dumb" server, it must be the computer itself that interrogates the server about whether it contains any document for it and, if so, it must be the computer 123 itself that downloads it.

As shown in Figure 12, the system of Figure 11 may comprise a server 130 with a database 131 of automatic backup copies of the information contained in the systems for managing information on each of the computers 121, 122, 123, said server 130 being able to be arranged locally or remotely. In the case that it is remote, the computers must be connected to the server through, for example, an extranet or the Internet.

Since the backup is made only of the information used by each user and not of the entire computer, the system is more efficient than the known systems. The realization of the backups occupies very little bandwidth of the network / Extranet-Intemet, and the restoration of lost data or access to them is very fast. In said figure 12, the elements corresponding to figure 11 are designated with the same numerical references.

Figure 13 shows a communication system comprising computers 121, 122, 123, the local area network 124 that connects them, according to Figure 11, a server 140 of digital content 141, connected to the LAN 124 by means of an extranet or Internet, and an intelligent gateway 142, arranged between the LAN and the digital content server 140, to adapt the contents of the digital content server to the system to manage information of each of the computers. Thus, when the user of one of the computers 121; 122; 123 makes a query on the content server 140, said server sends the contents that match the query to the computer in question, and the intelligent gateway 142, before said contents reach the computer, performs a pre-classification of the same from the query parameters used by the user during his access to the digital content server. These parameters are added by the intelligent gateway to the documents at the time of the download, and allows their subsequent classification in the system to manage information. In this way, the user can ignore the task of assigning metadata (eg search attributes) to their documents and digital content.

Although specific embodiments of the present invention have been described and represented, it is clear that the person skilled in the art may introduce variants and modifications, or replace the details with other technically equivalent ones, without departing from the scope of protection defined by the appended claims. .

For example, the proposed scenario could be to replace or completely encapsulate the file system of the operating system, by the system of the invention.

On the other hand, the user can define the extension of the surface memory (SM) to his liking, although it is convenient that it be limited by the number of files that can be displayed in a graphical user interface the size of the computer screen.

Although also the described embodiments of the invention with reference to the drawings comprise computer systems and processes performed in computer systems, the invention also extends to computer programs, more particularly to computer programs in or on carrier means, adapted to put the invention into practice. The computer program may be in the form of source code, object code or intermediate code between source code and object code, such as partially compiled form, or in any other form suitable for use in the implementation of the agreement processes. with the invention. The carrier medium can be any entity or device capable of carrying the program.

For example, the carrier medium may comprise a storage medium, such as a ROM, for example a CD ROM or a semiconductor ROM, or a magnetic recording medium, for example a floppy disc or a hard disk. In addition, the carrier means may be a transmissible carrier medium such as an electrical or optical signal that can be transmitted via electrical or optical cable or by radio or other means.

When the computer program is contained in a signal that can be transmitted directly by means of a cable or other device or medium, the carrier means may be constituted by said cable or other device or medium.

Alternatively, the carrier means can be an integrated circuit in which the computer program is encapsulated (embedded), said integrated circuit being adapted to perform, or to be used in the realization of, the relevant processes.

Claims

1. Procedure for managing information in the form of a set of electronic files, the procedure comprising the steps of:

A) Access an electronic file (103);

B) Assign an index of accessibility to the electronic file; Y

C) Arrange the file (103) among the set of electronic files, in a position that depends on its accessibility index, which is based on accesses made on said file.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a step D for determining a new accessibility index for each of the electronic files in the set.

3. Method according to claim 2, characterized in that it comprises a stage E of assigning a deactivation attribute in some files of the set, and by the fact that stage D of determining the new accessibility index is performed only for those files that do not have this attribute assigned.

4. Method according to any of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises a stage F, prior to stage B, for determining the accessibility index of the electronic file (103).

5. Method according to any of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the step D for determining the new accessibility index for each of the electronic files in the set, is performed from the formula: pari '.raí -

L 3600 J new _indice = old _index + β * enter _ part (t, - t,) χ «

6. Method according to claim 5, characterized in that the step E of assigning a deactivation attribute to an electronic part _ e /) file is performed when the function "(t _j - t,) xa Í. -360Ó-J for saying

File is less than one.

