Abstract: A system and method for managing critical files in an information handling system. Critical files are those files which are difficult to recover after a system failure, hard disk reformat, or user error. The critical file management system of the present invention includes a critical file manager, which can be accessed by programs through an application programming interface (API). Programs call the API to register and unregister critical files. A user interface is also provided. The user interface allows users to register and unregister critical files, and also allows users to view a list of all critical files and versions, along with the name of the program or user which added each critical file to the list. Users may also request a backup or restore of one, several, or all critical files at any time. A database of critical files, including a version for each file, is maintained. Backup copies of each critical file are stored in a critical file storage.

Abstract: In a component-based system such as OpenDoc, only one component can be "active," such that only the active component has control of the menubar and the pop-up menus. An active component may contain both intrinsic contents and embedded components. The active component allows the user to "select" some or all of its embedded components such that the user can act on the selected embedded components. When the selection is an intrinsic content, it is straightforward for the active component to present menu options that allows the user to interact with the selection. However, when the selection is an embedded component, there is no standard method for presenting menu options that allows the user to interact with selected embedded component; especially when multiple embedded components are selected within a compound document. This invention provides a method for sharing a menu by multiple embedded components in a component-based computer system.