Specifiable user interfaces

• US 6,891,552 B1
• Filed: 05/08/2001
• Issued: 05/10/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Bush, Eric N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cabeca, John W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Thai, Cuong T.
• Application Number:
  US09/851,224
• Time in Patent Office: 1,463 Days
• Field of Search: 345744-745, 345/747, 345/762, 345/764, 345/765, 345/767, 345/866, 709331-332, 709/328, 709/337
• US Class Current: 715/762
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4492 Inheritance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

A system and method of displaying data representing an object of a class where the class has one or more attributes and each object has an attribute value associated with each attribute. The invention includes a collection class such that each statistic to be monitored is represented as an object of the class. The invention allows a software application to access the objects in a database. The invention provides a user interface (UI) attribute within the class that allows the user to specify the UI to display the attribute values of each accessed object. Each available UI is customized to a statistic to be monitored. Each available UI has a unique user interface attribute value. The invention supports any number of UIs supplied by the user, an application developer, or a third party.

Claims

1. A method of displaying data comprising:

defining a plurality of attributes of a class of data, said data including one or more objects, each of said one or more objects being an instance of the class, each of said one or more objects having a plurality of attribute values corresponding to the attributes of the class, at least one of said plurality of attribute values including a user interface attribute value;

accessing the user interface attribute value of one of the one or more objects;

comparing the accessed user interface attribute value to a predefined list of attribute values associated with user interfaces, wherein comparing the accessed user interface attribute value identifies a specific user interface; and

responsive to the accessed user interface attribute value, displaying, in the specific user interface, the plurality of attribute values of the one object.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the specific user interface identified by the accessed user interface attribute value displays the attribute values.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising permitting a user to modify the attribute values via the specific user interface.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying includes modifying the attribute values of the object.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a default user interface if the user interface attribute value is not in the list.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein each user interface attribute value is a globally unique identifier.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the data is stored via a monitoring application.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the data is stored in a database.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the data represents events in a computer.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the data indicates performance of one or more application programs.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the data includes statistics relating to one or more of the following:

hypertext transfer protocol communications;

Internet control message protocol communications;

services;

events;

processes; and

transmission control protocol/Internet protocol communications.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more computer-readable media have computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 1.

13. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a data structure representing a class including one or more objects, wherein each of the one or more objects is an instance of the class, said data structure comprising:

a first field representing one or more data attributes for one of the one or more objects, said first field storing a data attribute value for each of the one or more data attributes; and

a second field representing a user interface attribute for the one of the one or more objects, said second field storing a user interface attribute value associated with the user interface attribute, said user interface attribute value being compared to a predefined list of attribute values associated with user interfaces, wherein comparing the user interface attribute value identifies a specific user interface, and wherein the specific user interface displays the attribute values of the one of the one or more objects.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the specific user interface is associated with an identifier.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the identifier is a globally unique identifier.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the user interface permits a user to modify the attribute values of the specific object.

17. A system for displaying data comprising:

means for defining a plurality of attributes of a class of data, said data including one or more objects, each of said one or more objects being an instance of the class, each of said one or more objects having a plurality of attribute values corresponding to the attributes of the class, at least one of said plurality of attribute values including a user interface attribute value;

means for accessing the user interface attribute value of one of the one or more objects and comparing the accessed user interface attribute value to a predefined list of attribute values associated with user interfaces, wherein comparing the accessed user interface attribute value identifies a specific user interface; and

means for displaying, responsive to the accessed user interface attribute value, the plurality of attribute values of the one object in the specific user interface.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the means for displaying includes the specific user interface, wherein the specific user interface is associated with a globally unique identifier.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the means for accessing includes an application, wherein the application communicates with a database storing the data.