Patent Document

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application is a Continuation Application of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/032,673 filed Sep. 20, 2013. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates generally to user interfaces, and more particularly to creating and providing an integrated user interface which integrates multiple user interface pages into a single user interface. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    In today&#39;s information technology (IT) environment, IT solutions play an important role as they help to deploy solutions faster, reduce cost, and provide direct solutions to customers based on their requirements. Managing and administering an IT solution often time involves multiple products, and also the configuration of each product and the integration between the products. In order to perform configuration and integration of multiple products for an IT solution, a user or administrator may be required to traverse across multiple disparate user interfaces from multiple servers to view a status or perform operations. This can slow down work and lead to mistakes. 
         [0004]    Currently, there is no way for an administrator to obtain an integrated user interface within the context of a distributed IT environment. Using current methods, in order to view the user interface in an integrated manner, it would be necessary to deploy all the relevant products or at least the user interface applications of each product in a single server. A single server deployment of user interface components of each product is impractical due to performance considerations and dependency issues. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    Embodiments of the present invention provide a system, method, and program product for creating an integrated user interface. A computer receives user input regarding at least a first and a second resource. The computer retrieves navigational content for the first and second resource. The computer displays the retrieved navigational content in a single interface. The computer receives user selection of at least one element of the retrieved navigational content. The computer then retrieves page content associated with the selected at least one element of the retrieved navigational content. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  illustrates an integrated user interface system, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart illustrating the operations of integrated user interface program of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram depicting the hardware components of the integrated user interface system of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0009]    As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method, or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module,” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer-readable medium(s) having computer readable program code/instructions embodied thereon. 
         [0010]    Any combination of one or more computer-readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. A computer-readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer-readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store, a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. 
         [0011]    A computer-readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer-readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer-readable signal medium may be any computer-readable medium that is not a computer-readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. 
         [0012]    Program code embodied on a computer-readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing. 
         [0013]    Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like, and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on a user&#39;s computer, partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user&#39;s computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). 
         [0014]    Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
         [0015]    These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
         [0016]    The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other devices to produce a computer-implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
         [0017]    Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying Figures. 
         [0018]      FIG. 1  illustrates integrated user interface system  100 , in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Integrated user interface system  100  includes computing device  110 , central registry  120 , product one server  114 , product two server  116 , and product three server  118 , all interconnected over network  130 . 
         [0019]    In an exemplary embodiment, network  130  is the Internet, representing a worldwide collection of networks and gateways to support communications between devices connected to the Internet. Network  130  may include, for example, wired, wireless or fiber optic connections. In other embodiments, network  130  may be implemented as an intranet, a local area network (LAN), or a wide area network (WAN). In general, network  130  can be any combination of connections and protocols that will support communications between computing device  110 , central registry  120 , product one server  114 , product two server  116 , and product three server  118 . 
         [0020]    Product one server  114  may be a desktop computer, a notebook, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a handheld device, a smart-phone, a thin client, or any other electronic device or computing system capable of receiving and sending data to and from other computing devices via network  130 . In the exemplary embodiment, product one server  114  is a computing device that is optimized for support of network requests related to data regarding a product, product one, which resides on the server. For example, product one server  114  may be a server or cluster of servers dedicated to responding to network requests related to Tivoli® (Tivoli is a registered trademark of IBM Corp.), in which case Tivoli would be product one. Although not shown, optionally, product one server  114  can comprise a cluster of web servers executing the same or similar software to collectively process network requests as distributed by a front end server and a load balancer. Product one server  114  is described in more detail with reference to  FIG. 3 . 
         [0021]    Product two server  116  may be a desktop computer, a notebook, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a handheld device, a smart-phone, a thin client, or any other electronic device or computing system capable of receiving and sending data to and from other computing devices via network  130 . In the exemplary embodiment, product two server  116  is a computing device that is optimized for support of network requests related to data regarding a product, product two, which resides on the server. Although not shown, optionally, product two server  116  can comprise a cluster of web servers executing the same or similar software to collectively process network requests as distributed by a front end server and a load balancer. Product two server  116  is described in more detail with reference to  FIG. 3 . 
         [0022]    Product three server  118  may be a desktop computer, a notebook, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a handheld device, a smart-phone, a thin client, or any other electronic device or computing system capable of receiving and sending data to and from other computing devices via network  130 . In the exemplary embodiment, product three server  118  is a computing device that is optimized for support of network requests related to data regarding a product, product three, which resides on the server. Although not shown, optionally, product three server  118  can comprise a cluster of web servers executing the same or similar software to collectively process network requests as distributed by a front end server and a load balancer. Product three server  118  is described in more detail with reference to  FIG. 3 . 
