International Business Machines Corporation

George Francis DeStefano

Gregory Richard Hintermeister

Michael J Branson

Ronald Joseph Haugen

Gregory Scott Hurlebaus

Erik Duane Lindberg

Andrew James Streit

Susette M Townsend

David Henry Sandifer

Diane Elaine Olson

Anthony Michael Dunbar

Marcia Lynn Brandt

DeVaughn Lawrence Rackham

Ellen B Streifel

Eric Leonard Fosdick

Kevin Patrick Stamschror

Kenneth Joseph Burger

Brian Richard Lucier

Jeffrey D Waldbillig

Barbara A Ballard

Teresa McConville Prokop

Ramila Alexandra Mehta

Gary John Vanselow

Susan Judith Funk

The present invention generally is directed to a method, system and article of manufacture for managing software fixes for a software product in a computer system. The method comprises: for each of a plurality of software fixes for a corresponding software product, determining whether the corresponding software product is installed on the computer system; if the corresponding software product is installed, then determining whether the each one of the plurality of software fixes is installed in the computer system; and if the each one of the plurality of software fixes is installed, then setting a status value to reflect that the plurality of software fixes is installed.

Dynamically resolving fix groups for managing multiple releases of multiple products on multiple systems

A method, apparatus, system, and signal-bearing medium that in an embodiment present a main view and at least one peek view of data. When the user selects to move the data from the main view to the peek view, a subset of data objects in the main view is selected based on an importance of the data objects and optionally based on the size of the peek view. The subset is copied to the peek view, and the peek view is dynamically updated when the data objects are updated. In this way, the user can monitor changes to the peek view while working on other data in the main view.

Moving data between views

A method, storage medium, and electronic device that in an embodiment register a plurality of information suppliers and a plurality of areas of interest associated with the plurality of respective information suppliers. One of the plurality of areas of interest associated with one of the plurality of information suppliers is found that matches a field of interest requested by a client. A plurality of records is requested from the one of the plurality of information suppliers. A model norm is created based on a data dictionary, wherein a format of the data dictionary is standardized by an agreement among the plurality of information suppliers. A subset of a plurality of characteristics is selected from the plurality of records based on the model norm. A report is prepared with the subset.

Normalizing records

A method, computer program product and apparatus are provided for providing dynamic assistance for disabled user interface resources. Code for disabling controls is identified. A state of the identified control is changed from disabled to disabled with assistance. Assistance text is provided to explain why control is disabled. Code is provided for correcting the condition for disabling control. An assistance icon is displayed for viewing by the user. Responsive to a user selection of the assistance icon, the assistance text is displayed. An adjustment button is displayed. Responsive to a user selection of the adjustment button, the code for correcting the condition for disabling control is used, and an action is executed on eligible items.

Method and apparatus for providing dynamic assistance for disabled user interface resources

A method and apparatus for synchronizing software between computers are disclosed. A software fix manager compares a preferred software inventory with a software inventory from a computer that is to be synchronized and, from this comparison, creates a number of software product synchronizations. An update manager uses the software fix list to apply software product synchronizations to the computer. Preferably, the computer can be brought to the same fix level or product level, if desired, as the preferred software inventory through this process. The software fix manager can place synchronizations in a fix list. There can be multiple software product synchronizations per software product, and the synchronizations can be applied to a computer by removing a software product fix or installing a product software fix. The current invention may also be applied to software products themselves, by installing or removing software products. The present invention potentially has its best application in networks, as numerous target computers or groups of target computers may be synchronized with a preferred software inventory of a model system.

Apparatus and method for synchronizing software between computers

A computer system and method of presenting information from a body of knowledge to a user utilize a three-dimensional model to facilitate user comprehension and management of both the specific information in the body of knowledge, as well as the contextual relationship of the information within the body of knowledge as a whole. An abstraction stack is utilized to concurrently display information elements associated with different levels of abstraction for a body of knowledge, with the information elements visually linked with one another in a three dimensional workspace to represent the hierarchical arrangement of the information elements within the scope of the overall body of knowledge. In addition, a computer system and method of authoring a body of knowledge permit a user to input information with the contextual relationship of the information within the overall body of knowledge established in an intuitive and efficient manner. An authoring tool facilitates the creation of a body of knowledge by an author by organizing information into one or more information elements associated with various levels of abstraction. Users are concurrently presented with a plurality of user input elements configured to receive input from a user, with each user input element associated with a particular level of abstraction. Once information is received into a particular user input element, an information element is stored in a computer system and associated with the level of abstraction for the user input element.

Three-dimensional model to facilitate user comprehension and management of information

A computer system and method manipulate a window or similar graphical user interface component through collision of a pointer controlled by a user with the boundary of the window. When it is determined that user manipulation of a pointer along a first vector intersects a boundary segment of a window displayed on a computer display, the boundary segment is moved along a second vector. The second vector may be identical to the first vector, or may represent only a component thereof. Moreover, either the entire boundary of the window may be moved such that the window itself is effectively moved, or one or more segments of the boundary may be maintained at a fixed location such that the window is effectively resized. In addition, this feature may be selectively enabled and/or disabled by a user. Moreover, a pointer may be defined to have a single position from which the first vector extends, or in the alternative, a pointer may also have a proximity range having a perimeter that defines the extents of the pointer, and that may or may not be coextensive with the visible shape of the pointer.

Computer system and method of manipulating a graphical user interface component on a computer display through collision with a pointer

A computer system and method concurrently present multiple development threads represented by a collection of chronologically-arranged information. An abstraction stack is used to access a body of knowledge stratified into a plurality of levels of abstraction and including a plurality of information elements associated with the plurality of levels of abstraction and organized generally chronologically in the body of knowledge. The abstraction stack concurrently displays first and second representations of a common portion of the body of knowledge, with the first and second representations respectively displaying first and second information elements respectively associated with first and second levels of abstraction. The first and second levels of abstraction are respectively associated with separate development threads such that such threads are concurrently presented to a user. The development threads may be defined in a number of manners, including but not limited to different points of view, perspectives, writing styles, levels of comprehension and levels of detail. Moreover, further stratification of a body of knowledge may be performed to define additional abstraction schemes for the body of knowledge such that multiple representations of each development thread may be concurrently presented. A computer system and method may also stratify information using multiple abstraction schemes such that various information elements from a collection of information may be concurrently displayed in such a manner that the relationship of the information elements in terms of the multiple abstraction schemes may be presented to a user.

Computer system and method for abstracting and accessing a chronologically-arranged collection of information

A computer system and method of controlling the same in which an abstraction stack is sequenced through a number of predetermined display formats to facilitate user comprehension of a body of knowledge. An abstraction stack is utilized to present information from a body of knowledge in a three-dimensional workspace to facilitate user comprehension and management of both the specific information in the body of knowledge, as well as the contextual relationships of the information within the body of knowledge as a whole. Moreover, a number of predetermined display formats are defined for the abstraction stack to permit the presentation of information to a user to be optimized throughout a sequence of predefined steps.

Computer system and method for controlling the same utilizing an abstraction stack with a sequence of predetermined display formats

A computer system and method implement a number of unique user interface mechanisms to visually link information presented to a user and thereby facilitate user comprehension of the contextual relationship of such information. Information may be visually linked by displaying a connector element that extends between first and second windows displayed on a computer display. In addition, information may be visually linked by applying one or more filter criteria to information elements and displaying the results. For example, first and second filter criteria may be applied to a plurality of information elements, with at least portions of the resulting sets of filtered information elements displayed concurrently. As another example, a filter criteria may be applied to an information element, with the filtered and unfiltered representations of the information element displayed concurrently. Information may also be visually linked through a coordinated scrolling relationship where portions of first and second sets of filtered information elements are concurrently displayed in separate windows, with the displayed portions in each window tracked with one another to display a particular location in a body of knowledge. Also, information may be visually linked by highlighting one of a pair of information element representations in response to selection of the other information element representation when such information element representations are associated with a common concept.

Computer system, method and user interface components for abstracting and accessing a body of knowledge

A computer system and method of controlling a computer system integrate the display of a user interface control from which a user supplies input to a computer system with the display of multiple representations of instructional material related to how to operate the control. Displayed representations of first and second sets of instructional material may be concurrently or selectively integrated with a displayed representation of the user interface control. When multiple sets of instructional material are concurrently displayed, the user interface control may be actuated in response to user input supplied to multiple displayed representations of the user interface control. Moreover, when multiple sets of instructional material are selectively displayed, different sets of such material may replace other sets in response to user input. By integrating the display of a user interface control with the display of associated instructional material, a user is better able to comprehend and utilize the functionality of the user interface control without losing focus on the task at hand. Moreover, by concurrently or selectively displaying multiple sets of instructional material with a particular user interface control, a wider variety of potential users of the control may be supported.

Computer system and method for controlling the same utilizing a user interface control integrated with multiple sets of instructional material therefor

A computer system and method of controlling the same utilize logically-typed concept highlighting to link together in a user's mind the relationships between various concepts within a body of knowledge. Information from a body of knowledge is maintained in one or more information elements, at least a portion of which are associated with one or more named concepts. Links are defined between two or more named concepts, so that information elements associated with named concepts linked via a link may be visually represented to a user in such a manner that the link between such named concepts is apparent to the user. The links are selectively enabled in response to a predetermined criteria so that different links may be enabled or disabled under appropriate circumstances.

Growing community of inventors

Rochester, MN, United States of America

George Francis DeStefano