The computerized personal archive of data entities can be organized as a hierarchical treelike structure. Each node of the tree is a thematic menu that consists of independent menu-items. Each thematic menu covers the specific subject domain and the menu-items correspond to the sub-domains from which the domain is composed. The menu-item defines the corresponding sub-domain in a natural verbal form and can generate either a menu-node of the next level or a terminal document. A user can choose a path to the desired data element by navigation from one node to another. He should have skills in the knowledge area to provide the proper selection of the path. In contrast to the keyword search, the thematic search leads at each stage to only one of a number of alternative addresses. The end node of the tree branch can contain text, graph, photocopy, executable computer program or any other document created by using the application program of the list of accessible external programs.

Automatic linking the tree nodes is achieved by generating the hidden logical name for each of the node, node-name. This name is constructed on the basis of the genealogical and chronological history of an insertion of the node into the tree structure. The genealogical relation between nodes is expressed by the dependence parent-child. The menu-node is presented as a parent-menu with respect to a menu-node, child-menu, which is generated by the item of this parent-menu. Each internal node or leaf of the tree-structure takes the ordinal number, node-chrononumber, automatically immediately following its insertion into the tree. These numbers make up a general chronological scale of references for the nodes. The ordinal numbers of items, item-chrononumber, within a menu-node make up a local chronological scale of references for the menu-items. The difference in functions between the two types of nodes, either a menu-node or a terminal document, is defined by a node-tag value. The node-name is generated automatically by a concatenation of four node attributes: node-tag, node-chrononumber of the given node, parent's node-chrononumber, and parent's item-chrononumber. The contents of each menu-node are stored in the computer memory as a separate menu-file. The logical node-name is used for automatic forming a filename of the menu-file corresponding to the given node. The principle of identification of the thematic menu-nodes, based on using the genealogical and chronological node attributes, opens the way of developing computer programs for creating the personal archive of data entities in the form of an expandable hierarchical menu-tree structure.

The PC program Personal Knowledge Accumulator was developed on the base of the presented algorithm. The program enables a professional skilled in the corresponding subject domain to create, rearrange and expand the personal archive. Thematic menu-nodes are created and displayed in the form of a two-dimensional text table on the computer screen. Each menu item is located in the separate table cell. A special text editor serves for the location and editing of the menu-item within a cell domain. Commands intended for creating and maintaining the personal archive make up a command menu. A user can choose and perform any command of the command menu. Access to the external application programs is provided through the list of accessible external programs. A degree of nesting of the thematic menus is unlimited. The program of the represented kind may be employed in any area of a human intellectual activity.

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