Concepts
The base requirements of a spatial file manager are:
- Each folder is represented by a single window.
- Each window is unambiguously and irrevocably tied to a particular folder.
- Stability: files, folders, and windows go where the user moves them, stay where the user puts them ("preserve their spatial state"), and retain all their other "physical" characteristics (like size, shape, color and location).
- The same item can only be viewed in one window at a time.
Given an arbitrary window in a spatial file manager, it must be possible to determine with complete certainty which folder that window represents. Furthermore, it must not be possible to change that association.
Traditionally, when a folder is opened, the icon representing the folder changes—perhaps from an image showing a closed drawer to an opened one, perhaps the folder's icon turns into a silhouette filled with a pattern—and a new window is opened. Attempting to open that "already opened" folder will simply reveal the existing window. A new window will not be created because that would violate requirement number one listed above, attempting to reveal an already opened folder's contents using another window will either close the existing folder before opening it or refuse to reveal said contents. The change in the folder icon's state is meant to be a visual reminder of this behavior. It says, "This folder is already open." Similarly, while a document or application is open, their icons also represent this status and re-opening them will just reveal and bring them back to the front.
A common alternative to the spatial file manager is the navigational file manager or "browser-style" file manager. A window in such a system is a device through which the contents of many folders may be viewed. A browser-style window is not tied to any particular folder. The window's spatial state (size, position, etc.) stays the same as the contents of many different folders are viewed through it. More than one browser window may show the contents of a particular folder simultaneously.
Read more about this topic: Spatial File Manager
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