Method and device for monitoring, manipulating, and viewing system information

Claim 1

A system monitoring device for monitoring a performance of a system, the system monitoring device comprising: display means for providing a graphical user interface to a user, said display means having a memory associated therewith; means for storing in the memory information representative of the performance of the system being monitored; means for displaying the stored information on said display means as a graph having a plurality of units of information; and means for selecting and viewing at least one of the plurality of units of information on said display means in response to a command entered by the user using the graphical user interface, the graphical user interface including a graphical representation including a first axis and second axis, a first interactive icon positioned on the first axis, the first interactive icon movable along the first axis by a pointer control device, the icon's position on the first axis determining a subset of the plurality of units of information for display on the graphical user interface, and an indicator bar positioned in relation to the plurality of units of information on the second axis, the indicator bar movable along the second axis by the pointer control device, the indicator bar's position on the second axis determining a data value for monitoring.

Claim 2

A system monitoring device for monitoring a performance of a system, the system monitoring device comprising: display means for providing a graphical user interface to a user, said display means having a memory associated therewith; means for storing in the memory information representative of the performance of the system being monitored; means for displaying the stored information on said display means as a graph having a plurality of units of information; and means for selecting and viewing at least one of the plurality of units of information on said display means in response to a command entered by the user using the graphical user interface, the graphical user interface including a graphical representation including a first axis and second axis, a first interactive icon positioned on the first axis, the first interactive icon movable along the first axis by a pointer control device, the icon's position on the first axis determining a subset of the plurality of units of information for display on the graphical user interface, and an indicator bar positioned in relation to the plurality of units of information on the second axis, the indicator bar movable along the second axis by the pointer control device, the indicator bar's position on the second axis determining a data value for monitoring.

Claim 5

A system monitoring device comprising: display means for providing an interface to a user to interact with information displayed therewith, said display means having memory means associated therewith; means for storing preselected information representative of a system being monitored; means for selecting a portion of the preselected information from the information stored in said memory means to be displayed on said display means; a first interactive icon comprising a metaphor of a film editor for film, the film comprising a plurality of frames, wherein at least one of a number of one or more units of the selected portion of the preselected information is placed under at least one of the plurality of frames of the film; means for manipulating the first interactive icon to thereby manipulate the selected portion of the preselected information; means for setting and viewing a range of values in relation to other displayed information on said display device via direct manipulation in an intuitive manner, wherein the interface to the user further comprises a second interactive icon which includes a representation of the selected portion of the preselected information displayed on said display means; and means for manipulating the second interactive icon to set a range of values in relation to the other displayed information on said display means.

Claim 6

A system monitoring device comprising: display means for providing an interface to a user to interact with information displayed therewith, said display means having memory means associated therewith; means for storing preselected information representative of a system being monitored; means for selecting a portion of the preselected information from the information stored in said memory means to be displayed on said display means; a first interactive icon comprising a metaphor of a film editor for film, the film comprising a plurality of frames, wherein at least one of a number of one or more units of the selected portion of the preselected information is placed under at least one of the plurality of frames of the film; means for manipulating the first interactive icon to thereby manipulate the selected portion of the preselected information; means for setting and viewing a range of values in relation to other displayed information on said display device via direct manipulation in an intuitive manner, wherein the interface to the user further comprises a second interactive icon which includes a representation of the selected portion of the preselected information displayed on said display means; and means for manipulating the second interactive icon to set a range of values in relation to the other displayed information on said display means.

Claim 7

A system monitoring device for monitoring a computer network comprising: display means for providing an interface to a user to interact with information displayed therewith, said display means having memory means associated therewith; means for storing preselected information representative of a system being monitored; means for selecting a portion of the preselected information from the information stored in said memory means to be displayed on said display means; a first interactive icon comprising a metaphor of a film editor for film, the film comprises a plurality of frames, wherein at least one of a number of one or more units of the selected portion of the preselected information is placed under at least one of the plurality of frames of the film; means for manipulating the first interactive icon to thereby manipulate the selected portion of the preselected information; and means for setting and viewing a range of values in relation to other displayed information on said display device via direct manipulation in an intuitive manner.

Claim 8

A system monitoring device for monitoring a computer network comprising: display means for providing an interface to a user to interact with information displayed therewith, said display means having memory means associated therewith; means for storing preselected information representative of a system being monitored; means for selecting a portion of the preselected information from the information stored in said memory means to be displayed on said display means; a first interactive icon comprising a metaphor of a film editor for film, the film comprises a plurality of frames, wherein at least one of a number of one or more units of the selected portion of the preselected information is placed under at least one of the plurality of frames of the film; means for manipulating the first interactive icon to thereby manipulate the selected portion of the preselected information; and means for setting and viewing a range of values in relation to other displayed information on said display device via direct manipulation in an intuitive manner.