         [0023]    Central registry  120  includes product one data  122 , product two data  124 , and product three data  126 . In the exemplary embodiment, central registry  120  may be a desktop computer, a notebook, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a handheld device, a smart-phone, a thin client, or any other electronic device or computing system capable of receiving and sending data, such as product registration information, to and from other computing devices via network  130 . Although not shown, optionally, central registry  120  can comprise a cluster of web servers executing the same or similar software to collectively process network requests as distributed by a front end server and a load balancer. Central registry  120  is described in more detail with reference to  FIG. 3 . 
         [0024]    Product one data  122 , product two data  124 , and product three data  126  are data sets which include registry information for each respective product. Registry information includes an identifier of the product/resource such as a name, a unique number assigned to the product, or a URL for the product, dependencies/relationships to other products, and additional URLs for retrieval of other information relevant to the product, such as for configuration purposes. 
         [0025]    Computing device  110  includes user interface program  112  and integrated user interface  113 . In the exemplary embodiment, central registry  120  may be a desktop computer, a notebook, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a handheld device, a smart-phone, a thin client, or any other electronic device or computing system capable of receiving and sending data, such as product registration information, to and from other computing devices via network  130 . Although not shown, optionally, central registry  120  can comprise a cluster of web servers executing the same or similar software to collectively process network requests as distributed by a front end server and a load balancer. Central registry  120  is described in more detail with reference to  FIG. 3 . 
         [0026]    In the exemplary embodiment, integrated user interface  113  includes components used to receive input from a user and transmit the input to an application residing on computing device  110 . In an exemplary embodiment, integrated user interface  113  uses a combination of technologies and devices, such as device drivers, to provide a platform to enable users of computing device  110  to interact with user interface program  112 . In the exemplary embodiment, integrated user interface  113  receives input, such as textual input received from a physical input device, such as a keyboard, via a device driver that corresponds to the physical input device. 
         [0027]    User interface program  112  is a program capable of receiving and sending data, such as data related to product one, two, and/or three, to other computing devices via network  130 . In the exemplary embodiment, user interface program  112  may then display the data, which may include things such as navigational content or page content, to the user of computing device  110  via integrated user interface  113 . The integrated user interface is also capable of receiving user input, such as user login information, via integrated user interface  113 , and then verifying whether the user is eligible for access to certain data. 
         [0028]      FIG. 2  shows a flowchart illustrating the operations of user interface program  112  in forming an integrated user interface, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention. In the exemplary embodiment, user interface program  112  receives user input or a user selection for content of one or more resources or products via integrated user interface  113  (step  202 ). For example, in an IT environment consisting of IBM Tivoli and Netcool® (Netcool is a registered trademark of IBM Corp.), a user may be interested in viewing content to get assistance in administration and configuration in order to configure IBM Tivoli to forward events to Netcool. In this example, user interface program  112  receives input or a user selection for the products Tivoli and Netcool (input regarding assistance with configuration and administration is received at a later time), via integrated user interface  113 . In other embodiments, user interface program  112  receives user input regarding specific content for one or more resources via integrated user interface  113 . In this other embodiment, referring to the example above, user interface program  112  receives input or a user selection for assistance with configuration and administration for the products Tivoli and Netcool. In addition, in the exemplary embodiment, user interface program  112  also receives user login information from the user of computing device  110 . The relevance and application of the user login information is described in greater detail below. In yet another embodiment, user interface program  112  does not receive any input or user selection. 
         [0029]    User interface program  112  then queries central registry  120  to identify the resources which have navigational content (step  204 ). In the exemplary embodiment, central registry  120  contains data regarding an assortment of products/resources including: an identifier of the product such as a name, a URL, or a unique number assigned to the product; a URL or URLs which contain additional information regarding navigational content, configuration, administration, or other product information; and also relationship/dependency data. Relationship/dependency data describes relationships between products. For example, a product may be dependent on another product, such as, a product may use a component of another product or information from another product, or may be fully or partially integrated with another product. This relationship/dependency information is stored in association with the relevant product in the form of data stating the relationship between products. For example, relationship information stored in association with product one may state that product one uses a component of product two, or may provide a URL link to product  2  which provides the relevant dependency information. In this example, relationship information stored in association with product two also contains information regarding the relationship between product one and product two. In this step, user interface program  112  identifies the resources, relevant to the user selection, which have navigational content. Certain products with information stored in central registry  120  may not have navigational content. In the exemplary embodiment, user interface  112  analyzes the product data, with regard to the products relevant to the user selection, stored in central registry  120  to determine if the product has a URL or link to navigational content for the product. 
