Support Mechanisms for Improved Group Policy Management User Interface

• US 20130283210A1
• Filed: 06/17/2013
• Published: 10/24/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Wetmore, Matthew, Whalen, William J, Tanner, Carey W
• Application Number:
  US13/919,713
• Publication Number:
  US 20130283210A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/810
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 Policy-based network configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]

Abstract

Provided are support mechanisms for a user interface mechanism that performs group policy management. The support mechanisms include a context menu map that provides a consistent and efficient way to generate interactive context menus for nodes using only straightforward declarations. The declarations are processed to invoke code with corresponding parameters that in turn generates a data structure corresponding to a context menu that is to be displayed. The data structure is processed into another data structure, from which data is extracted to meet the requirements of a hosting management application. An intermediary communications object is provided to separate the user interface into multiple components which each exchange data. A progress dialog is also provided to update the user as to the progress of lengthy operations performed on various managed objects, and to drive those operations. Refresh logic replicates changes made at one location in the user interface to other nodes.

Claims

1-2. -2. (canceled)

3. A method comprising:

receiving, via a user interface of a management console implementing a policy, instructions to change information describing an object according to the policy, wherein the instructions specify the policy according to which the information is to be changed; and

traversing a tree of hierarchically organized containers, at least one container including a user interface element associated with the object for which the instructions to change information describing the object have been received;

filtering each of the containers through a set of predicate statements, wherein the set of predicate statements control application of the policy to the respective container; and

replicating the change to information describing the object by setting a flag to indicate whether the change applies to the object in accordance with the respective container completing the set of predicate statements.

4. A method as claim 3 recites, wherein each container represents one of a site, a domain, or an organizational unit.

5. A method as claim 3 recites, wherein each container is associated with at least one policy recipient and the at least one policy recipient includes at least one of a computer or a user account.

6. A method as claim 3 recites, wherein the instructions to change the information are received from an administrator.

7. A method as claim 3 recites, wherein the policy corresponds to policy settings in group policy objects, including at least one of registry-based settings, scripts, redirection of folders that contain user documents and settings, application deployment, software installation, security settings, public key policy settings, software restriction policies, IP security, remote installation services, or browser maintenance settings.

8. A method as claim 7 recites, wherein the scripts include at least one of a computer startup script, a computer shutdown script, a user logon script, or a user logoff script.

9. A method as claim 3 recites, wherein the object is associated with a first user interface element of a plurality of user interface elements for display in the user interface of the management console, wherein the first user interface element is displayed in the user interface of the management console according to the policy.

10. A method as claim 9 recites, wherein the other objects include a second user interface element of the plurality of user interface elements.

11. A method as claim 9 recites, wherein:

the first user interface element includes a context menu in which a representation of the object is presented; and

the representation of the object has at least one property including an active property, an inactive property, a show property, or a do not show property, wherein the instructions include instructions to change at least one of the context menu or the at least one property.

12. A method as claim 9 recites, wherein replicating the change comprises:

when the flag indicates the policy applies to the respective container, replicating the change to information describing an object associated with a second user interface element of the plurality of user interface elements, the change to information describing the object associated with the second user interface being performed according to the policy and being consistent with the change to information describing the object associated with the first user interface element; and

when the flag indicates the policy does not apply to the respective container, refraining from replicating the change to information describing the object associated with the second user interface element.

13. A system comprising:

at least one processor;

a memory storing group policy management programming for execution by the at least one processor;

a set of program interfaces associated with the group policy management programming, the set of program interfaces being hierarchically organized and comprising;

a group policy management interface for managing objects corresponding to group policy related data; and

a selected program interface of the set of program interfaces called to perform a requested operation on group policy related data.

14. A system as claim 13 recites, the group policy management programming comprising a management console having a user interface, wherein the management console incorporates the set of program interfaces in the management console.

15. A system as claim 13 recites, the objects corresponding to group policy related data comprising at least one of a file or an attribute.

16. A system as claim 13 recites, wherein at least part of the group policy related data pertains to network accessible objects.

17. A system as claim 16 recites, wherein the objects include at least one of a site, a domain, or an organizational unit

18. A management console comprising:

a user interface including;

a treeview area including hierarchically organized objects, wherein the objects represent at least one of a site, a domain, or an organizational unit;

a result pane area including data associated with an object selected from the treeview area;

a communications object configured to, upon selection of the object from the treeview area, call a cookie to identify the selected object and obtain the data associated with the selected object for display in the result pane area;

a context menu map generated from at least one of declarations, parameter values, or flag values included in the data associated with the selected object.

19. A management console as claim 18 recites, further comprising refresh logic configured to propagate a change to data in one user interface area to other user interface areas.

20. A management console as claim 19 recites, the refresh logic further configured to propagate the change to the data in the one user interface area to the other user interface areas by passing the data changed in the one user interface area to the hierarchically organized objects.

21. A management console as claim 19 recites, the data changed in the one user interface area including a user interface element or a property of the user interface element, the property of the user interface element comprising at least one of active, inactive, shown, or not shown.

22. A management console as claim 18 recites, the context menu map comprising:

commands provided by the management console; and

commands provided by a snap-in tool, wherein the commands provided by the snap-in tool provide functionality based on a context in which the snap-in tool is operating when a context menu is invoked.