Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display driving control circuitry – Controlling the condition of display elements
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-30
2001-04-17
Bayerl, Raymond J. (Department: 2773)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Display driving control circuitry
Controlling the condition of display elements
C345S215000, C345S215000, C345S440000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06219053
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for monitoring objects and the correlation between the objects on a map showing the correlation between objects.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, in a system for monitoring a host, router, hub, etc. provided in a network, an object to be watched or monitored can be a node such as a host, a router, a hub, etc. In this case, when the correlation between a node (root) to be monitored and another node subordinate to the node is monitored, it is required that the correlation can be correctly obtained and information can be easily referred to. In a network monitor system, the information about a host to be monitored and the connection to another host must be easily referred to. To represent the connection between nodes, it is effective to graphically represent the correlation between nodes on a map. When a map is drawn, an appropriate method of drawing pictures is required to easily refer to necessary information in monitoring nodes.
Conventionally, a tree-structure map drawing method is used to represent the correlation between a root and subordinate nodes.
FIG. 1
shows a method of drawing a conventional tree-structure map.
In this method, the icon of the root is drawn as the top, and the icons of the subordinate nodes assigned the same hierarchical level of hierarchical position are arranged in the same line. Adjacent icons are connected via lines. Thus, the correlation between the root and the subordinate nodes can be represented by multiple hierarchical levels of a tree structure. In the following descriptions, a hierarchical level having a larger ordinal number is a higher hierarchical level, and the hierarchical level having a smaller ordinal number is a lower hierarchical level. Therefore, in
FIG. 1
, the first hierarchical level, or the root, is the lowest hierarchical level. The lower positions in
FIG. 1
refer to higher hierarchical levels.
In the conventional method, the node indicating a root is assigned the top position. The number of nodes increases downward. Since the network configuration is represented based on the root, the representation cannot be flexibly changed. Furthermore, since the number of nodes displayed at the same hierarchical level increases at a higher hierarchical level, the number of displayed icons (corresponding to nodes) increases at a higher hierarchical level, thereby causing the problem that each icon cannot be easily recognized on the display screen.
The node of a root is the center of a network such as a host, etc. In the conventional tree structure, the displayed configuration of the network does not represent an actual network.
In the conventional method of drawing a tree-structure map, the map contains the icon indicating the root as the top regardless of the physical configuration of a target to be actually monitored. Therefore, when the user is going to monitor the target using the map, it is difficult to know the entire configuration of the target to be monitored or to intuitively monitor a specific target, thereby failing to efficiently monitor a target.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention aims at providing a method of displaying an icon so that the configuration of the entire monitored target and a specified node can be grasped and monitored intuitively and efficiently.
The icon display method according to the present invention includes a step of drawing an icon indicating an object to be regarded; a step of drawing icons having an equivalent correlation with an object to be regarded at an equal distance from the object to be regarded; and a step of connecting icons indicating adjacent objects using a line. With the configuration, the correlations between the object to be regarded and the objects related to the object to be regarded are drawn on concentric circles.
Another aspect of the icon display method according to the present invention includes a step of drawing an icon indicating an object to be regarded; a step of drawing icons having the closest correlation with the drawn object at an equal distance from the drawn object. With the configuration, the correlation between objects is represented by connecting icons indicating adjacent objects using a line.
The icon display apparatus according to the present invention draws an icon corresponding to an object with the correlation with other objects taken into account, and includes a computation unit for determining the position of an icon indicating an object to be regarded, and computing the positions of the icons having an equivalent correlation with an object to be regarded at an equal distance from the object to be regarded as the positions of drawing the icons indicating the objects having relationships with the object to be regarded; and a drawing unit for drawing an icon indicating an object to be regarded, drawing an icon indicating an object having correlation with the object to be regarded at the position computed by the computation unit, and connecting icons indicating adjacent objects using a line. With the configuration, the correlations between the object to be regarded and the objects related to the object to be regarded are drawn on the concentric circles.
A further aspect of the icon display apparatus according to the present invention draws an icon corresponding to an object with the correlation between objects taken into account, and includes a computation unit for determining the drawing position of an icon indicating an object to be regarded, and computing the positions of the icons indicating the objects having the closest correlations with the icon indicating the object whose drawing position is determined at an equal distance from the drawn icon indicating the object as the drawing positions of the icons indicating the objects having the closest correlations with the object whose drawing position is determined; and a drawing unit for drawing icons indicating the object to be regarded and other objects based on the process result of the computation result, and connecting the icons indicating the adjacent objects using a line. With the configuration, the correlations between objects can be drawn.
According to the present invention, icons indicating objects are arranged on concentric circles or on circles having respective objects in the center based on the icon indicating the object to be regarded.
Therefore, the closeness in correlation with the icon indicating the object to be regarded can be recognized at a glance. Furthermore, the complicated correlation in the network of objects can be clearly indicated by representing the correlations between icons indicating respective objects as connected using lines. Additionally, the correlation between objects can be re-recognized from various points of views by changing an object to be regarded, thereby easily obtaining the correlations between objects and the information about objects themselves.
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Ishibashi Kouji
Sasaki Kazuaki
Sasaki Kazutaka
Shimazaki Kenichi
Tachibana Shoichi
Bautista X. L.
Bayerl Raymond J.
Fujitsu Limited
Staas & Halsey , LLP
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