INFORMATION DISPLAY APPARATUS AND METHODS

Apparatus for displaying information about a very large number of entities. The apparatus includes very small entity representations which represent the entities. The entity representations are contained in columns which represent contexts for the entities. In one embodiment of the apparatus, the entities are lines of text and the contexts are files containing the lines. Also included is a selector with a set of colored fields corresponding to values of attributes of the entities. When either an entity representation or a selector field is activated by means of a pointing device, the selector field and all of the entity representations for entities having the attribute value corresponding to the selector field are turned on and appear in the same color. The pointing device may also be used to specify an entity representation for detailed viewing. In response to this operation, a code viewer opens which displays detailed information about the entity corresponding to the specified entity representation. The apparatus may display values from different attribute types and may turn on an entity representation in response to a set of attribute values having different types. There are further animated display modes and techniques for remapping colors onto the selector fields. Applications of the apparatus include testing and maintenance of software and selection of programs in interactive TV systems.