Abstract: A hierarchical display system is described herein that provides an indication of a node's hierarchical position in a tree of nodes regardless of a user's present viewing position within a tree control or similar user interface control. Rather than displaying only the currently visible nodes closest to a particular active node, the system may display one or more parent/ancestor nodes in place of the farthest visible nodes. This allows the user to visually recognize a hierarchical path of the active node without scrolling to find the parent or other ancestor nodes. As the user scrolls, the system updates the display to keep one or more ancestor nodes displayed in addition to the nodes coming into view due to the scrolling. Thus, the hierarchical display system provides a more informative and less confusing control for viewing large amounts of hierarchically complex data.