Object-oriented operating system enhancement for filtering items in a window

A filtering framework in an object oriented operating system with a processor, such as an IBM PowerPC, a storage connected to and controlled by the processor, a display connected to and controlled by said processor, an object-oriented operating system resident in the storage and under the control of the processor, a view framework in the object-oriented operating system for managing a window on the display, a container framework in the object-oriented operating system for storing and manipulating information indicative of each item displayed in the window on the display, and a filter framework in the object-oriented operating system containing a method and data which respond to selection of a particular filter object and application of the filter object to each item displayed in the window to filter out all items not matching a particular characteristic that is not currently required. The filtered out items in a preferred embodiment are gathered into a bundle of unusable items and displayed in a group. Whereas, the items meeting the particular characteristic are displayed normally on the display along with a count of the items that are currently active on the display.