Patent Abstract:
Provided are a method, system, and program for managing a configuration file including device parameters that define attributes of the device accessed by a device driver executing in a computer. The device driver uses the device parameters to control one or more devices in communication with the computer. A determination is made of device parameters provided with the device driver for a device, wherein the device parameters are maintained external to the configuration file. User selection of at least one of the determined device parameters is received and a parameter code for each selected device parameter is written to the configuration file.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a method, system, and program for determining system information from a computer system. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   In certain instances, a software distributor or technical support agent may want to determine the configuration of a customer computer system. In the prior art, tailor made utilities are provided to determine system configuration information for particular uses. For instance, in the Unix** operating system, the “prtconf” command is used to print system configuration information, whose output includes the total amount of memory and the configuration of system peripherals formatted as a device tree. 
   Further, software vendors will sometimes query a customer&#39;s computer over a network to determine the system configuration for purposes of whether any upgrades or fixes for that system are available. For instance, Microsoft Corporation provides a Windows® update utility that is downloaded to the user&#39;s computer to scan the computer to determine whether any new version of installed components are available. The utility displays a list of recent versions of the determined components on the user&#39;s computer that the user can select to install. 
   Such prior art utility programs for determining system configuration information are designed for specific uses and not intended for general purpose queries of system information. For this reason, there is a need in the art for improved techniques for providing utilities to determine system information and to allow software vendors and others to configure such utilities for different purposes. 
   SUMMARY OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Provided are a method, system, and program for determining system information from a computer system having at least one attached device. Resource information indicating at least one program and at least one device is processed. The computer system is queried to determine whether the at least one device indicated in the resource information is coupled to the computer system and the computer system is searched to determine whether at least one program indicated in the resource information is installed in the computer system. System information is generated that indicates determined devices and programs in the computer system. The system information is then rendered, such that the rendered system information on the determined devices and programs is capable of being presented in a human observable format. 
   In further implementations, the resource information is edited to modify the at least one program or at least one device indicated in the resource information. 
   In yet further implementations, the resource information further indicates files. The computer system is searched to determine whether the computer system includes at least one file indicated in the resource information. Information is included in the system information indicating any determined files in the computer system. 
   Still further, the resource information may be coded in a program that performs the steps of processing the resource information, querying and searching the computer system, and generating the system information. In such implementations, the resource information is capable of being configured to modify at least one of the devices and programs indicated in the resource information. 
   Further provided are a method, system, and program for determining system information. Resource information in a utility program is edited to indicate at least one program and at least one device. The utility program is deployed to determine system information for a computer system The utility program is invoked to perform the operations of querying the computer system to determine whether the at least one device indicated in the resource information is coupled to the computer system; searching the computer system to determine whether at least one program indicated in the resource information is installed in the computer system; and generating system information indicating determined devices and programs in the computer system, wherein the system information is capable of being rendered a human observable format to present information on the determine devices and programs. 
   In further implementations, the system information to a remote computer over a network. In such further implementations, the remote computer may be operated by a technical support agent providing technical support to a user of the computer system. The technical support agent would use the system information when providing technical support on the computer system to the user. 
   The described implementations provide techniques to search for devices and programs installed on a host system using a program that may be configured to alter the resources that are subject to searching on the host system. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numbers represent corresponding parts throughout: 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a computing environment in which aspects of the invention are implemented; 
       FIG. 2  illustrates logic to detect a system configuration in accordance with implementations of the invention; 
       FIG. 3  illustrates an example of a Graphical User Interface (GUI) panel displaying system configuration information in accordance with implementations of the invention; 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a network computing environment in which aspects of the invention may be implemented; and 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a computer architecture which may be utilized with certain implementations of the invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and which illustrate several embodiments of the present invention. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural and operational changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. 
     FIG. 1  illustrates a computing environment in which aspects of the invention are implemented. A computer system  2  includes a configuration detector utility  4  that is invoked to detect the presence of specified devices and computer programs. The configuration detector utility  4  may be implemented as a standalone program or utility executing on the computer system  2 . The computer  2  includes a file system  6  that organizes and provides access to files and programs in storage devices coupled to the computer  2 . A plurality of devices  8   a,    8   b . . .  8   n  are coupled to the computer system  2 . One or more of the devices  8   a,    8   b . . .  8   n  may be coupled to the computer  2  over a network or communication interface, such as a serial, parallel, or other connection. Certain of the devices  8   a,    8   b . . .  8   n  may comprise a peripheral card inserted into an expansion slot of the computer system  2  or comprise a device embedded on the main circuit board of the system  2 . The computer system  2  further includes device drivers  10   a,    10   b . . .  10   n  that are used by the computer system  2  to access the attached devices  8   a,    8   b . . .  8   n,  respectively. 
