Program method and apparatus providing elements for interrogating devices in a network

• US 6,691,161 B1
• Filed: 11/22/1999
• Issued: 02/10/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: 3Com Corporation (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Jones, Paul Robert, Valentine, Simon Peter, Cook, Mark Douglas
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Zarni
• Application Number:
  US09/444,554
• Time in Patent Office: 1,541 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/203, 709/331, 709/315, 709/220, 709/327, 709/221, 709/104, 709/226, 710/3
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/30 Creation or generation of source code
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/022 Multivendor or multi-standard integration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0233 Object-oriented techniques, for representation of network management data, e.g. common object request broker architecture [CORBA]

Abstract

In a network supervising apparatus a program suitable for interrogating, in a network, a selected device of a large number of possible devices in respect of at least one functionality of the device (e.g. topology or sizing) comprising:

a plurality of directories of elements, each element comprising a module of program code, each directory having a plurality of elements;

selecting from at least one directory those elements which relate to the selected device and the desired functionality; and

utilizing the selected elements to interrogate the selected device.

Claims

1. A method of generating a program suitable for interrogating a selected device in a network in respect of at least one functionality of the device comprising:

providing a plurality of sets of elements in at least one directory, each element comprising a module of program code, each directory having a plurality of elements;

interrogating the selected device to establish its type, wherein establishing the type of the selected device includes obtaining an identifier for the device and wherein an identifier for a new or updated device is added to a reference file at any time permitting real-time addition of new or updated devices;

using the type of the selected device to select from the at least one directory those elements which relate to the type of the selected device and the functionality it provides;

utilising the selected elements to interrogate the selected device;

each element implementing a specific interface related to a particular device capability,

whereby to avoid rewriting of said program on modification of said device capability.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which there are at least two sets of elements, one set of which includes device-specific elements which provide detailed interrogation and a second set of which includes default non-device specific elements which provide a basic level of interrogation, the method including the step of selecting elements from the second set of elements if the relevant equivalent element which is suitable for the selected device is not found in the first set of elements.

3. A method as claimed in claim 2 in which there is also provided another set of elements comprising a set of aggregate elements.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3 in which the aggregate elements interrogate the device via the relevant default and/or device specific elements.

5. A method as claimed in claim 3 in which the following steps are provided:

loading all of the default and the aggregate elements,

interrogating the device to ascertain its type,

loading a factory object relating to the device identified in the preceding step,

using this factory object to determine whether device specific elements for the device type identified exist, and if so to load them to a node model,

using this factory object to determine which interfaces supported by the default elements have not been provided by the device-specific elements loaded, and adding the corresponding default elements to the node model, and

using this factory object to determine which default and/or device specific elements that have been added to the node model have associated aggregate elements, adding the corresponding aggregate elements to the node model, and subsequently associating these aggregate elements with the appropriate default and/or device specific elements.

6. A method as claimed in claim 3 for use where the selected device contains several units that implement a feature in different ways, said method including the step of the aggregate elements aggregating the results from one or more default and/or device specific elements, which aggregate element may be used with the selected device which contains several units that implement a feature in different ways.

7. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein all requests will go through the aggregate element in preference to elements representing individual units of a stack of devices.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7 wherein different elements are loaded for different units in a stack.

9. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein all requests will go through the aggregate element prior to elements representing individual units of a stack of devices.

10. A method as claimed in claim 9 wherein different elements are loaded for different units in a stack.

11. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which functionality includes topology and sizing, and the selection step of the method includes selecting elements relating to topology and selecting elements relating to sizing.

12. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which each set of elements is provided in a respective separate directory.

13. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein an identifier for the device is a sysObjectID for the device and a reference file is a system configuration file.

14. Network supervising apparatus comprising processor apparatus:

said network supervising apparatus including a plurality of sets of elements in at least one directory, each element comprising a module of program code, each directory having a plurality of elements;

said processor apparatus, in use, interrogating a selected device to establish its type wherein establishing the type of the selected device includes obtaining an identifier for the device and wherein an identifier for a new or updated device is added to a reference file at any time permitting real-time addition of new or updated devices, and using the type of the selected device to select from at least one directory those elements which relate to the type of the selected device and the desired functionality to provide a program suitable for interrogating the selected device in a network in respect of at least one functionality of the selected device,

each element implementing a specific interface related to a particular device capability,

whereby to avoid rewriting of said program on modification of said device capability.

15. Network supervising apparatus as claimed in claim 14 in which there are at least two sets of elements one set of which includes device specific elements, which provide detailed interrogation and a second set of which includes default non-device specific elements which provide a basic level of interrogation, the processor apparatus selecting elements from the second set of elements if the relevant equivalent element which is suitable for the selected device is not found in the first set of elements.

16. Network supervising apparatus as claimed in claim 15 in which there is also provided another set of elements comprising a set of aggregate elements.

17. Network supervising apparatus as claimed in claim 16 in which the network supervising apparatus uses the aggregate elements to interrogate the device via the relevant default and/or device specific elements.

18. Network supervising apparatus as claimed in claim 17 for use where the selected device contains several units that implement a feature in different ways, wherein said aggregate elements are adapted to aggregate the results from one or more default and/or device specific elements, whereby the aggregate element may be used with the selected device which contains several units that implement a feature in different ways.

19. A network supervising apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein all requests will go through the aggregate element in preference to elements representing individual units of a stack of devices.

20. A network supervising apparatus as claimed in claim 19 wherein different elements are loaded for different units in a stack.

21. A network supervising apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein all requests will go through the aggregate element prior to elements representing individual units of a stack of devices.

22. A network supervising apparatus as claimed in claim 21 wherein different elements are loaded for different units in a stack.

