Generating summaries for software component installation

• US 20050102667A1
• Filed: 11/10/2003
• Published: 05/12/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Barta, Attila, Huddleston, Richard, Jemiolo, Daniel E., Asare, Kwasi A.
• Application Number:
  US10/705,555
• Publication Number:
  US 20050102667A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation

Abstract

Methods, systems, data structures and computer program products are provided for deploying software components, including deploying components in an enterprise environment. Installation of components is initiated and a level of detail to be reported is selected. As installation progresses, a report is generated regarding the status of the installation of the components. A portion of the report is displayed identifying the components at the selected level of detail and the corresponding status. Thus, a user may select only that level of detail which is of interest.

Claims

1. A method for installing software components, comprising:

initiating installation of components;

selecting a level of detail to be reported regarding the status of components being installed;

generating a report regarding status installation progress of the components being installed; and

displaying that portion of the report identifying the components at the selected level of detail and their corresponding installation progress status.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising accessing a semantic model, the semantic model comprising an indication of a dependency of a component to be installed upon any other component.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising grouping each component with other components having substantially the same number of dependent components, those components having more dependencies being in a higher group and those components having fewer dependencies being in a lower group.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein:

each grouping corresponds to a selectable level of detail; and

displaying the portion of the report comprises displaying the components in the group corresponding to the selected level of detail and the components in groups higher than the group corresponding to the selected level of detail.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the report comprises generating a tree-like structure having at a highest level branch those components to be installed with the greatest number of dependent components and having at a lowest level branch those components to be installed with the fewest number of dependent components.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein displaying the portion of the report comprises displaying the branches of the tree-like structure corresponding to the selected level of detail and those branches having a higher level.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting a level of detail comprises accessing a log file for a user, the log file including a user-selected detail level preference.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting a level of detail comprises accessing a log file for a user, the log file including a detail level generated from past selections by the user.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the status of installation progress comprises displaying each of a plurality of status characteristics with a different visual indicator.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the different visual indicators comprise different colors.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the status characteristics are selected from the group comprising pending, in progress, successfully completed and error.

12. A software component installation system, comprising:

means for initiating installation of components;

means for selecting a level of detail to be reported regarding the status of components being installed;

means for generating a report regarding status installation progress of the components being installed; and

means for displaying that portion of the report identifying the components at the selected level of detail and their corresponding installation progress status.

13. The system of claim 12, further means for comprising accessing a semantic model, the semantic model comprising an indication of a dependency of a component to be installed upon any other component.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising means for grouping each component with other components having substantially the same number of dependent components, those components having more dependencies being in a higher group and those components having fewer dependencies being in a lower group.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein:

each grouping corresponds to a selectable level of detail; and

the means for displaying the portion of the report comprises means for displaying the components in the group corresponding to the selected level of detail and the components in groups higher than the group corresponding to the selected level of detail.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the means for generating the report comprises means for generating a tree-like structure having at a highest level branch those components to be installed with the greatest number of dependent components and having at a lowest level branch those components to be installed with the fewest number of dependent components.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the means for displaying the portion of the report comprises means for displaying the branches of the tree-like structure corresponding to the selected level of detail and those branches having a higher level.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein the means for selecting a level of detail comprises means for accessing a log file for a user, the log file including a user-selected detail level preference.

19. The system of claim 12, wherein selecting the means for a level of detail comprises means for accessing a log file for a user, the log file including a detail level generated from past selections by the user.

20. The system of claim 12, wherein the means for displaying the status of installation progress comprises means for displaying each of a plurality of status characteristics with a different visual indicator.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the different visual indicators comprise different colors.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the status characteristics are selected from the group comprising pending, in progress, successfully completed and error.

23. A computer program product of a computer readable medium usable with a programmable computer, the computer program product having computer-readable code embodied therein for installing software components, the computer-readable code comprising instructions for:

initiating installation of components;

selecting a level of detail to be reported regarding the status of components being installed;

generating a report regarding status installation progress of the components being installed; and

displaying that portion of the report identifying the components at the selected level of detail and their corresponding installation progress status.

24. The computer program product of claim 23, further comprising instructions for accessing a semantic model, the semantic model comprising an indication of a dependency of a component to be installed upon any other component.

25. The computer program product of claim 24, further comprising instructions for grouping each component with other components having substantially the same number of dependent components, those components having more dependencies being in a higher group and those components having fewer dependencies being in a lower group

26. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein:

each grouping corresponds to a selectable level of detail; and

the instructions for displaying the portion of the report comprise instructions for displaying the components in the group corresponding to the selected level of detail and the components in groups higher than the group corresponding to the selected level of detail.

27. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the instructions for generating the report comprise instructions for generating a tree-like structure having at a highest level branch those components to be installed with the greatest number of dependent components and having at a lowest level branch those components to be installed with the fewest number of dependent components.

28. The computer program product of claim 27, wherein the instructions for displaying the portion of the report comprise instructions for displaying the branches of the tree-like structure corresponding to the selected level of detail and those branches having a higher level.

29. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein selecting a level of detail comprises accessing a log file for a user, the log file including a user-selected detail level preference.

30. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein selecting a level of detail comprises accessing a log file for a user, the log file including a detail level generated from past selections by the user.

31. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the instructions for displaying the status of installation progress comprise instructions for displaying each of a plurality of status characteristics with a different visual indicator.

32. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the different visual indicators comprise different colors.

33. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the status characteristics are selected from the group comprising pending, in progress, successfully completed and error.