Patent ID: 7876324

Claim:
A method for developing a monitoring strategy for use in a controller using a computer system, the method comprising the steps of: displaying graphical representations of possible monitoring operations on a display of the system; displaying a 2D graph on the display; receiving commands from a user of the system to select graphical representations from the displayed graphical representations and to display the selected graphical representations on the graph, the selected graphical representations corresponding to desired monitoring operations wherein different types of monitoring entities including window and marker monitoring entities are used within the graph to describe corresponding monitoring specifics including windowing, anchoring of windows, and triggers wherein the window monitoring entity represents a subsection of the graph and wherein the marker monitoring entity is used to automatically determine placement of a window within the graph and wherein the triggers are utilized to recognize graph features that indicate locations in the graph where the marker monitoring entity is automatically placed; and automatically generating a strategy which corresponds to the selected graphical representations on the graph.