   The computer  2  further includes system Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)  12 , which may be provided with an operating system of the computer  2 , that are used to make calls to access information on attached devices. For instance, in a Microsoft Windows® environment, the system APIs may comprise functions calls to programs that are capable of accessing information on attached devices and installed programs, such as the Windows device manager program. Additionally, the system APIs  12  may comprise functions used to discover device information, such as Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) discovery commands, IOCTLs, etc. Still further, the APIs  12  that are used may involve searches of a system registry or other similar type file for information. 
   The configuration detection utility  4  includes a program and file list  14  indicating files and programs and a device list  16  indicating devices  8   a,    8   b . . .  8   n  that the configuration detection utility  4  will search for on the computer system  2 . The devices in the device list  16  may include the operating system, central processing unit (CPU), memory, attached storage devices (e.g., tape drives, hard disk drives, disk arrays, optical disk drives, etc.) In certain implementations, the program and file list  14  and device list  16  may be edited by a user to modify the resources that are searched. For instance, a software development tool  20 , such as Microsoft® Visual Studio®, may be used to edit the program and file list  14  and/or device list resources  16  in the executable configuration detector  4  program to add, remove or modify the devices, files, and/or programs the configuration detector  4  will seek to detect on the system  2 . Alternatively, in certain implementations, only the program and file list  14  may be resources that a user may edit using a software development tool. 
     FIG. 2  illustrates logic implemented in the configuration detector  4  to determine and render information on a system configuration. The configuration detector  4  may be invoked (at block  100 ) by a user starting the executable configuration detector  4 . Additionally, the configuration detector may be downloaded from a host system over a network to run on a user computer  2  to determine system information  18 . For instance, in cases where a computer hardware or software vendor is providing technical support to a customer, the software vendor may automatically or at the customer request, download the configuration detector  4  to run on the customer system  2  to determine the system configuration. In such cases, the system configuration detector  4  may then transmit the system information  18  back to the software vendor system providing the support for consideration by the technical support representative. After invocation, the configuration detector  4  would issue (at block  102 ) commands to determine whether the system  2  devices  8   a,    8   b . . .  8   n  match components listed on the device list  16 . The commands that are issued at block  102  may comprise discovery commands that are part of a device interface protocol, such as SCSI, IOCTL, etc. Additionally, the issued device discovery commands may include calls to system APIs  12  that in turn call an operating system or other program that is capable of accessing information on installed devices. 
   If (at block  104 ) the devices  8   a,    8   b . . .  8   n  coupled to the system  2  are indicated on the device list  16 , i.e., attached-listed devices, then information on the attached-listed devices are added (at block  106 ) to the system information  18  being rendered. The configuration detector  4  then determines (at block  108 ) the device driver files  10   a,    10   b . . .  10   n  for each of the attached-listed devices. The determined device driver files  10   a,    10   b . . .    10   n  may be indicated in the device list  16  with the devices, in the program and file list  14  or may be determined when querying the device  10   a,    10   b . . .  10   n  or a system registry file. The version of the determined device driver files  10   a,    10   b . . .  10   n  is determined (at block  110 ) and the information on the determined version for the added devices is added (at block  112 ) to the system information  18 . 
   Control then proceeds to block  114 , from the no branch of block  104  or  112 , to query the file system  6  to determine whether the file system  6  includes any of the programs and/or files indicated in the program and files list  14 . If (at block  116 ) the file system  6  includes one or more files or programs matching those indicated on the program and files list  14 , then the configuration detector  4  adds (at block  118 ) the name of each determined program and/or file to the system information  18 . The configuration detector  4  would further query (at block  120 ) each determined program and/or file to determine the version information and add (at block  122 ) such determined version information for the determined program and/or files to the system information  18 . In alternative implementations, listed files and programs may be determined by scanning a system registry or repository of system information. The system information  18  may then be rendered (at block  124 ) by displaying the determined system information  18  on the attached monitor  20  or other output device capable of rendering information in a human observable format. Alternatively, the system information  18  may be rendered in a file that may be stored on a storage device or transmitted to a remote location over a network, wherein the system information  18  may later be generated as output from the stored or transmitted file. 
