Linking of a plurality of items of a user interface to display new information inferred from the plurality of items that are linked

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9256666-B2
Application number	US-96803410-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 14, 2010
Priority date	Dec 14, 2010
Publication date	Feb 9, 2016
Grant date	Feb 9, 2016

Abstract

A first item and a second item that are displayed in a user interface are selected via a computational device. A determination is made as to whether a linkage between the first item and the second item is a valid linkage, wherein the valid linkage indicates that inferences that relate the first item to the second item may be drawn by interpreting properties of the first item and properties of the second item. In response to determining that the linkage between the first item and the second item is a valid linkage, the properties of the first item and the properties of the second item are interpreted to infer new properties that relate the properties of the first item to the properties of the second item.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
selecting, via a first user selection, a first item that is displayed in a user interface;
selecting, via a second user selection, a second item that is displayed in the user interface;
subsequent to selecting the first item and the second item, determining, via a computational device, a type of linkage between the first item and the second item, wherein the linkage is a displayed linkage, wherein a valid linkage indicates that inferences that relate the first item to the second item may be drawn by interpreting properties of the first item and properties of the second item;
in response to determining that the type of linkage between the first item and the second item is a valid linkage, interpreting the properties of the first item and the properties of the second item to infer new properties that relate the properties of the first item to the properties of the second item, wherein the inferred new properties are not explicitly indicated in the properties of the first item or the properties of the second item, wherein a look-up table indicates operations that are to be performed by an application for the valid linkage, and wherein the valid linkage remains active and visible until a user indicates that the valid linkage is to be deactivated; and
in response to determining that the type of linkage between the first item and the second item is an invalid linkage, indicating via a visual interface that the linkage between the first item and the second item is inapplicable, wherein:
the first item represents a server node and has server related information, and the second item represents a security node that has security related information for both clients and servers, and wherein in response to a selected linkage between the server node and the security node being clicked, security related information of the server node that are not explicitly indicated in either properties of the server node or properties of the security node are displayed;
the first item, the second item, and additional items displayed in the visual interface are all connected to a global bus, and the first item, the second item, and the additional items have linkages to each other;
invalid linkages are visually apparent to the user, in response to viewing the visual interface, wherein invalid linkages are grayed-out in the visual interface;
the first item represents a hardware component, wherein the properties of the first item include a plurality of instances of the hardware component; and
the second item represents an event log that includes at least one of a severity, a date, and an identifier that uniquely identifies an event, and a message corresponding to the hardware component and the additional items in the visual interface.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
highlighting, the linkage, in the user interface; and
in response to selecting the highlighted linkage in the user interface, displaying the new properties.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the first item and second item are nodes of a hierarchical tree displayed in the user interface, wherein the hierarchical tree displays a plurality of items including the first item and the second item, and wherein the plurality of items comprise elements of a software, hardware or firmware system; and
in response to selecting the first item and the second item and in response to determining that the linkage between the first item and the second item is a valid linkage, the linkage between the first item and the second item is highlighted in the user interface.

4. A system comprising:
a memory; and
a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor performs operations, the operations comprising:
selecting, via a first user selection, a first item that is displayed in a user interface;
selecting, via a second user selection, a second item that is displayed in the user interface;
subsequent to selecting the first item and the second item, determining, via a computational device, a type of linkage between the first item and the second item, wherein the linkage is a displayed linkage, wherein a valid linkage indicates that inferences that relate the first item to the second item may be drawn by interpreting properties of the first item and properties of the second item;
in response to determining that the type of linkage between the first item and the second item is a valid linkage, interpreting the properties of the first item and the properties of the second item to infer new properties that relate the properties of the first item to the properties of the second item, wherein the inferred new properties are not explicitly indicated in the properties of the first item or the properties of the second item, wherein a look-up table indicates operations that are to be performed by an application for the valid linkage, and wherein the valid linkage remains active and visible until a user indicates the valid linkage is to be deactivated; and
in response to determining that the type of linkage between the first item and the second item is an invalid linkage, indicating via a visual interface that the linkage between the first item and the second item is inapplicable, wherein:
the first item represents a server node and has server related information, and the second item represents a security node that has security related information for both clients and servers, and wherein in response to a selected linkage between the server node and the security node being clicked, security related information of the server node that are not explicitly indicated in either properties of the server node or properties of the security node are displayed;
the first item, the second item, and additional items displayed in the visual interface are all connected to a global bus, and the first item, the second item, and the additional items have linkages to each other;
invalid linkages are visually apparent to the user, in response to viewing the visual interface, wherein invalid linkages are grayed-out in the visual interface;
the first item represents a hardware component, wherein the properties of the first item include a plurality of instances of the hardware component; and
the second item represents an event log that includes at least one of a severity, a date, and an identifier that uniquely identifies an event, and a message corresponding to the hardware component and the additional items in the visual interface.

5. The system of claim 4 , the operations further comprising:
highlighting, the linkage, in the user interface; and
in response to selecting the highlighted linkage in the user interface, displaying the new properties.

6. The system of claim 4 , wherein:
the first item and second item are nodes of a hierarchical tree displayed in the user interface, wherein the hierarchical tree displays a plurality of items including the first item and the second item, and wherein the plurality of items comprise elements of a software, hardware or firmware system; and
in response to selecting the first item and the second item and in response to determining that the linkage between the first item and the second item is a valid linkage, the linkage between the first item and the second item is highlighted in the user interface.

7. A computer program product, the computer program product comprising:
a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code configured to perform operations, the operations comprising:
selecting, via a first user selection, a first item that is displayed in a user interface;
selecting, via a second user selection, a second item that is displayed in the user interface;
subsequent

Assignees

• Conzola Vincent Charles
• Eischeid Todd Michael
• Molander Mark E
• IBM

Inventors

• Conzola Vincent Charles
• Eischeid Todd Michael
• Molander Mark E

Classifications

• G06F16/332 Primary

  Query formulation · CPC title

• G06F17/30637 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic