Information management software

• US 9,116,597 B1
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Issued: 08/25/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: CA, Inc. (d/b/a CA Technologies) (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: CA, Inc. (d/b/a CA Technologies) (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gulasky, Gary R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Weng, Peiyong
• Application Number:
  US13/837,758
• Time in Patent Office: 893 Days
• Field of Search: 715/762
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/453 Help systems

Abstract

Computer systems are managed by providing systems programmers with visual displays and user interfaces that identify certain issues and allow the system programmer to readily apply fixes, patches, and other updates without tediously sifting through a mountain of information and manually addressing those issues. The systems herein, provide a more streamlined approach for the system programmer by reducing the possibility of overlooking a particular issue that may adversely affect the system.

Claims

1. In a mainframe system, a machine-executable process, comprising:

providing a user interface having a plurality of segments, each of the plurality of segments associated with a unique priority level of support related information;

searching a support database for support related information;

determining whether new support related information is found in the support database;

performing, when new support related information is found;

determining a location of the new support related information;

generating a user-selectable Universal Resource Locator (URL) of the determined location; and

inserting the generated URL into the user interface, by;

determining a priority level of the new support related information;

determining a select one of the plurality of segments in the user interface that corresponds to the determined priority level; and

populating the select one of the plurality of segments with the generated URL.

2. The process of claim 1, wherein:

the plurality of segments of the user interface include at least an alert segment, a time-sensitive segment, and a reference segment;

further comprising at least one of;

inserting the generated URL into the alert segment on the user interface;

inserting the generated URL into the time-sensitive information segment on the user interface; and

inserting the generated URL into the reference segment on the user interface.

3. The process of claim 2 further comprising:

subdividing the alert segment into a plurality of sub-segments, including at least a HIPER sub-segment, a Program Temporary FIX sub-segment, a PTF-in-Error sub-segment, a License Managed Program sub-segment, and a system check sub-segment;

wherein inserting the generated URL into the alert segment on the user interface comprises at least one of;

inserting a URL associated with information about a High-Impact PERvasive (HIPER) condition into the HIPER sub-segment;

inserting a URL associated with information about a Program Temporary Fix (PTF) for installation into the Program Temporary FIX sub-segment;

inserting a URL associated with information about a PTF-in-Error (PE) condition into the PTF-in-Error sub-segment;

inserting a URL associated with information about a License Managed Program (LMP) expiration condition into the License Managed Program sub-segment; and

inserting a URL associated with information about a system check condition into the system check sub-segment.

4. The process of claim 2 further comprising:

subdividing the reference segment into a plurality of sub-segments, including at least a meeting sub-segment, an event sub-segment, and a conference sub-segment;

wherein inserting the generated URL into a reference segment on the user interface comprises at least one of;

inserting a URL associated with information about a meeting into the meeting sub-segment;

inserting a URL associated with information about a social media event into the media event sub-segment; and

inserting a URL associated with information about a conference into the conference sub-segment.

5. The process of claim 2 further comprising:

subdividing the time-sensitive information segment into a plurality of sub-segments, including at least a reference document sub-segment, a news-feed sub-segment, and a video tutorial sub-segment;

wherein inserting the generated URL into a time-sensitive information segment on the user interface comprises at least one of;

inserting a URL associated with information about a reference document into the reference document sub-segment;

inserting a URL associated with information about a news feed into the news-feed sub-segment; and

inserting a URL associated with information about a video tutorial into the video tutorial sub-segment.

17. The machine-executable process of claim 1, wherein providing a user interface having a plurality of segments further includes providing a dashboard graphical user interface.

18. The machine-executable process of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an indication of an experience level of a user; and

customizing the user interface based on the indication of the experience level of the user.

6. A computer-readable storage medium comprising hardware with executable program code stored thereon, wherein the program code includes instructions that when executed by a mainframe computer system, implement:

a user interface having a plurality of segments, each of the plurality of segments associated with a unique priority level of support related information;

a support database; and

an information management assistant communicatively coupled to the support database, the information management assistant operative to search the support database for new support information, the information management assistant operative to further generate a URL associated with the new support information, the information management assistant to further provide the generated URL in the user interface so as to;

determine a priority level of the new support related information;

determine a select one of the plurality of segments in the user interface that corresponds to the determined priority level; and

populate the select one of the plurality of segments with the generated URL.

7. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein:

the plurality of segments of the user interface include at least an alerts and actions segment, a time-sensitive information segment, and a reference segment; and

the location in the user interface that corresponds to the determined priority level is at least one of;

the alerts and actions segment;

the time-sensitive information segment; and

the reference segment.

8. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein the generated URL is associated with least one of:

information associated with a High-Impact PERvasive (HIPER) condition;

information associated with a Program Temporary Fix (PTF) for installation;

information associated with a PTF-in-Error (PE) condition;

information associated with a License Managed Program (LMP) expiration condition; and

information associated with a system check condition.

9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein the generated URL is associated with least one of:

information associated with a meeting;

information associated with a social media event; and

information associated with a conference.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein the generated URL is associated with least one of:

information associated with a reference document;

information associated with a news feed; and

information associated with a video tutorial.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein the program code to implement a user interface further comprises program code to implement a dashboard graphical user interface.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein the program code further comprises program code to implement:

receiving an indication of an experience level of a user; and

customizing the user interface based on the indication of the experience level of the user.

11. A computer-readable storage medium comprising hardware with executable program code stored thereon to generate a graphical user interface, wherein the program code includes instructions that when executed by a mainframe computer system, implement:

a first segment comprising a first ordered listing of entries, the first ordered listing of entries comprising a first user-selectable entry, the first user-selectable entry comprising a first hyperlink to information associated with a first condition, the first condition having a first risk level that is indicative of an impact of the first condition on a mainframe system, wherein the first risk level is associated with the first segment; and

a second segment that is visually separate from the first segment, the second segment comprising a second ordered listing of entries, the second ordered listing of entries comprising a second user-selectable entry, the second user-selectable entry comprising a second hyperlink to information associated with a second condition, the second condition having a second risk level that is indicative of an impact of the second condition on the mainframe system, the second risk level being less than the first risk level, wherein the second risk level is associated with the second segment.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, further comprising a third segment that is visually separate from the first segment, the third segment further being visually separate from the second segment, the third segment comprising a third ordered listing of entries, the third ordered listing of entries comprising a third user-selectable entry, the third user-selectable entry comprising a third hyperlink to information associated with a third condition, the third condition having a third risk level that is indicative of an impact of the third condition on a mainframe system, the third risk level being less than the second risk level, wherein the third risk level is associated with the third segment.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein:

the first segment comprising hyperlinks to alerts and actions;

the second segment comprising hyperlinks to time-sensitive information; and

the third segment comprising hyperlinks to reference materials.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the first segment further comprises:

a first alert sub-segment comprising hyperlinks to information about a High-Impact PERvasive (HIPER) condition in a mainframe system;

a second alert sub-segment comprising hyperlinks to information about a Program Temporary Fix (PTF) to be applied in the mainframe system;

a third alert sub-segment comprising hyperlinks to information about a PTF-in-Error (PE) condition in the mainframe system;

a fourth alert sub-segment comprising hyperlinks to information about a License Managed Program (LMP) expiration condition in the mainframe system; and

a fifth alert sub-segment comprising hyperlinks to information about a system check condition.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the second segment further comprises:

a first time-sensitive information sub-segment comprising hyperlinks to information about meetings;

a second time-sensitive information sub-segment comprising hyperlinks to information about social media; and

a third time-sensitive information sub-segment comprising hyperlinks to information about conferences.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the third segment further comprises:

a first reference sub-segment comprising hyperlinks to reference documents;

a second reference sub-segment comprising hyperlinks to news feeds; and

a third reference sub-segment comprising hyperlinks to online video tutorials.