23. Network supervising apparatus as claimed in claim 14 in which each set of elements is provided in a respective separate directory.

24. Network supervising apparatus as claimed in claim 14 in which functionality includes topology and sizing, and said processor apparatus selects elements relating to topology and selects elements relating to sizing.

25. Network supervising apparatus as claimed in claim 14 including a store to store the results of the interrogation of the devices in the network by the program.

26. Network supervising apparatus as claimed in claim 25 including a visual display apparatus connected to said store to connect the information in the store into a visual display on the visual display unit of information relating to said devices.

27. A network supervising apparatus as claimed in claim 14 wherein an identifier for the device is a sysObjectID for the device and a reference file is a system configuration file.

28. A computer program on a computer readable medium for use in interrogating a selected device in a network in respect of at least one functionality of the device, said program comprising:

a plurality of directories of elements, each element comprising a module of program code, each directory having a plurality of elements;

program means for interrogating the selected device to establish its type wherein establishing the type of the selected device includes obtaining an identifier for the device and wherein an identifier for a new or updated device is added to a reference file at any time permitting real-time addition of new or updated devices, and using the type of the selected device to select from at least one directory those elements which relate to the type of the selected device and the desired functionality; and

program means for utilising the selected elements to interrogate the selected device,

each element implementing a specific interface related to a particular device capability,

whereby to avoid rewriting of said program on modification of said device capability.

29. A computer program as claimed in claim 28 in which there are at least two directories, one of which includes device specific elements which provide detailed interrogation and a second one of which includes default non-device specific elements which provide a basic level of interrogation, the program including the step of selecting elements from the second directory if the relevant equivalent element which is suitable for the selected device is not found in the first directory.

30. A computer program as claimed in claim 29 including a third directory including a set of aggregate elements.

31. A computer program as claimed in claim 30 including program means to cause the selected aggregate elements to interrogate the device via the relevant default and/or device specific.

32. A computer program as claimed in claim 30, wherein all requests will go through the aggregate element in preference to elements representing individual units of a stack of devices.

33. A computer program as claimed in claim 32 wherein different elements are loaded for different units in a stack.

34. A computer program as claimed in claim 30, wherein all requests will go through the aggregate element prior to elements representing individual units of a stack of devices.

35. A computer program as claimed in claim 34 wherein different elements are loaded for different units in a stack.

36. A computer program as claimed in claim 28 in which functionality includes topology and sizing, and the program means for selecting includes program means for selecting elements relating to topology and selecting elements relating to sizing.

37. A computer program as claimed in claim 28 including:

program means for loading elements from a first directory,

program means for loading elements from a second directory,

program means for interrogating the device to ascertain its type,

program means for loading a factory object relating to the type of device identified in the preceding step, and,

program means for using this factory object to determine a loading directory including device specific elements from a device specific directory.

38. A computer program as claimed in claim 37 including:

program means for using the factory object to load all of the device specific elements of the loading directory,

program means for using the factory object to determine which interfaces supported by the first elements have not been provided by the device-specific elements loaded, and

program means for loading the corresponding first elements.

39. A computer program as claimed in claim 28 wherein an identifier for the device is a sysObjectID for the device and a reference file is a system configuration file.

40. A computer program embodied in a carrier wave for use in interrogating a selected device in a network in respect of at least one functionality of the device, said program comprising:

a plurality of directories of elements, each element comprising a module of program code, each directory having a plurality of elements;

program means for interrogating the selected device to establish its type wherein establishing the type of the selected device includes obtaining an identifier for the device and wherein an identifier for a new or updated device is added to a reference file at any time permitting real-time addition of new or updated devices, and using the type of the selected device to select from at least one directory those elements which relate to the type of the selected device and the desired functionality; and

program means for utilising the selected elements to interrogate the selected device,

each element implementing a specific interface related to a particular device capability,

whereby to avoid rewriting of said program on modification of said device capability.

41. A computer program as claimed in claim 40 in which there are at least two directories, one of which includes device-specific elements which provide detailed interrogation and a second one of which includes default non-device specific elements which provide a basic level of interrogation, the program including the step of selecting elements from the second directory if the relevant equivalent element which is suitable for the selected device is not found in the first directory.

42. A computer program as claimed in claim 41 which there is also provided another set of elements comprising a set of aggregate elements.

43. A computer program as claimed in claim 42, wherein all requests will go through the aggregate element in preference to elements representing individual units of a stack of devices.

44. A computer program as claimed in claim 43 wherein different elements are loaded for different units in a stack.

45. A computer program as claimed in claim 42, wherein all requests will go through the aggregate element prior to elements representing individual units of a stack of devices.

46. A computer program as claimed in claim 45 wherein different elements are loaded for different units in a stack.

47. A computer program as claimed in claim 42 including program means to cause the selected aggregate elements to interrogate the device via the relevant default and/or device specific elements.

48. A computer program as claimed in claim 40 in which functionality includes topology and sizing, and the program means for selecting includes program means for selecting elements relating to topology and selecting elements relating to sizing.

49. A computer program as claimed in claim 40 including:

program means for loading elements from a first directory,

program means for loading elements from a second directory,

program means for interrogating the device to ascertain its type,

program means for loading a factory object relating to the type of device identified in the preceding step, and,

program means for using this factory object to determine a loading directory including device specific elements from a device specific directory.

50. A computer program as claimed in claim 49 including:

program means for using the factory object to load all of the device specific elements of the loading directory,

program means for using the factory object to determine which interfaces supported by the first elements have not been provided by the device-specific elements loaded, and

program means for loading the corresponding first elements.

51. A computer program as claimed in claim 40 wherein an identifier for the device is a sysObjectID for the device and a reference file is a system configuration file.