Method and apparatus providing a graphical user interface for representing and navigating hierarchical networks

• US 6,628,304 B2
• Filed: 12/09/1998
• Issued: 09/30/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bainbridge, David K., Mitchell, Frederick H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Huynh, Ba
• Application Number:
  US09/208,554
• Publication Number:
  US 20020113816A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,756 Days
• Field of Search: 709/224, 709/223, 345/734, 345/735, 345/736
• US Class Current: 715/734
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/044 comprising hierarchical management structures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/20 Network management software packages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]

Abstract

A method and apparatus are provided which present hierarchical data to a user via a graphical user interface. A preferred embodiment represents hierarchical data related to a computer network and is provided to a user as part of a network management software application. In the interface, hierarchical data is represented by nodes, beginning with one or more top nodes and extending into lower hierarchical levels by the display of child nodes, child'"'"'s child nodes, and so forth. The arrangement of nodes on the graphical user interface is such that scaling portrays the various hierarchical levels, and nodes do not spatially interfere with one another. Navigation through the hierarchical data is provided by allowing the user to select any visible node, at which point a zoom-in or zoom-out view to the selected node as a centrally located node on the interface is performed. Child nodes at lower hierarchical levels that were not visible before selection are then made visible up to a predetermined number of levels within the hierarchy. A map is provided on the interface which allows a user to graphically comprehend the present location of all nodes displayed on the interface in relation to their position within the overall hierarchy. As applied to network management, the interface allows errors in low level devices within a network to be visually propagated up to the upper levels of the hierarchy, for display to a user viewing only the top levels. The interface and computing system configured according to the invention overcomes problems of prior art systems which obscure a user location within a large hierarchy and the invention overcomes significant navigation problems of prior art systems.

Claims

1. A computer system comprising:

at least one input device;

an output device;

a memory device; and

a processing unit coupled to the input device, the output device and the memory device, the processing unit executing a computer program stored in the memory device, the computer program controlling the output device to display a graphical user interface and controlling the at least one input device to accept input to manipulate a view of objects displayed within the graphical user interface;

the graphical user interface displaying objects derived from hierarchically arranged data corresponding to network devices in a network environment, the data gathered through the use of a network management protocol that remotely queries the network devices and, in turn, the network devices provide status information, wherein each object displayed is graphically scaled in size and proportion and positioned in relation to other objects within a hierarchy of the data, and wherein the number of objects displayed are limited to within a predetermined number in which, if the data exceeds the predetermined number, at least one object represents multiple objects.

2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein each object displayed on the graphical user interface is depicted graphically as being interconnected to other objects to which it is directly related to in a hierarchy of the data, so as to form a graphical representation of the hierarchical nature of each object as it relates to other objects.

3. The computer system of claim 1, wherein an object hierarchically related directly above another object in the hierarchy is a parent object and the graphical user interface includes at least one centrally located parent and an object hierarchically related directly below an object in the hierarchy is a child object and is displayed radially adjacent to the parent object;

and wherein the input device may be used to select a child object on the graphical user interface and, in response, the computer program will generate a zoom-in view of that child object including any child objects related to that child object.

4. The computer system of claim 1, wherein if an object having associated corresponding data in the hierarchy contains a fault, the fault is reflected in the data for that object in the hierarchy of data and is reflected to objects above that object in the hierarchy of data such that, in the graphical user interface, objects that are displayed and that are hierarchically related above the faulted device include a visible indication of the presence of the fault located below that object, thus providing an indication on the graphical user interface of a selected object path to follow to find the fault.

5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the objects displayed appear circular in nature and wherein the computer program employs fractal geometry to properly display each object without overlapping other objects and properly scales each object in relation to a hierarchy of all objects in the hierarchically arranged data.

13. The computer system according to claim 1 wherein the processing unit is adapted to accept data, grouped automatically or manually, that are represented by said at least one object.

14. The computer system according to claim 1 wherein the predetermined number is within about a reasonable number for human capacity.

15. The computer system according to claim 14 wherein the predetermined number is about seven.

16. The computer system according to claim 1 wherein the graphical user interface is adapted to accept zoom-in and zoom-out requests from a user to view the objects in selectable scales, wherein the graphical user interface applies animation in changing scales.

