International Business Machines Corporation

Kent Fillmore Hayes, Jr

Robert Thomas Uthe

David Louis Kaminsky

David Bruce Lindquist

Robert Charles Leah

Paul Franklin McMahan

Patrick Rocco Guido

Steven Paul Kim

Bradford Austin Fisher

David E Cox

Brett G King

Anne Frances Ross

Oludare Adebankole Kumolu-Johnson

Anthony Brian O'Hare

Charles Ray Saylor

A method for managing interrupts in an instant messaging application may include receiving an interrupt request from an interrupting contact during an instant messaging conversation between at least two contacts. The method may also include interrupting the instant messaging conversation in response to a predetermined one of the interrupting contact having a selected interrupt priority ranking relative to an interrupt priority ranking of each of the at least two contacts or an interrupting conversation having a higher interrupt priority ranking compared to an interrupt priority ranking of the instant messaging conversation.

Method and system for managing interrupts in an instant messaging application

Mechanisms are provided for allowing users to log into an IM provider from multiple clients concurrently. The messages are recorded and messages from the same users originating form multiple clients are differentiated. The user may then follow the IM session from any client device from which the user has logged into the IM provider. Also, when logging into a new client device in a session, the user is provided a history of the IM session.

Multiple login instant messaging

A method, apparatus, and computer program product are disclosed for selecting links in a page using an enhanced mouse pointer. The page is displayed in a data processing system that includes a mouse that includes a scroll wheel. Multiple links are included in the page. A standard mouse pointer is displayed in the page. An enhanced mouse pointer state is then invoked causing the standard mouse pointer to become an enhanced mouse pointer. In response to invoking the enhanced mouse pointer state, a closest one of the links in the page to the enhanced standard mouse pointer is determined. An enhanced mouse pointer indicator is displayed that extends from the enhanced mouse pointer to the determined closest one of the links. The links may be scrolled through by rotating the scroll wheel.

Method, apparatus, and computer program product for an enhanced mouse pointer

Monitoring silent installation of a subordinate program on one or more data processing systems. While the subordinate program is being installed silently, at least one activity associated with the installation is monitored. As each activity is performed, a status report regarding the progress of the installation is updated. The process of updating the status report is performed independently of any installation program associated with the subordinate program. The status report is displayed to a user so that the user knows that the installation of a primary target program has not hung during installation of the subordinate program.

Monitoring and displaying progress of silent installation of a subordinate program

A method and system for use within at least one network. The method and system achieve their objects via computing equipment engineered to do the following: define one or more pools of network resources; and assign network resources on the basis of the one or more pools of network resources.

Method and system for enhancing communications efficiency in data communications networks

A system with a network interconnecting a server and a plurality of user stations. The server stores a plurality of user applications for downloading to user stations and further stores access permissions for the applications for each user. When a user attempts to log onto the system, the server uses the user's log-on identifier to build a list of applications for which the user has access permission. The server downloads to the station a list of applications to which the user has access permission. The user station uses the list to build a folder containing only the applications from the list to which the user has access permission. The system further verifies from the list that the user has access to applications that are represented by objects that the user may have added to his or her desktop at an earlier time. For each user desktop preference specified by the user at an earlier time that corresponds to a user application, the access permission for the user to the user application is checked from the list, and, if the application is not included on the list, the desktop object representing the application is removed from the desktop.

Client-server system for maintaining a user desktop consistent with server application user access permissions

Management of configurable applications programs on a network is provided by using two program files for each configurable application program. The two program files are provided to a network server station which operates as the on-demand server for software deployment and may also act as the application server. The on-demand server makes the first (configuration manager) program available to an administrator to obtain preferences for the configurable preferences of the application program which have been designated as administrator preferences. The on-demand server also provides a second (application launcher) program to its client stations. The application launcher program not only provides for a user interface to execute the application program itself but also allows a user to specify one or more of the configurable parameters of the application program. An icon is displayed on the screen of the client station through which a user may initiate execution of the application program. The application launcher program provides the identity of the user to the server along with the request to initiate execution of the application program. The on-demand server then initiates execution of the application program using stored values for the user and administrator set preferences or, if no preferences have yet been obtained for the particular user, obtains user preferences before initiating execution of the application program.

Methods, systems and computer program products for management of configurable application programs on a network

A system with a network interconnecting a server and a plurality of user stations. The system allows a system administrator to configure applications in the context of a user or a user group, and then to change the context and continue with configuration in the new context, all without requiring the administrator to terminate and relaunch the application to acquire the configuration information pertaining to the new context. A context change event listener is provided as part of the application being configured at the administrator's station. The listener registers itself in the profile management system. When the administrator changes context by selecting a new user, user group, or terminal or terminal group, a profile manager senses the context change and alerts the listener. The listener then performs a load properties API call to get the preference data from the server for the new context, and causes the configuration application being executed to update variables to reflect the new preference information.

Client-server system with central application management allowing an administrator to configure user and group contexts during application configuration without relaunching the application

A system with a network interconnecting a server and a plurality of user stations. The system provides the capability of allowing an administrator to configure a user application by running the application directly in the context of a user or user group, rather than in the context of the administrator. That is, the configuration of the application is performed by executing the application, configuring the application using the options provided by the application for that purpose, and then saving the configuration as if the actual user or group were executing the application.

Client&mdash;server system with central application management allowing an administrator to configure end user applications by executing them in the context of users and groups

A system with a network interconnecting a server and a plurality of user stations. The system provides a means whereby vendors of existing hardware and software can integrate the hardware or software into the environment of a centrally managed network computing system, without having to retrofit the hardware with new firmware or without having to redesign the existing software. An export service allows a system administrator to generate configuration files in the format that the existing hardware or software expects and to store the files at the server in a way that the existing hardware or software can access the files in the manner for which it is designed.

Client-server system with central application management and providing

A system with a network interconnecting a server and a plurality of user stations. A system administrator models users of the system, or user groups, terminals and terminal groups as a hierarchy and sets desktop and user application preferences for each group and for the individual users separately. For a selected group context, say the group of all users of the system, or some subgroup under the group that represents all users, a default set of preferences are determined for a selected user application. The default set is then modified according to preferences that are specifically set forth in the selected group. These preferences may then again modified by a set of preferences that belong specifically to the user.

Client-server system for maintaining application preferences in a

A system with a network interconnecting a server and a plurality of user stations. The system automatically determines a unique storage location for storing preference information for an object-oriented application, without resorting to the requirement of having a central authority assign a unique designation for the application and without requiring the coding of storage location information into the application. The server stores a plurality of object-oriented end user applications for downloading to user stations and it further stores configuration preferences for the end user applications in the context of different groups and subgroups of users. A profile manager at an administrators station is arranged to execute a configuration application for an end user application, whereby the administrator can specify configuration preferences for the end user application in the context of different groups and subgroups of system users. When a set of configuration preferences is to be saved on the server, a unique location for storing the configuration preferences is determined for the end user application in a selected context by retrieving the fully qualified class name of the end user application from an object on the administrator's station which represents the configuration application. Then combining the fully qualified class name with the selected context to form a key. The key is then mapped in a prescribed manner to generate the unique storage location address for the application and context.

Growing community of inventors

Chapel Hill, NC, United States of America

Kent Fillmore Hayes, Jr