Electronic work environment for a data processing system
First Claim
1. A data processing system comprising:
- a plurality of predetermined hardware and software elements arranged in a predetermined configuration;
a generalized documentation module including generalized online documentation for said data processing system, said generalized documentation module including documentation relating to said plurality of predetermined hardware and software elements, and further including documentation relating to other hardware and software elements in addition to said predetermined hardware and software elements;
means for electronically identifying said predetermined configuration of said predetermined hardware and software elements without requiring user identification;
means, responsive to said generalized documentation module and to said identifying means, for generating a customized online documentation module which is customized to the electronically identified predetermined configuration of said predetermined hardware and software elements; and
means, responsive to said generating means, for displaying selected portions of the customized documentation module in response to a user request.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic work environment for a data processing system includes documentation modules which execute on the hardware elements of the system. The documentation modules exchange data between the software elements and hardware elements of the data processing system to produce interaction between the documentation modules and the data processing system. A common user interface module displays the results of the interaction between the software and hardware elements and the documentation modules. Accordingly, the documentation becomes part of the operating environment of the data processing system. The documentation modules are generalized documentation modules including online documentation for every possible configuration of the hardware and software elements of the data processing system. The electronic work environment electronically generates customized documentation modules based upon the actual configuration of the hardware and software elements of the system to which it applies, or in response to user queries. The customized documentation modules, or portions thereof, are displayed in response to user requests.
25 Citations
39 Claims
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1. A data processing system comprising:
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a plurality of predetermined hardware and software elements arranged in a predetermined configuration; a generalized documentation module including generalized online documentation for said data processing system, said generalized documentation module including documentation relating to said plurality of predetermined hardware and software elements, and further including documentation relating to other hardware and software elements in addition to said predetermined hardware and software elements; means for electronically identifying said predetermined configuration of said predetermined hardware and software elements without requiring user identification; means, responsive to said generalized documentation module and to said identifying means, for generating a customized online documentation module which is customized to the electronically identified predetermined configuration of said predetermined hardware and software elements; and means, responsive to said generating means, for displaying selected portions of the customized documentation module in response to a user request. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for operating a data processing system, the data processing system comprising a plurality of hardware elements and a plurality of software elements for causing said hardware elements to perform predetermined application functions upon execution of said software elements on said hardware elements, said method comprising the following steps which are performed by said data processing system:
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storing in said data processing system a plurality of online documentation modules, including at least one of a system description module, an application guide module, an ordering guide module, an installation procedures module, and a system administration module; exchanging data between at least one of said software elements and at least one of said online documentation modules, in response to execution of said plurality of software elements and said plurality of documentation modules on at least one of said hardware elements, to produce interaction between said at least one software element and said at least one documentation module; and displaying results of the interaction between said at least one software element and said at least one online documentation module via a common user interface. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A data processing system, comprising:
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a plurality of hardware elements; a plurality of software elements which cause said hardware elements to perform predetermined application functions upon execution of said software elements on said hardware elements; a plurality of online documentation modules which execute on at least one of said hardware elements, including at least one of a system description module, an application guide module, an ordering guide module, an installation procedures module, and a system administration module; means, responsive to execution of said plurality of software elements and said plurality of online documentation modules on at least one of said hardware elements, for exchanging data between at least one of said software elements and at least one of said online documentation modules, to produce interaction between said at least one software element and said at least one online documentation module; displaying means; and a common user interface module, responsive to said data exchanging means, for displaying on said displaying means, results of the interaction between said at least one software element and said at least one documentation module. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for operating a data processing system including predetermined hardware and software elements arranged in a predetermined configuration, comprising the following steps which are performed by said data processing system:
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storing in said data processing system, a generalized documentation module including generalized online documentation for said data processing system, said generalized documentation module including documentation relating to said plurality of predetermined hardware and software elements and further including documentation relating to other hardware and software elements in addition to said predetermined hardware and software elements; electronically identifying said predetermined configuration of said predetermined hardware and software elements without requiring user identification; customizing the generalized online documentation module to the electronically identified predetermined configuration of said predetermined hardware and software elements; and displaying selected portions of the customized online documentation module in response to a user request. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A computer program product which provides online documentation for a plurality of predetermined hardware and software elements arranged in a predetermined configuration;
- said computer program product comprising;
a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code means embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code means comprising; computer readable program code means which provides a generalized documentation module including generalized on-line documentation for said data processing system, said generalized documentation module including documentation relating to said plurality of predetermined hardware and software elements, and further including documentation relating to other hardware and software elements in addition to said predetermined hardware and software elements; computer-readable program code means for electronically identifying said predetermined configuration of said predetermined hardware and software elements without requiring user identification; computer-readable program code means, responsive to said generalized documentation module and to said identifying means, for generating a customized online documentation module which is customized to the electronically identified predetermined configuration of said predetermined hardware and software elements; and computer-readable program code means, responsive to said generating means, for displaying selected portions of the customized documentation module on display device in response to a user request. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
- said computer program product comprising;
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35. A computer program product for execution on a data processing system comprising a plurality of hardware elements, said computer program product comprising:
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a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code means embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code means comprising; computer-readable program code means which provides a plurality of software elements which cause said hardware elements to perform predetermined application functions upon execution of said software elements on said hardware elements; computer-readable program code means which provides a plurality of online documentation modules which execute on at least one of said hardware elements, including at least one of a system description module, an application guide module, an ordering guide module, an installation procedures module, and a system administration module; computer-readable programmable means, responsive to execution of said plurality of software elements and said plurality of online documentation modules on at least one of said hardware elements, for exchanging data between at least one of said software elements and at least one of said online documentation modules, to produce interaction between said at least one software element and said at least one online documentation module; and computer readable program code means which provides a common user interface module, responsive to said data exchanging means, for displaying on a display, results of the interaction between said at least one software element and said at least one online documentation module. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39)
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Specification