6. A graphical user interface representing objects corresponding to network devices in a network environment, the interface providing:

a top level view of the network, the network devices providing status information in response to remote queries through the use of a network management protocol, the top level view including a centrally located parent object associated with an upper hierarchical level, child objects associated with a level below that of the parent object, the child objects peripherally arranged radially adjacent to the parent object and scaled proportionally to the parent object to reflect the hierarchical relationship between the parent and child objects and, if the number of child objects exceed a predetermined number, at least one child object represents multiple child objects;

wherein each object is selectable to present a zoomed-in view of the hierarchical relationship of object at a hierarchical level of the object selected with other child objects hierarchically related below the selected object; and

wherein each object is positioned relative to the other objects such that no two objects graphically occlude one another.

17. The graphical user interface according to claim 6 wherein the top level view is adapted to accept data, grouped automatically or manually, that are represented by said at least one object.

18. The graphical user interface according to claim 6 wherein the predetermined number is within about a reasonable number for human capacity.

19. The graphical user interface according to claim 18 wherein the predetermined number is about seven.

20. The graphical user interface according to claim 6 wherein the top level view is adapted to accept zoom-in and zoom-out requests from a user to view the objects in selectable scales, and wherein the top level view supports animation applied in changing scales.

7. A method for representing and navigating among objects of a hierarchical network comprising the steps of:

providing a user with a display of a plurality of objects, derived from hierarchically arranged data corresponding to network devices in a network environment the data gathered through the use of a network management protocol that remotely queries the network devices and, in turn, the network devices provide status information, the objects having a hierarchical relationship with one another, including at least one parent object, at least one child object hierarchically related below the at least one parent object, each child object placed equi-distant from the parent object and radially adjacent thereto, and grand-child objects hierarchically related below the at least one child object and positioned equi-distant and radially adjacent thereto;

determining whether the number of child or grand-child objects exceeds a predetermined number and, if yes, displaying at least one object in the associated hierarchical level that represents at least two respective objects; and

allowing a user to select an object, and depending upon the objects position within the hierarchy, zooming in on that object as a centrally located object and displaying objects directly related above and below that object on the display.

21. The method according to claim 7 wherein the step of providing a user with a display of a plurality of objects is adapted to accept data, grouped automatically or manually, that are represented by said at least one object.

22. The method according to claim 7 wherein the predetermined number is within about a reasonable number for human capacity.

23. The method according to claim 22 wherein the predetermined number is about seven.

24. The method according to claim 7 wherein allowing a user to select an object is adapted to accept zoom-in and zoom-out requests from a user to view the objects in selectable scales, and further including applying animation in changing scales.

8. A method of displaying hierarchical data comprising the steps of:

remotely querying network devices in a network environment for status information;

receiving the status information from the network devices;

determining a node to be displayed within a hierarchy of the hierarchical data corresponding to the network devices;

creating a graphical object representing the node;

rendering the graphical object;

determining child nodes which depend from the node, and for each child node, creating a child graphical object representing the child node and computing child node characteristics for the child graphical object and rendering the child graphical object;

limiting the number of child nodes depending from the node to within a predetermined number of subset of the child nodes and rendering the at least one representative child graphical object;

rendering links between the child nodes and the node; and

determining each child node created, and passing each child node as a new top node to the step of determining a node to be displayed and repeating the processing steps of creating and rendering for each child node as a top node until a number of levels of hierarchical data are displayed.

25. The method according to claim 8 wherein the step of determining the node to be displayed is adapted to accept multiple nodes, grouped automatically or manually, that are represented by the representative child graphical object.

26. The method according to claim 8 wherein the predetermined number is within about a reasonable number for human capacity.

27. The method according to claim 26 wherein the predetermined number is about seven.

28. The method according to claim 8 wherein the step of rendering the graphical objects and links is adapted to accept zoom-in and zoom-out requests from a user to view the objects in selectable scales, and further including applying animation in changing scales.

