Method and system for connecting to, browsing, and accessing computer network resources

• US 6,246,409 B1
• Filed: 08/04/1999
• Issued: 06/12/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Veghte, William Lewis, Smale, Leonard Thomas, Price, Robert M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Follansbee, John A.
• Application Number:
  US09/366,822
• Time in Patent Office: 678 Days
• Field of Search: 345/356, 345/340, 345/348, 709/223
• US Class Current: 715/738
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display

Abstract

A method and system for connecting to, browsing, and accessing computer network resources are provided. In a network in which the preferred embodiment of the present invention operates, a client video display includes a container called “Network Neighborhood.” The Network Neighborhood provides a constrained view of the network in a NOS-independent manner. The Network Neighborhood provides a constrained view of the network by displaying only those network resources that are determined to be interesting to the user. Further, the Network Neighborhood provides this view in a NOS-independent manner by displaying all of the network resources in a consistent manner, regardless of the type of client software that was used to enumerate or discover the network resources. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, each type of client software installed on a client determines a list of network resources that are interesting to the user. The combination of these lists of network resources is initially included in the Network Neighborhood. The user (or the user'"'"'s administrator) can then determine that additional network resources are interesting to the user and can add these resources to the Network Neighborhood. Once the network resources that have been determined to be interesting to the user have been included in the Network Neighborhood, the user can browse and access these resources through the Network Neighborhood.

Claims

1. In a distributed system having a client computer, a video display, a first network having resources and running a first network operating system, and a second network having resources and running a second network operating system that differs from the first network operating system, a method for providing a unified display of resources on the first network and the second network comprising the computer implemented steps of:

providing a first network client program at the client computer for interfacing with the first network, said first network client program including a means for enumerating the resources in the first network;

providing a second network client program at the client computer for interfacing with the second network, said second network client program including a means for enumerating the resources in the second network;

with the first network client program, enumerating a subset of less than all of the resources on the first network as being resources of interest to the user;

with the second network client program, enumerating a subset of less than all of the resources on the second network as being resources of interest to the user; and

displaying a single window to the user on the video display to show a list of network provided resources, said single window providing a visual representation comprising a unified display of the resources enumerated by the first network client program and the second network client program.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of enumerating a subset of less than all of the resources on the first network comprises the step of enumerating a hierarchical logical organization of the resources.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the resources have names and the step of displaying the single window to the on the video display comprises the step of displaying an alphabetically sorted list of the names of the resources in the subset on the video display.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of displaying all of the resources in the distributed system on the video display.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of enabling the user to access a selected resource in response to the user selecting the selected resource through the visual representation provided in the single window.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of enumerating a subset of less than all of the resources in the first network comprises the step of identifying ones of the enumerated resources in the first network that were most recently used by the user to be in the subset of the enumerated resources to display to the user.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of enumerating a subset of less than all of the resources in the first network comprises the step of identifying selected ones of the enumerated resources in the first network that were most frequently used by the user to be in the subset of the enumerated resources to display to the user.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of receiving input data representing a resource added by a user to the list of network provided resources, wherein a visual representation of the resource added by the user is also displayed in the window.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the first network client program uses a different approach to enumerating resources than the second network client program uses.

10. In a distributed system having network resources that include a video display, a client machine running client software of a given type, a first network having network resources and running a first network operating system and a second network also having network resources and running a second network operating system that differs from the first network operating system, a method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

determining with the client software which of the network resources are to be included in a constrained view of the distributed system that is to be displayed to a user, said constrained view including less than all of the network resources and including network resources from both the first network and the second network; and

with the client software, displaying the constrained view on the video display, said constrained view providing a uniform view of the determined network resources such that it is not apparent which network operating systems are run on the networks in the constrained view.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the client machine runs multiple types of client software and wherein the step of determining which network resources are to be included in the constrained view includes the step of having each type of client software determine which of the network resources are to be included in the constrained view.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein each type of client software includes an approach to enumerating network resources for at least a portion of the distributed system and each type of client software determines which network resources are to be included in the constrained view based upon the method provided by the client software for enumerating network resources.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the step of determining which network resources are to be included in the constrained view comprises the steps of determining which of the network resources have been most recently used by the user and including the network resources that have been determined to be most recently used by the user in the constrained view.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein the step of determining which network resources are to be included in the constrained view comprises the steps of determining which of the network resources have been most frequently used by the user and including the network resources that have been determined to be most frequently used by the user in the constrained view.

15. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of determining which of the network resources are to be included in the constrained view comprises the step of having the user determine which of the network resources are to be included in the constrained view.

