Patent ID: 6880127

Claim:
A method for displaying connections in a system for displaying a network topology, the method comprising displaying first and second nodes on the display screen; defining a plurality of lines for connecting the first node to the second node, wherein the plurality of lines include a first line group parallel to a first direction and a second line group parallel to a second direction, wherein lines in the second line group are not parallel with lines in the first line group; displaying a connection between the first and second nodes according to the following substeps: selecting a line from the first line group, wherein the selected line is coupled to the first node; choosing a line from the second line group that intersects the selected line, wherein the step of choosing includes proceeding on a path from the first node along the selected line until an obstructing node is encountered and then using the last intersecting line passed as the chosen line, but if there is no obstructing node then using the first intersecting line encountered after passing the midpoint of the selected line as the selected line; and displaying a connection between the chosen line and the second node.