     FIG. 3  illustrates an example of a graphical user interface (GUI) presentation  150  of the system information  18  on the monitor  20 . The GUI  150  displays information on certain installed programs, such as the operating system, explorer.exe, class2.sys, and atapi.sys, including version information, size and date last modified information as well as the presence of certain installed devices, such as a CD reader, CD writer, RAID controller, disk drives, etc., as well as the version number of such devices. The GUI  150  further displays controls to save the displayed system information  18  in a file, close the GUI  20  or e-mail or otherwise transmit the system information  18  to an external device. 
   In described implementations, the configuration detector  4  gathers various types of system information, including information on attached hardware devices and installed programs and available files and may render such information in various formats. 
   Further, with the described implementations, a software or hardware vendor may use a software development tool to customize the files and/or devices, indicated in the lists  14  and/or  16 , that are searched during the operation of the configuration detector  4 . In this way, the vendor may tailor the search of components to those that are of interest to the vendor and that may assist while providing technical support or other services. As mentioned, a vendor could deploy the configuration detector  4  on a user system to determine installed components and then have the configuration detector  4  transmit the system information  18  to the vendor agent over a network, such as the Internet, to review when providing support. In this way, the configuration detector comprises a utility that may be readily configured for deployment to obtain information on specific types of devices and transmit such information to remote systems over networks. 
     FIG. 4  illustrates an implementation where a technical support server  150  maintains configuration detectors  154   a,    154   b . . .  154   n  for different components  156   a,    156   b . . .  156   n  that are supported by the operator of the technical support server  150 , where the supported component may comprise any type of hardware device, software program or computer system. Each configuration detector  154 ,  154   b . . .  154   n  indicates different components, e.g., programs, files, and devices in the lists  14  and  16  ( FIG. 1 ) relevant to the supported component  156   a,    156   b . . .  156   n.  These different configuration detectors  154   a,    154   b . . .  154   n  for the different components  156   a,    156   b,    156   n  may search for different sets of programs, files, and devices the technical support agent needs to know of when providing technical support for the supported component  156   a,    156   b . . .  156   n.  For instance, different supported components  156   a,    156   b . . .  156   n  may be affected by specific installed or attached devices and their drivers. For this reason, lists  14  and  16  may be different in the configuration detectors  154   a,    154   b . . .  154   n  deployed for the different supported components  156   a,    156   b . . .  156   n  for which technical support is being provided, i.e., information on certain installed components may be relevant for certain supported components, but not others. In this way, the technical support agent can determine whether any of the installed components or their drivers are causing a conflict or other problems with the component for which technical support is being provided. 
   In the implementation of  FIG. 4 , the technical support server  150  communicates with client systems  160   a,    160   b . . .  160   n  that may each include any one or more of the supported components  156   a,    156   b . . .  156   n  over a network  162 . The network may comprise the Internet, an Intranet, a Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), etc. The technical support server  150  may comprise one or more computer systems. In the implementation of  FIG. 4 , the technical support server  150  would deploy the configuration detector  154   a,    154   b . . .  154   n  for the client  160   a,    160   b . . .  160   n  depending on the supported component  156   a,    156   b . . .  156   n  installed or attached to the client  160   a,    160   b . . .  160   n  for which technical support is to be provided. The deployment may involve transmitting the configuration detector  154   a,    154   b . . .  154   n  to the client  160   a,    160   b . . .  160   n  to execute on the client system. Alternatively, the deployed configuration detector  154   a,    154   b . . .  154   n  may run on the technical support server  150 , and query and search the client  160   a,    160   b . . .  160   n  over the network  158 . The deployed configuration detector  154   a,    154   b . . .  154   n  would then generate system information on the client  160   a,    160   b . . .  160   n,  including information on any installed or attached hardware devices or programs indicated in the lists  14  and  16 , and transmit the system information back to the technical support server  150  over the network  158 . 
