Patent ID: 7478145

Claim:
A method for analyzing a network and generating the topology of said network for exchanging electronic data, the method comprising: providing at least two elements of the network, wherein each of the elements of the network is assigned at least one network address; automatically registering each element of the network; determining the hierarchical position of an element within the network by reference to the network address of the element; generating data indicative of the topology of the network, said data comprising a markup language, wherein each respective element in the network is uniquely assigned a respective hyperlink in the data which indicates the topology of the network, and wherein a user's interaction with each respective network element is effected by the assigned hyperlink; processing said data to generate a graphical representation of the network's topology, wherein said graphical representation is in the form of a hierarchical tree structure, wherein the user's interaction with each network element using the hyperlink is effected from within a graphical representation of the topology of the network, wherein the elements in the network are shown in different colors in a graphical representation of the topology of the network, and wherein the color of the representation is selected to indicate a present status of each respective element, wherein for each respective element three different statuses are available, wherein a first status of the respective element consists of an indication that a link to the respective element is available, wherein a second status consists of an indication that a link to the respective element is faulty, and wherein a third status consists of an indication that a link to the respective element is undergoing diagnostics; continuously monitoring a present status of the topology of the network; comparing the present status of the topology of the network relative to a previous status of the topology of the network; based on a result of said comparing, determining at least one change in the present status of the topology of the network relative to the previous status of the topology of the network; and upon determining an occurrence of at least one change in the present status of the topology of the network, updating the graphical representation of the topology of the network to include said at least one change, including a color change corresponding to a change in the status of each respective element.