Method and system for displaying status of critical indicators on diverse display devices and indicating a history of status changes

• US 6,636,243 B1
• Filed: 04/13/2000
• Issued: 10/21/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: MacPhail, Margaret Gardner
• Primary Examiner(s): Cabeca, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): DETWILER, BRIAN J
• Application Number:
  US09/548,695
• Time in Patent Office: 1,286 Days
• Field of Search: 345/440, 345/440.2, 345/736, 345/764, 345/771, 345/772, 345/835, 345/837, 345/846, 345/977, 700/27, 710/15, 710/17, 710/18, 710/19
• US Class Current: 715/772
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/324 Display of status information

Abstract

In a system and method for displaying status of critical indicators or variables, icons representing the indicators are displayed in superposition with a reference shape. The reference shape is divided into “higher-interest” and “lower-interest” portions, such that display of an icon over the higher-interest portion of the reference shape indicates a higher-interest value of the corresponding variable. The reference shape is preferably elongated horizontally, with its upper portion designated as the higher-interest portion and its lower portion designated the lower-interest portion. Each monitored variable may be allocated a vertical “slice” of the reference shape, such that the position of the corresponding icon when the variable is in the higher-interest state is laterally aligned with the position of the icon when the variable is in the lower-interest state. A history of status changes of each variable may be accessed, typically by selection of the corresponding icon on the display. This representation is believed to make the status of each monitored variable visible at a glance. The simplicity of the representation may allow it to be used effectively on various computational devices, including those with small, monochrome displays.

Claims

1. A method of displaying information, said method comprising:

superimposing a first icon upon a first or second portion of a reference shape indicative of whether a present value of a first monitored variable corresponding to the first icon is within a first predetermined higher-interest range or within a first predetermined lower-interest range, wherein the first portion of the reference shape corresponds to the first predetermined higher-interest range and the second portion of the reference shape corresponds to the first predetermined lower-interest range; and

each time that a crossing of the present value between the first higher-interest range and the first lower-interest range occurs, storing information comprising the time and direction of the crossing.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said superimposing comprises displaying the first icon corresponding to the present status of the first monitored variable.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the crossing between the first predetermined higher-interest range and the first predetermined lower-interest range comprises a crossing of a first predetermined threshold value of the first monitored variable.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first monitored variable characterizes a computer system or network quantity.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first portion of the reference shape comprises an upper portion of the reference shape, and the second portion of the reference shape comprises a lower portion of the reference shape.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising altering an appearance of the first icon for a first predetermined time interval following each crossing of the present value of the first variable between the first higher-interest and lower-interest ranges.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising displaying a history of status changes of the first monitored variable, wherein the history comprises the stored information.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein said displaying the history comprises displaying the history in response to a user selection of the first present status icon.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said reference shape is an oval elongated in a horizontal direction.

10. The method as recited in claim 2, further comprising displaying a first alternative status icon upon a display screen such that the first alternative status icon is superimposed on the reference shape, wherein the first alternative status icon corresponds to an alternative status of the first monitored variable, and wherein the first alternative status icon is positioned over the first portion of the reference shape when the first icon is positioned over the second portion of the reference shape, and the first alternative status icon is positioned over the second portion of the reference shape when the first icon is positioned over the first portion of the reference shape.

11. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the first icon exhibits greater contrast with respect to the display screen than does the first alternative status icon.

12. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the first icon and first alternative status icon are positioned along the same perpendicular to a horizontal line bisecting the reference shape.

13. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a second icon on the display screen such that the second icon is superimposed on the reference shape, wherein the second icon corresponds to a present status of a second monitored variable, and wherein the second icon is positioned over the first portion of the reference shape when a present value of the second variable is within a second predetermined higher-interest-range, and wherein the second icon is positioned over the second portion of the reference shape when the present value of the second variable is within a second predetermined lower-interest range; and

each time that a crossing of the present value of the second variable between the second higher-interest range and the second lower-interest range occurs, storing information comprising the time and direction of the crossing.

14. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the second icon is laterally displaced from the first icon.

15. A system for displaying information, said system comprising:

a display screen;

a display controller operably coupled to the display screen, wherein the display controller is adapted to display a reference shape on the display screen, and wherein the display controller is further adapted to display a present status icon corresponding to the present status of a monitored variable on the display screen, such that the present status icon is superimposed on the reference shape, and the present status icon is positioned over a first portion of the reference shape when a present value of the monitored variable is within a predetermined higher-interest range, and over a second portion of the reference shape when the present value of the monitored variable is within a predetermined lower-interest range, and wherein the display controller is further adapted to display a history of status changes of the monitored variable, wherein the history comprises a time and direction of each crossing of the present value between the higher-interest and lower-interest ranges; and

a storage medium operably coupled to the display controller, wherein the storage medium is adapted to store information including the time and direction of each crossing.

16. The system as recited in claim 15, wherein the display screen, display controller and storage medium are associated with the same computational device.

17. The system as recited in claim 15, wherein the display controller and storage medium are associated with a first computational device, and the display screen is associated with a second computational device, such that the display controller and display screen are coupled using a remote transmission link.

18. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein the monitored variable characterizes a computer system or network quantity, the first computational device comprises a system administration console, and the second computational device comprises a portable device.

19. The system as recited in claim 15, wherein the display controller is further adapted to display the history of status changes in response to a user selection of the present status icon.

20. The system as recited in claim 15, wherein the display controller is further adapted to alter an appearance of the present status icon during a predetermined time interval following each crossing.

21. A system for displaying information, said system comprising:

a display screen;

means for displaying a reference shape on the display screen;

means for displaying a present status icon corresponding to the present status of a monitored variable on the display screen, such that the present status icon is superimposed on the reference shape, and the present status icon is positioned over a first portion of the reference shape when a present value of the monitored variable is within a predetermined higher-interest range, and over a second portion of the reference shape when the present value of the monitored variable is within a predetermined lower-interest range;

means for, each time that a crossing of the present value between the higher-interest range and the lower-interest range occurs, storing information comprising the time and direction of the crossing; and

a storage medium operably coupled to the means for storing information, wherein the storage medium is adapted to hold the information comprising the time and direction of each crossing.

22. The system as recited in claim 21, further comprising means for displaying a history of status changes of the monitored variable, wherein the history comprises the stored information.

23. The system as recited in claim 21, further comprising means for altering an appearance of the present status icon during a predetermined time interval following each crossing.

24. A computer-usable carrier medium, comprising:

first program instructions executable on a computational device for displaying a reference shape upon a display screen associated with the computational device;

second program instructions executable on the computational device for displaying a present status icon upon the display screen such that the present status icon is superimposed on the reference shape, wherein the present status icon corresponds to the present status of a monitored variable, and wherein the present status icon is positioned over a first portion of the reference shape when a present value of the variable is within a predetermined higher-interest range, and the present status icon is positioned over a second portion of the reference shape when the present value of the variable is within a predetermined lower-interest range; and

third program instructions executable on the computational device for, each time that a crossing of the present value between the higher-interest range and the lower-interest range occurs, storing information comprising the time and direction of the crossing.

25. The carrier medium as recited in claim 24, further comprising the stored information.

26. The carrier medium as recited in claim 24, further comprising fourth program instructions executable on the computational device for altering an appearance of the present status icon for a predetermined time interval following each crossing.

27. The carrier medium as recited in claim 24, further comprising fourth program instructions executable on the computational device for displaying a history of status changes of the monitored variable, wherein the history comprises the stored information.

28. The carrier medium as recited in claim 27, wherein said fourth program instructions are further executable for displaying the history in response to a user selection of the present status icon.