Computer interface for the configuration of computer system and circuit boards

Claim 1

For use with a computer system and a operator, an interactive display method for controlling the configuration of a plurality computer systems and circuit boards, the computer systems providing for interchangeable circuit boards to be inserted in a plurality of system slot locations, the circuit boards having a plurality of selectable operational functions, the circuit boards further having a plurality of hardware and software settings which permit the circuit boards to be configured to utilize one or more common computer resources, the steps comprising: the computer accessing and displaying stored descriptions of a plurality of circuit boards; the operator selecting circuit boards to be configured with said selected computer system from said displayed list of circuit boards; the computer assigning each of said selected circuit boards to a slot in said selected system; the computer displaying available operational functions for said circuit boards; the operator selecting operational functions to be activated for said selected circuit boards; the operator invoking a configuration utility to allocate common computer resources to said selected circuit boards; and the computer displaying the results of said configuration allocation; the computer displaying the required settings for said circuit boards based on said configuration allocation; and the computer storing said configuration allocation for said selected circuit boards and computer system.