   Additional Implementation Details 
   The described configuration utility may be implemented as a method, apparatus or article of manufacture using standard programming and/or engineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein refers to code or logic implemented in hardware logic (e.g., an integrated circuit chip, Programmable Gate Array (PGA), Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), etc.) or a computer readable medium, such as magnetic storage medium (e.g., hard disk drives, floppy disks, tape, etc.), optical storage (CD-ROMs, optical disks, etc.), volatile and non-volatile memory devices (e.g., EEPROMs, ROMs, PROMs, RAMs, DRAMs, SRAMs, firmware, programmable logic, etc.). Code in the computer readable medium is accessed and executed by a processor. The code in which preferred embodiments are implemented may further be accessible through a transmission media or from a file server over a network. In such cases, the article of manufacture in which the code is implemented may comprise a transmission media, such as a network transmission line, wireless transmission media, signals propagating through space, radio waves, infrared signals, etc. Of course, those skilled in the art will recognize that many modifications may be made to this configuration without departing from the scope of the present invention, and that the article of manufacture may comprise any information bearing medium known in the art. 
   In the described implementations, the GUI window displayed with system information, as shown in  FIG. 3 , comprised a graphical user interface (GUI) that the user manipulates using any input device known in the art, such as a keyboard, mouse pointer, pen stylus, touch screen having comprising a display device with a touch-sensitive transparent panel, microphone for receiving voice activated commands, etc. Additionally, the user interface may comprise an audio output and input device, where the audio output device generates audio output that inform the user of the configuration options and the audio input device receives audio signals from the user to select user interface options and settings for the configuration file. 
   In the described implementations, the programs, files and devices to search for in the computer system  2  are coded in the executable configuration detector  14  and capable of being edited and modified using a software development tool. In alternative implementations, the files, programs, and devices to search for in the system may be maintained in a separate file that is processed by the configuration detector  4  and capable of being edited by a text editor. Alternatively, the files, programs and devices to search may be maintained in a same resource or file, or distributed across the more than two lists or separate components. 
   In the described implementations, the resource information on devices, files, and programs to detect was implemented in separate lists  14  and  16 . In further implementations, the information on the components to detect may be maintained in a single resource data structure or distributed across more than two data structures. The data structure(s) in which the resource information is implemented an object within a program, a section of code within the program, a separate file, etc. 
   The configuration detector utility was described as being used for technical support purposes. However, the generated system information may be used for any purpose, such as determining upgrades and fixes that may be applied to the computer system, determining what is installed, etc. 
   The illustrated logic of  FIG. 2  indicates certain events occurring in a certain order. In alternative implementations, certain operations may be performed in a different order, modified or removed. Morever, steps may be added to the above described logic and still conform to the described implementations. Further, operations described herein may occur sequentially or certain operations may be processed in parallel. Yet further, operations may be performed by a single processing unit or by distributed processing units. 
   In the described implementations, the configuration detector determined system information on the computer system in which the detector program executes. In alternative implementations, the configuration detector may execute on one computer in a network to detect program files, devices, and files in another remote computer on the network by issuing queries of the remote computer over the network to determine whether the remote computer includes any devices, programs or files matching those on the program and file list  14  and device list  16 . 
   In certain implementations, the configuration detector  4  is deployed by downloading the configuration detector  4  from a remote site to execute on the computer system  2  in which the configuration is to be detected. In alternative implementations, the configuration detector  4  may be deployed through alternative channels, such as on a removable storage medium that is distributed to the user of the computer system. 
   In certain implementations, the program and file list  14  may indicate default directories in the file system to search for listed files and/or programs. Additionally, the user may be given the opportunity to locate the directory to search for the listed file or program if the file or program is not located in the default location. 
     FIG. 5  illustrates one implementation of the architecture of the system  2 . The system  2  may implement a computer architecture  200  having a processor  202  (e.g., a microprocessor), a memory  204  (e.g., a volatile memory device), and storage  206  (e.g., a non-volatile storage, such as magnetic disk drives, optical disk drives, a tape drive, etc.). The storage  206  may comprise an internal storage device or an attached or network accessible storage. Programs in the storage  206  are loaded into the memory  204  and executed by the processor  202  in a manner known in the art. The architecture further includes a network card  208  to enable communication with a network. An input device  210  is used to provide user input to the processor  202 , and may include a keyboard, mouse, pen-stylus, microphone, touch sensitive display screen, or any other activation or input mechanism known in the art. An output device  212  is capable of rendering information transmitted from the processor  202 , or other component, such as a display monitor, printer, storage, etc. 
   The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto. The above specification, examples and data provide a complete description of the manufacture and use of the composition of the invention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended.

Technology Classification (CPC): 8