Patent ID: 7594238

Claim:
A message display method of a message display apparatus for displaying messages, comprising: storing an operation schedule that defines start and end times of scheduled programs, together with patterns of keywords that are expected to appear in messages generated by the scheduled programs; receiving messages from a program and recording reception times thereof; grouping the received messages into a message group, depending on relationships thereof; determining whether messages of the message group are those expected to be output from a program running during a scheduled time period thereof, by comparing the reception times of the messages with the start and end times defined in the operation schedule, in addition to comparing the messages with the patterns of keywords defined in the operation schedule; retrieving a group name corresponding to the message group, from a first group name storage unit when said determination shows that the messages are those expected to be output, and from a second group name storage unit when said determination shows otherwise; outputting the group name in place of the messages originally received; accepting countermeasures taken in response to a message indicating an abnormal situation, from an operator and storing the countermeasures in a countermeasure storage unit; and displaying the countermeasures being stored in the countermeasure storage unit on a display unit when said determination shows that messages of the message group are not those expected to be output.