16. The method of claim 10 wherein the network resources are of different types and wherein the step of displaying the constrained view includes the step of displaying all networks resources of a type in the constrained view so that they appear grouped together.

17. The method of claim 10, further including the step of enabling the user to access the displayed network resources in the constrained view.

18. The method of claim 10 wherein the network resources included in the constrained view include servers and wherein the step of displaying the constrained view includes displaying a like visual representation for each of the servers that is included in the constrained view.

19. The method of claim 10 wherein the client machine runs an operating system and the client software is part of the operating system.

20. In a distributed system having a first network having resources and running a first network operating system and a second network having resources and running a second network operating system that differs from the first network operating system, a system comprising:

a video display;

a client computer;

a first network client program run on the client computer for interfacing the client computer with the first network, wherein the first network runs a first network operating system, said first network client program comprising;

means for enumerating a first subset of less than all of the resources in the first network;

a second network client program run on the client computer for interfacing the client computer with the second network, wherein the second network runs a second network operating system that differs from the first operating system, said second network client program comprising;

means for enumerating a second subset of less than all of the resources in the second network; and

a user interface generator for providing a visual representation of the first subset and the second subset on the video display in a single window.

21. The system of claim 20, further comprising means for selecting and accessing one of the resources via the visual representation provided on the video display.

22. The system of claim 20 wherein the means for enumerating a subset of less than all of the resources in the first network enumerates those resources that have been most recently used by the user.

23. The system of claim 20 wherein the means for enumerating a subset of less than all of the resources in the first network enumerates those resources that have been most frequently used by the user.

24. In a distributed system having a client computer, a video display, a first network having resources and running a first network operating system, and a second network having resources and running a second network operating system that differs from the first network operating system, a computer program product for implementing a method of generating a unified display of resources on the first network and the second network, the computer program product comprising:

computer-executable instructions for implementing said method, said computer-executable instructions including;

program code means, at the client computer, for interfacing with the first network, including means for enumerating the resources in the first network;

program code means, at the client computer, for interfacing with the second network, including means for enumerating the resources in the second network;

program cod means for enumerating a first subset of less than all of the resources on the first network as being resources of interest to the user;

program code means for enumerating a second subset of less than all of the resources on the second network as being resources of interest to the user; and

program code means for displaying a single window to the user on the video display to show a list of network provided resources, thereby generating a unified display of the first subset and the second subset; and

a computer-readable medium for carrying said computer-executable instructions.

25. The computer program product of claim 24 wherein the program code means for enumerating a subset of less than all of the resources in the first network selects ones of the enumerated resources in the first network that were most recently used by the user to be in the subset of the enumerated resources to display to the user.

26. The computer program product of claim 24 wherein the program code means for enumerating a subset of less than all of the resources in the first network selects ones of the enumerated resources in the first network that were most frequently used by the user to be in the subset of the enumerated resources to display to the user.

27. The computer program product of claim 24 wherein the means for enumerating the resources in the first network uses a different approach to enumerating resources than does the means for enumerating the resources in the second network.

28. The computer program product of claim 24 further comprising program code means for permitting a user to add a resource to the list of network provided resources, wherein a visual representation of the resource added by the user is also displayed in the window.

29. In a distributed system having network resources that include a video display, a client machine running client software of a given type, a first network having network resources and running a first network operating system and a second network also having network resources and running a second network operating system that differs from the first network operating system, a computer program product for implementing a method of generating a unified display of resources on the first network and the second network, the computer program product comprising:

computer-executable instructions for implementing said method by executing the steps of;

determining which of the network resources are to be included in a constrained view of the distributed system that is to be displayed to a user, said constrained view including less than all of the network resources and including network resources from both the first network and the second network; and

displaying the constrained view on the video display, said constrained view providing a uniform view of the determined network resources such that it is not apparent which network operating systems are run on the networks in the constrained view; and

a computer-readable medium for carrying said computer-executable instructions.

30. The computer program product of claim 29 wherein the client machine runs multiple types of client software and wherein the step of determining which network resources are to be included in the constrained view includes the step of having each type of client software determine which of the network resources are to be included in the constrained view.

31. The computer program product of claim 29 wherein the step of determining which network resources are to be included in the constrained view comprises the steps of determining which of the network resources have been most recently used by the user and including the network resources that have been determined to be most recently used by the user in the constrained view.

32. The computer program product of claim 29 wherein the step of determining which network resources are to be included in the constrained view comprises the steps of determining which of the network resources have been most frequently used by the user and including the network resources that have been determined to be most frequently used by the user in the constrained view.