Method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it comprises a step G of assigning, to those electronic files of the set that fulfill a predetermined condition, of a file recovery attribute.

8. Method according to claim 7, characterized in that it comprises a step H of displaying the electronic files assigned said recovery attribute, by means of a graphical user interface, through a display screen.

9. Method according to any of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it comprises a step I of assigning search attributes to the electronic file.

10. Method according to claim 9, characterized in that it comprises a search stage J, for access to the files that They do not have the recovery parameter assigned, based on the search attributes assigned to said files in stage I.

A method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that at least one file in the set of electronic files comprises a path to an electronic file external to said set of electronic files.

12. Method according to claim 11, characterized in that said electronic file external to the set of electronic files is located in a remote storage unit.

13. Method according to any of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that it comprises a step K of modifying the accessibility index of at least one of the electronic files of the set, when a user acts on said file.

14. Method according to any of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the step A of accessing an electronic file comprises the following sub-stages:

A.1) Create a new electronic file; A.2) Verify that the electronic file does not exist; and A.3) In case of negative result, notify the duplication of the file.

15. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that it comprises a step L for exporting the set of electronic files.

16. Method according to claim 15, characterized by the fact that the export stage L of the set of electronic files also includes the export of the attributes assigned to the electronic files of said set of files.

17. Method according to any of claims 15 or 16, characterized in that the step L of export of the electronic file set is performed in compressed format.

18. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, characterized in that it comprises an import stage M of at least one electronic file.

19. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 18, characterized in that it comprises a stage N for indexing text of at least one of the files in the set of files.

20. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 19, characterized in that it comprises a stage O of creating a workflow for at least one file in the set of files.

21. System for managing information in the form of a set of electronic files, characterized by the fact that it comprises:

Means for accessing an electronic file (103);

Means to assign an accessibility index to the electronic file; Y

Means for arranging the file between the set of electronic files, in a position that depends on its accessibility index, which is based on accesses made on said file.

22. Computer program comprising program instructions to cause a computer system to perform the procedure according to any one of claims 1 to 20.

23. Computer program according to claim 22, characterized in that it is contained in recording media.

24. Computer program according to any of claims 22 or 23, characterized in that it is stored in a memory of the

10 computer system.

25. Computer program according to any of claims 22 to 24, characterized in that it is contained in a read-only memory.

fifteen

26. Computer program according to any of claims 22 to 25, characterized in that it is carried by an electric carrier signal.

20 27. Communications system comprising at least two computer systems (121, 122, 123), and means (124) for the transmission of information shared by said computer systems, characterized by the fact that each of the computer systems Computing comprises a system for managing information (125, 126, 127) according to claim 21,

25 said systems interconnecting to manage information through the means of information transmission.

28. System according to claim 27, characterized in that it comprises peer-to-peer links between the computer systems (121, 30 122, 123).

29. System according to any of claims 27 or 28, characterized in that it comprises a local area network (124).

30. System according to any of claims 27 to 29, characterized in that it comprises a repository of undelivered files.

31. System according to any of claims 27 to 30, characterized in that it comprises a repository (130) of backup copies (131) of the information contained in the systems for managing information (125, 126, 127).

32. System according to claim 31, characterized by the fact that the repository (130) of backup copies (131) is remote arranged, and by the fact that it comprises means (132) of communication between the computer systems (121) , 122, 123) and said repository of backups.

33. System according to claim 32, characterized in that the communication means comprise a global communications network (132).

34. System according to any of claims 27 to 33, characterized in that it comprises means (142) for adapting the contents (141) of a content server (140) to a system for managing information (125; 126; 127 ).

35. Communications system between at least one computer system (121, 122, 123) and a content server (140) (141), characterized by the fact that the computer system comprises a system for managing information (125 ; 126; 127) according to claim 21, and by the fact that it comprises means (142) for adapting the contents (141) of the content server to the system for managing information.