Modeling Files with Context Streams

摘要

Files are fundamental for information storage in computer operating systems. This paper explores user and environment context to improve personal file management. We focus on the user-oriented files in a computer operating system, which are usually operated manually, such as document files, image and video files. We formalize the dynamics of contexts to sequential signals, called context streams. Each context stream is a one-dimensional function of time. With the model of context stream, files can be reorganized using a set of discretely sampled streams based on file operation such as file creating, editing, and deleting. We proposed and implemented a file system with context streams, named ScudFile. Three applications of the ScudFile, file browsing, file searching, and file recommendation, are introduced. The evaluation of time and usability demonstrates the effectiveness of the ScudFile system.