Patent ID: 7855978

Claim:
A method performed at a computer system for displaying representations of nodes, and links connecting said nodes, of a network, said method comprising: displaying, at the computer system, a node line representing each one of said nodes, each node line being parallel to every other node line, wherein each node has associated node attributes; displaying, at the computer system, a link line representing each one of said links, each link line being perpendicular to each node line, wherein each link line terminates at two node lines, said two node lines representing the nodes connected by the link represented by the link line, wherein each link has associated link attributes; grouping either a selected plurality of the node lines having similar node attributes into a selected node line group or a selected plurality of the link lines having similar link attributes into a selected link line group; compressing the selected node line group or the selected link line group as a single compressed node line or a single compressed link line, respectively; and displaying, at the computer system, the single compressed node line or the single compressed link line as a visually distinguishable representation of the selected node line group or the selected link line group.