Claim 11

A method for monitoring activities of a system by a system monitoring device which includes a display device and having a memory associated therewith, comprising the steps of: (a) selecting which activities of the system are to be monitored; (b) storing information representative of the activities of the system being monitored in the memory; (c) selecting a portion of the information stored in the memory to be displayed on the display device; (d) controlling the displaying of the portion of the information being displayed on the display device to view the selected portion of the preselected information on the display device; and (e) manipulating a user interface provided by the display device to thereby manipulate the selected portion of the information displayed on the display device, the user interface comprising a first interactive icon, the first interactive icon comprising a metaphor of the selected portion of the information being printed on film, the film comprising a plurality of frames, wherein at least one of a number of one or more units of the selected portion of the information is placed under at least one of the plurality of frames of the film, wherein the user interface also comprises a second interactive icon that includes a representation of the selected portion of the information displayed on the display device, the method further comprising the step of manipulating the second interactive icon to set a range of values in relation to other displayed information on the display device.

Claim 12

A method for monitoring activities of a system by a system monitoring device which includes a display device and having a memory associated therewith, comprising the steps of: (a) selecting which activities of the system are to be monitored; (b) storing information representative of the activities of the system being monitored in the memory; (c) selecting a portion of the information stored in the memory to be displayed on the display device; (d) controlling the displaying of the portion of the information being displayed on the display device to view the selected portion of the preselected information on the display device; and (e) manipulating a user interface provided by the display device to thereby manipulate the selected portion of the information displayed on the display device, the user interface comprising a first interactive icon, the first interactive icon comprising a metaphor of the selected portion of the information being printed on film, the film comprising a plurality of frames, wherein at least one of a number of one or more units of the selected portion of the information is placed under at least one of the plurality of frames of the film, wherein the user interface also comprises a second interactive icon that includes a representation of the selected portion of the information displayed on the display device, the method further comprising the step of manipulating the second interactive icon to set a range of values in relation to other displayed information on the display device.

Claim 15

A method for monitoring a computer network by a system monitoring device including a display device and having a memory associated therewith, comprising the steps of: (a) selecting which activities of the computer network are to be monitored; (b) storing information representative of the activities of the computer network in memory; (c) selecting a portion of the information stored in the memory to be displayed on the display device; (d) controlling the displaying of the portion of the information being displayed on the display device to display any portion of the information stored in the memory associated with the display device; and (e) manipulating a user interface provided by the display devices to thereby manipulate the selected portion of the information displayed on the display device, the user interface comprising a first interactive icon, the first interactive icon comprising a metaphor of the selected portion of the information being printed on film, the film comprising a plurality of frames, wherein at least one of a of a number of one or more units of the selected portion of the information is placed under at least one of the plurality of frames of the film, wherein the user interface also comprises a second interactive icon that includes a representation of the selected portion of the information displayed on a display device, the method further comprising the step of manipulating the second interactive icon to set a range of values in relation to other currently displayed information on said display device.

Claim 16

A method for monitoring a computer network by a system monitoring device including a display device and having a memory associated therewith, comprising the steps of: (a) selecting which activities of the computer network are to be monitored; (b) storing information representative of the activities of the computer network in memory; (c) selecting a portion of the information stored in the memory to be displayed on the display device; (d) controlling the displaying of the portion of the information being displayed on the display device to display any portion of the information stored in the memory associated with the display device; and (e) manipulating a user interface provided by the display devices to thereby manipulate the selected portion of the information displayed on the display device, the user interface comprising a first interactive icon, the first interactive icon comprising a metaphor of the selected portion of the information being printed on film, the film comprising a plurality of frames, wherein at least one of a of a number of one or more units of the selected portion of the information is placed under at least one of the plurality of frames of the film, wherein the user interface also comprises a second interactive icon that includes a representation of the selected portion of the information displayed on a display device, the method further comprising the step of manipulating the second interactive icon to set a range of values in relation to other currently displayed information on said display device.

