Patent ID: 8015456

Claim:
A machine-based method for displaying alarm data, comprising: generating an alarm data table having multiple columns corresponding to different alarm data fields and multiple rows corresponding to different alarms, wherein a primary key associated with the alarm data table includes a subset of the different alarm data fields in the multiple columns that uniquely represent the different alarms in the multiple rows; removing one or more of the different alarm data fields in the subset of the different alarm data fields from the primary key, wherein removing the one or more alarm data fields from the primary key causes the primary key to non-uniquely represent the different alarms in a plurality of the multiple rows; collapsing the alarm data table in response to removing the one or more alarm data fields from the primary key, wherein collapsing the alarm data table includes combining the different alarms non-uniquely represented in the plurality of the multiple rows into one combined row that uniquely represents the different alarms in the plurality of the multiple rows; and rendering the collapsed alarm data table with the one combined row replacing the plurality of the multiple rows.