Pictorial-based user interface management of computer hardware components

• US 7,512,894 B1
• Filed: 09/11/2000
• Issued: 03/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hintermeister, Gregory Richard, Lory, Bradley James, Peh, Chee, Mead, David Walter, Royer, Steven Edward
• Primary Examiner(s): Hailu; Tadesse
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pillai; Namitha
• Application Number:
  US09/659,258
• Time in Patent Office: 3,123 Days
• Field of Search: 345/966, 345/734, 709/223, 702/188, 715/734, 715/736, 715/767, 715/771, 715/853, 715/969, 715/970
• US Class Current: 715/771
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/328 Computer systems status display G06F11/327 takes precedence

Abstract

An apparatus, program product and method utilize a displayed pictorial representation that depicts the actual physical configuration of a plurality of hardware components in a physical computer system to facilitate the collective management of the underlying hardware components. Typically, within such a pictorial representation, a selected status is displayed for multiple of such hardware components, thereby permitting hardware components sharing common attributes or characteristics to be identified in an efficient and intuitive manner, as well as to permit collective management operations to be performed on all selected hardware components in addition, a pictorial representation may be dynamically generated to represent the physical configuration of a plurality of hardware components within a plurality of computers. In connection with such dynamic generation, the plurality of computers may be accessed to identify the plurality of hardware components that are resident in such computers.

Claims

1. A method of managing computer hardware components, the method comprising:

(a) displaying a pictorial representation on a computer display, the pictorial representation associated with a plurality of hardware components and representing a physical configuration of each of the plurality of hardware components that conveys a relative placement and location of at least a subset of the hardware components in physical space, wherein each of the plurality of hardware components is associated with at least one attribute;

(b) in response to user input, indicating a selected status for multiple hardware components from the plurality of hardware components within the pictorial representation associated with the plurality of hardware components, wherein indicating the selected status includes;

(1) selecting a filter criterion from a plurality of predetermined filter criteria, each of the plurality of predetermined filter criteria associated with a predetermined view among a plurality of views;

(2) comparing attributes associated with the plurality of hardware components against the selected filter criterion; and

(3) selecting those hardware components associated with attributes that match the selected filter criterion, wherein the pictorial representation continues to depict at least one non-selected hardware component after such selection;

(c) after indicating the selected status for the multiple hardware components, dynamically retrieving a list of available management operations associated with at least two selected hardware components among the multiple hardware components having a selected status, wherein the list of available management operations includes only management operations that are appropriate for being performed on all of the multiple hardware components having a selected status;

(d) displaying the list of available management operations within a context sensitive menu after indicating the selected status for the multiple hardware components; and

(e) performing a management operation from among the list of available management operations on all of the multiple hardware components that have a selected status responsive to user input directed to the context sensitive menu.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the pictorial representation includes a diagram of at least one enclosure within which the plurality of hardware components is disposed, the diagram further depicting a physical location of each of the plurality of hardware components in the enclosure.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first diagram depicts a first view of the enclosure taken from a first viewpoint, and wherein the pictorial representation further includes a second diagram depicting a second view of the enclosure taken from a second viewpoint.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein at least one of the plurality of hardware components comprises an unused interface component configured to physically interconnect with another hardware component, the method further comprising managing the unused interface component through user input directed to the pictorial representation.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein each hardware component is associated with a hardware type, and wherein the filter criterion identifies a selected hardware type, wherein selecting those hardware components includes selecting those hardware components associated with the selected hardware type.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the indication of the selected status for at least one of the multiple hardware components responsive to selection of those hardware components associated with attributes that match the filter criterion.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of hardware components is associated with at least one of a plurality of diagrams, each of which depicting a physical location of at least one of the plurality of hardware components, the method further comprising displaying within the pictorial representation only those diagrams from the plurality of diagrams that depict the physical location of at least one hardware component having a selected status.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising visually highlighting those portions of the pictorial representation that depict the physical configurations of the multiple hardware components that have a selected status.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the status of a first hardware component among the plurality of hardware components to one of a selected and an unselected status responsive to user input directed to that portion of the pictorial representation that depicts the physical configuration of the first hardware component.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple hardware components are physically located in a plurality of computers, wherein performing the management operation includes performing the management operation in each of the plurality of computers.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein at least two of the plurality of computers utilize different types of computer platforms.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein dynamically retrieving the list of available management operations is performed in response to user input directed to that portion of the pictorial representation that depicts the physical configuration of at least one of the at least two selected hardware components.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising retrieving status information associated with a first hardware component among the plurality of hardware components in response to user input directed to that portion of the pictorial representation that depicts the physical configuration of the first hardware component.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the user input includes locating a user-manipulated pointer over that portion of the pictorial representation that depicts the physical configuration of the first hardware component, the method further comprising displaying the retrieved status information within a pop-up window disposed proximate that portion of the pictorial representation that depicts the physical configuration of the first hardware component.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the pictorial representation and indicating the selected status are performed on a first computer, and wherein each of the plurality of hardware components is physically located in the first computer.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the pictorial representation and indicating the selected status are performed on a first computer, and wherein at least a portion of the plurality of hardware components are physically located in a second computer in communication with the first computer.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of hardware components is disposed in a computer selected from the group consisting of a single-user computer, a multi-user computer, a clustered computer, a multi-unit computer, and combinations thereof.