Claim 17

A system monitoring device comprising: display means for providing an interface to a user to interact with information displayed therewith, said display means having memory means associated therewith; means for storing preselected information representative of a system being monitored; means for selecting a portion of the preselected information from the information stored in said memory means to be displayed on said display means; means for viewing the selected portion of the preselected information on said display means; a first interactive icon comprising a metaphor of a film editor for film, the film comprising a plurality of frames, wherein at least one of a number of one or more units of the selected portion of the preselected information is placed under at least one of the plurality of frames of the movie film; means for manipulating the first interactive icon to thereby manipulate the selected portion of the preselected information, wherein the interface to the user further comprises a second interactive icon which includes a representation of the selected portion of the preselected information displayed on said display means; and means for manipulating the second interactive icon to set a range of values in relation to the other displayed information on said display means.

Claim 18

A system monitoring device comprising: display means for providing an interface to a user to interact with information displayed therewith, said display means having memory means associated therewith; means for storing preselected information representative of a system being monitored; means for selecting a portion of the preselected information from the information stored in said memory means to be displayed on said display means; means for viewing the selected portion of the preselected information on said display means; a first interactive icon comprising a metaphor of a film editor for film, the film comprising a plurality of frames, wherein at least one of a number of one or more units of the selected portion of the preselected information is placed under at least one of the plurality of frames of the movie film; means for manipulating the first interactive icon to thereby manipulate the selected portion of the preselected information, wherein the interface to the user further comprises a second interactive icon which includes a representation of the selected portion of the preselected information displayed on said display means; and means for manipulating the second interactive icon to set a range of values in relation to the other displayed information on said display means.

Claim 29

A system monitoring interface to monitor a historical performance of a computer system, the system monitoring interface comprising: an input device to receive data items representative of the performance of the computer system; a memory coupled to the input device to store the data items in a historical log; and a display device coupled to the memory, the display device including a graphical user interface to display the data items stored in the historical log, the data items being displayed in the form of a frame including a plurality of units of information, each one of the plurality of units of information representing one data item, the frame including a first axis and a second axis, the graphical user interface including: a first interactive icon positioned on the first axis of the frame, the first interactive icon movable along the first axis by a pointer control device, the position of the first interactive icon on the first axis determining a subset of the plurality of units of information for display on the graphical user interface, and an indicator bar positioned on the second axis of the frame, the indicator bar movable along the second axis by the pointer control device, the indicator bar's position on the second axis determining a data value for monitoring.

Claim 30

A system monitoring interface to monitor a historical performance of a computer system, the system monitoring interface comprising: an input device to receive data items representative of the performance of the computer system; a memory coupled to the input device to store the data items in a historical log; and a display device coupled to the memory, the display device including a graphical user interface to display the data items stored in the historical log, the data items being displayed in the form of a frame including a plurality of units of information, each one of the plurality of units of information representing one data item, the frame including a first axis and a second axis, the graphical user interface including: a first interactive icon positioned on the first axis of the frame, the first interactive icon movable along the first axis by a pointer control device, the position of the first interactive icon on the first axis determining a subset of the plurality of units of information for display on the graphical user interface, and an indicator bar positioned on the second axis of the frame, the indicator bar movable along the second axis by the pointer control device, the indicator bar's position on the second axis determining a data value for monitoring.

Claim 32

A system monitoring interface to monitor the performance of a computer system, the system monitoring interface comprising: an input device to receive data items representative of the performance of the computer system; a memory coupled to the input device to store the data items; and a display device coupled to the memory, the display device including a graphical user interface to display the stored data items, the data items being displayed in the form of a frame including a plurality of units of information, each one of the plurality of units of information representing one data item, the frame including a first axis and a second axis, the graphical user interface including a first interactive icon positioned on the first axis of the frame, the first interactive icon movable along the first axis by a pointer control device, the position of the first interactive icon on the first axis determining a subset of the plurality of units of information for display on the graphical user interface, and an indicator bar positioned on the second axis of the frame, the indicator bar movable along the second axis by the pointer control device, the position of the indicator bar on the second axis determining a data value for monitoring.

Claim 33

A system monitoring interface to monitor the performance of a computer system, the system monitoring interface comprising: an input device to receive data items representative of the performance of the computer system; a memory coupled to the input device to store the data items; and a display device coupled to the memory, the display device including a graphical user interface to display the stored data items, the data items being displayed in the form of a frame including a plurality of units of information, each one of the plurality of units of information representing one data item, the frame including a first axis and a second axis, the graphical user interface including a first interactive icon positioned on the first axis of the frame, the first interactive icon movable along the first axis by a pointer control device, the position of the first interactive icon on the first axis determining a subset of the plurality of units of information for display on the graphical user interface, and an indicator bar positioned on the second axis of the frame, the indicator bar movable along the second axis by the pointer control device, the position of the indicator bar on the second axis determining a data value for monitoring.