Diagnosing method and apparatus

Claim 1

A diagnosing apparatus for diagnosing troubles in multiple devices on the basis of operating status information received by the apparatus from the devices and containing a plurality of factors indicative of operating status of the devices, the apparatus comprising: a plurality of communication control means, provided in association with the devices, for outputting the received operating status information, wherein said communication control means includes: primary trouble predicting means for assigning diagnosis order levels respectively corresponding to levels of necessity of diagnosis to the respective items of information fetched from said devices; and transfer timing control means for determining timings of information transfer according to the diagnosis order levels assigned by said trouble predicting means; a host computer for collecting said operating status information from said plurality of communication control means, and said host computer including an input portion for collecting said operating status information of said communication control means, said input portion further including with a reception order determining means for receiving the information in the diagnosis order level; and a diagnosing section for diagnosing the operating status of said devices on the basis of said operating status information obtained by said host computer, said diagnosing section including analyzing means for analyzing the operating status information of said devices to identify symptoms of a probable trouble common to said devices, and storing means for storing said symptoms identified by said analyzing means.