9. A method for displaying hierarchical data comprising the steps of:

i;

displaying a parent node;

ii;

displaying a plurality of child nodes peripherally arranged radially adjacent to the parent node, each child node depending from the parent node in the hierarchy and each child node being scaled in size proportionally to a level in the hierarchical data, corresponding to network devices in a network environment remotely queried to provide status information, to which the child node corresponds, the displaying of the child nodes including limiting the number of child nodes depending from the parent node to within a predetermined number of child nodes by having at least one representative child node represent a subset of the child nodes and rendering the at least one representative child node; and

iii;

displaying a plurality of data links from each of the plurality of child nodes, each data link extending to the parent node from which that child node depends in the hierarchical data.

10. The method of claim 9, further including the step of allowing a user to navigate through the hierarchical data by selecting at least one child node and repeating steps i, ii and ii with the parent node set equal to the child node selected by the user.

29. The method according to claim 9 wherein the step of displaying the child nodes is adapted to accept data, ground automatically or manually, that are represented by said at least one object.

30. The computer system according to claim 9 wherein the predetermined number is within about a reasonable number for human capacity.

31. The computer system according to claim 30 wherein the predetermined number is about seven.

32. The computer system according to claim 9 wherein the steps of displaying the child nodes and data links are adapted to accept zoom-in and zoom-out requests from a user to view the objects in selectable scales, and further including applying animation in changing scales.

11. A computer program product having a computer readable medium including computer program logic recorded thereon that, when executed on a computer processor, performs the steps of:

providing a user with a display of a plurality of objects, derived from hierarchically arranged data corresponding to network devices in a network environment remotely queried to provide status information, the objects having a hierarchical relationship with one another, including at least one parent object, at least one child object hierarchically related below the at least one parent object, each child object placed equi-distant from the parent object and radially adjacent thereto, and grand-child objects hierarchically related below the at least one child object and positioned equi-distant and radially adjacent thereto;

determining whether the number of child or grand-child objects exceeds a predetermined number and, if yes, displaying at least one object in the associated hierarchical level that represents at least two respective objects; and

allowing a user to select an object, and depending upon the objects position within the hierarchy, zooming in on that object as a centrally located object and displaying objects directly related above and below that object on the display.

33. The computer program product according to claim 11 wherein the step of determining whether the number of child or grand-child nodes exceeds a predetermined number is adapted to accept data, grouped automatically or manually, that are represented by said at least one object.

34. The computer program product according to claim 11 wherein the predetermined number is within about a reasonable number for human capacity.

35. The computer program product according to claim 34 wherein the predetermined number is about seven.

36. The computer program product according to claim 11 wherein the step of allowing a user to select an object is adapted to accept zoom-in and zoom-out requests from a user to view the objects in selectable scales, and further including applying animation in changing scales.

12. A computer program product having a computer readable medium including computer program logic recorded thereon that, when executed on a computer processor, performs the steps of:

remotely querying network devices in a network environment;

receiving status information from the network devices;

determining a node to be displayed within a hierarchy of the hierarchical data corresponding to the network devices;

creating a graphical object representing the node;

rendering the graphical object;

determining child nodes which depend from the node, and for each child node, creating a child graphical object representing the child node and computing child node characteristics for the child graphical object;

determining whether the number of child nodes exceeds a predetermined number and, if yes, creating a representative child graphical object representing a subset of the child nodes and computing child node characteristics for the representative child graphical object;

rendering links between the child node and the node; and

determining each child node created, and passing each child node as a new top node to the step of determining a node to be displayed and repeating processing of the creating and rendering each child node as a top node until a number of levels of hierarchical data are displayed.

37. The computer program product according to claim 12 wherein the step of rendering the graphical objects is adapted to accept data, grouped automatically or manually, that are represented by said at least one object.

38. The computer system according to claim 12 wherein the predetermined number is within about a reasonable number for human capacity.

39. The computer system according to claim 38 wherein the predetermined number is about seven.

40. The computer system according to claim 12 wherein the steps of rendering the graphical objects and links are adapted to accept zoom-in and zoom-out requests from a user to view the objects in selectable scales, and further including applying animation in changing scales.