Digital Equipment Corporation

Compaq Computer Corporation, Inc.

Meyer A Billmers

Kamesh Ramakrishna

Daniel Theriault, Deceased

Mark R Adler

Krishnan Subramanian

Michael G Carifo

Steven H Schwartz

A new system for organizing received messages for a user does not require the user to examine and categorize each received message, and enables the user to conveniently and efficiently modify filtering rules used to define folders that organize received messages. The system includes a received information database for storing received messages. One or more message filters are provided, for example where a separate message filter is provided to handle each specific message source or message type. Each message filter generates indices corresponding to portions of the received messages it processes. The message filters store the indices into a database index such that the indices are associated with the message and message portions to which they correspond. The system includes a plurality of message folders, such that received messages are organized based on a predetermined set of message characteristics. The system stores a search query within each folder. When the user requests to view the contents of a given folder, the search query for that folder is passed to a search engine. The search engine generates search results based on the search query and a search of the received message index. Messages are thus associated with the given folder, as defined by the search query, and appear to the user to be contained within that folder. In an example embodiment, the system includes an alert engine which periodically determines whether a message has been received that matches alert characteristics provided by the user.

Method and apparatus for filtering incoming information using a search engine and stored queries defining user folders

A model-based reasoning system for diagnosing faults in a computer network has an information base that stores information about the computer network. This information includes the topology of the network, a class hierarchy containing a component library and diagnostic expertise, and a diagnosis episode. A diagnosis engine receives a pointer to a situation. Each situation includes a focus role and a most general class for the focus role. Based upon this situation, the diagnosis engine creates a diagnosis episode, using the information stored in the information base.

Model based reasoning system for network fault diagnosis

A fault diagnosis system which detects possible faulty components in a complex system. The complex system is represented by a representation comprising a plurality of nodes interconnected by links defining a flow among nodes corresponding to flows in the complex system. At least one of the nodes is a checkpoint node, which generates a report if the flow received by it is not correct. A fault diagnosis processor performing upstream search operation to repeatedly (such as by recursion of iteration) step in upstream path, that is, opposite to the direction of flow in the complex system, from node to node starting with the reporting checkpoint node. At each step, the fault diagnosis processor indicts components represented by both nodes and links in the representation.

Fault diagnostic system

An expression comprising conditions is evaluated based on values of data elements presented to a network of a kind in which the conditions are represented by nodes and the relationships among conditions in the expression are represented by links among the nodes, by storing information that identifies which conditions represented by at least some of the nodes have been satisfied by the values of the data elements, and testing the stored information in accordance with the expression as a basis for evaluating said expression. In a second aspect, an expression that comprises conditions which pertain to possible values of data belonging to categories of data is evaluated based on actual values of data presented to a network of a kind in which the conditions are represented by nodes, by identifying a category of data for which values need not occur in the network in order for a condition that requires a value in the category to be provisionally satisfied, and causing the node that represents the condition to indicate that the condition is provisionally satisfied even when no values in the identified category occur in the network.

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Lexington, MA, United States of America

Meyer A Billmers