PICTORIAL-BASED USER INTERFACE MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTER HARDWARE COMPONENTS
First Claim
1. An apparatus, comprising:
- (a) a memory; and
(b) a program resident in the memory and configured to display a pictorial representation on a computer display, the pictorial representation associated with a plurality of hardware components and representing a physical configuration of each of the plurality of hardware components that conveys a relative placement and location of at least a subset of the hardware components in physical space, wherein each of the plurality of hardware components is associated with at least one attribute, the program further configured to indicate, in response to user input, a selected status for multiple hardware components from the plurality of hardware components within the pictorial representation associated with the plurality of hardware components;
to dynamically retrieve a list of available management operations associated with at least two selected hardware components among the multiple hardware components having a selected status after indicating the selected status for the multiple hardware components;
to display the list of available management operations within a context sensitive menu after indicating the selected status for the multiple hardware components; and
to perform a management operation from among the list of available management operations on all of the multiple hardware components that have a selected status responsive to user input directed to the context sensitive menu, wherein the program is configured to indicate the selected status by selecting a filter criterion from a plurality of predetermined filter criteria, comparing attributes associated with the plurality of hardware components against the selected filter criterion, and selecting those hardware components associated with attributes that match the selected filter criterion, wherein the pictorial representation continues to depict at least one non-selected hardware component after such selection, wherein each of the plurality of predetermined filter criteria is associated with a predetermined view among a plurality of views, and wherein the list of available management operations includes only management operations that are appropriate for being performed on all of the multiple hardware components having a selected status.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and program product utilize a displayed pictorial representation that depicts the actual physical configuration of a plurality of hardware components in a physical computer system to facilitate the collective management of the underlying hardware components. Typically, within such a pictorial representation, a selected status is displayed for multiple of such hardware components, thereby permitting hardware components sharing common attributes or characteristics to be identified in an efficient and intuitive manner, as well as to permit collective management operations to be performed on all selected hardware components. In addition, a pictorial representation may be dynamically generated to represent the physical configuration of a plurality of hardware components within a plurality of computers. In connection with such dynamic generation, the plurality of computers may be accessed to identify the plurality of hardware components that are resident in such computers.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
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(a) a memory; and (b) a program resident in the memory and configured to display a pictorial representation on a computer display, the pictorial representation associated with a plurality of hardware components and representing a physical configuration of each of the plurality of hardware components that conveys a relative placement and location of at least a subset of the hardware components in physical space, wherein each of the plurality of hardware components is associated with at least one attribute, the program further configured to indicate, in response to user input, a selected status for multiple hardware components from the plurality of hardware components within the pictorial representation associated with the plurality of hardware components;
to dynamically retrieve a list of available management operations associated with at least two selected hardware components among the multiple hardware components having a selected status after indicating the selected status for the multiple hardware components;
to display the list of available management operations within a context sensitive menu after indicating the selected status for the multiple hardware components; and
to perform a management operation from among the list of available management operations on all of the multiple hardware components that have a selected status responsive to user input directed to the context sensitive menu, wherein the program is configured to indicate the selected status by selecting a filter criterion from a plurality of predetermined filter criteria, comparing attributes associated with the plurality of hardware components against the selected filter criterion, and selecting those hardware components associated with attributes that match the selected filter criterion, wherein the pictorial representation continues to depict at least one non-selected hardware component after such selection, wherein each of the plurality of predetermined filter criteria is associated with a predetermined view among a plurality of views, and wherein the list of available management operations includes only management operations that are appropriate for being performed on all of the multiple hardware components having a selected status. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A program product, comprising:
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(a) a program configured to display a pictorial representation on a computer display, the pictorial representation associated with a plurality of hardware components and representing a physical configuration of each of the plurality of hardware components that conveys a relative placement and location of at least a subset of the hardware components in physical space, wherein each of the plurality of hardware components is associated with at least one attribute, the program further configured to indicate, in response to user input, a selected status for multiple hardware components from the plurality of hardware components within the pictorial representation associated with the plurality of hardware components;
to dynamically retrieve a list of available management operations associated with at least two selected hardware components among the multiple hardware components having a selected status after indicating the selected status for the multiple hardware components;
to display the list of available management operations within a context sensitive menu after indicating the selected status for the multiple hardware components; and
to perform a management operation from among the list of available management operations on all of the multiple hardware components that have a selected status responsive to user input directed to the context sensitive menu, wherein the program is configured to indicate the selected status by selecting a filter criterion from a plurality of predetermined filter criteria, comparing attributes associated with the plurality of hardware components against the selected filter criterion, and selecting those hardware components associated with attributes that match the selected filter criterion, wherein the pictorial representation continues to depict at least one non-selected hardware component after such selection, wherein each of the plurality of predetermined filter criteria is associated with a predetermined view among a plurality of views, and wherein the list of available management operations includes only management operations that are appropriate for being performed on all of the multiple hardware components having a selected status; and(b) a recordable medium bearing the program.
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Specification