Patent ID: 8713152
Filing Date: 2014-04-29
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. At a computer system including at least one processor and a memory, a computer-implemented method for providing a structural diagram to collect user input data for managing a distributed software application in a non-linear manner, the method comprising: an act of receiving a user input specifying the distributed software application, which is to be managed across a plurality of computer systems, the distributed software application comprising a plurality of tiers that execute across the plurality of computer systems, each tier representing a different type of functionality of the distributed software application; an act of determining, based on the specified distributed software application, which of a plurality of different nodes are to be displayed in the structural diagram, the plurality of nodes of the structural diagram representing application properties for managing the specified distributed software application and including at least: (i) a first node representing an application management service of the distributed software application, (ii) a second node representing at least one of the plurality of tiers of the distributed software application, and (iii) a third node representing at least one computer system instance, the third node being a sub-node of the second node; and an act of providing the structural diagram, which displays the determined nodes, each of the displayed nodes providing one or more graphical user interface controls for providing user input for managing the corresponding represented application property, thereby allowing non-linear configuration of the distributed software application across the plurality of computer systems and at an application management service level, at a tier level, and at an instance level.