         [0030]    User interface program  112  then retrieves navigational content for the products identified to have navigational content from the relevant product servers (step  206 ). For example, if user interface program  112  receives user selection for assistance with administration and configuration with regard to product one, product two and product three, user interface program  112  analyzes product one data  122 , product two data  124 , and product three data  126  stored in central registry  120  and determines if each product has navigational content. If user interface program  112  determines that product one and product two have navigational content, but product three does not, user interface program  112  retrieves navigational content for product one and product two from product one server  114  and product two server  116 , respectively. In other embodiments, if user interface program  112  does not receive user input, user interface program  112  retrieves navigational content for all resources identified to have navigational content, rather than limiting retrieval based on user input or selection. 
         [0031]    In addition, while retrieving navigational content, user interface program  112  simultaneously verifies if the user has access to the target pages (pages that can be accessed from the navigational content) by comparing the user login information to a repository. In the exemplary embodiment, each product server has a repository which states which users have access to the content available on the server. For example, a user may have access to the product one administrative content available on the product one server but may not have access to the product one configuration content. In this case, user interface program  112  only retrieves navigational content for the administrative content for product one from product one server  114 . In other embodiments, user interface program  112  may retrieve navigational content for product content that the user may not have access to; however, user interface program  112  may return a blank page or empty response if user selection of such navigational content is made. Referring to the example above, in this other embodiment, if a user does not have access to product one configuration content, user interface program  112  may still retrieve navigational content for product one configuration content; however, if the user subsequently selects an element of the product one configuration navigational content, user interface program  112  does not retrieve the corresponding page content and returns an empty or blank response. 
         [0032]    User interface program  112  then consolidates the retrieved navigational content and displays the content to the user of computing device  110  via integrated user interface  113  (step  208 ). In the exemplary embodiment, user interface program  112  takes dependencies between products into account when displaying the consolidated navigational content to the user. For example, if product two is dependent on product one, user interface program  112  may add the navigational contents of product two as a component or a sub menu of the product one navigational contents, essentially presenting the relationships between the products to the user. In addition, if the dependency information specifies that a particular aspect of product two is dependent on product one, then user interface program  112  may present the navigational contents to reflect this dependency. For example, if the dependency information specifies that product two depends on product one and the dependency is tagged as “event forwarding”, then only pages that have the tag “event forwarding” may be shown in the product two sub menu of the product one navigational contents. 
         [0033]    User interface program  112  then receives user selection of at least one element of the retrieved navigational content via integrated user interface  113  (step  210 ). In the exemplary embodiment, the displayed navigational content provides links or selectable options to specific page content. Therefore, user selection of at least one element of the retrieved navigational content is based on the portion of the product the user is interested in. 
         [0034]    User interface program  112  then retrieves the page content from the product server based on the user selection (step  212 ). For example, if the user is interested in product one and product two, based on user input, user interface program  112  retrieves the navigational content for product one and product two from the respective product servers and presents the content to the user via integrated user interface  113 . If the user then selects the “configuration” selectable option for product one from the navigational content, user interface program  112  retrieves the “configuration” page content from the product one server  114 . In the exemplary embodiment, user interface program  112  then displays the retrieved page contents to the user via integrated user interface  113  (step  214 ). 
         [0035]    The foregoing description of various embodiments of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible. Such modifications and variations that may be apparent to a person skilled in the art of the invention are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as defined by the accompanying claims. 
         [0036]      FIG. 3  depicts a block diagram of components of computing device  110  and server  120 , in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. It should be appreciated that  FIG. 3  provides only an illustration of one implementation and does not imply any limitations with regard to the environments in which different embodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to the depicted environment may be made. 
         [0037]    Computing device  110  and server  120  include communications fabric  302 , which provides communications between computer processor(s)  304 , memory  306 , persistent storage  308 , communications unit  312 , and input/output (I/O) interface(s)  314 . Communications fabric  302  can be implemented with any architecture designed for passing data and/or control information between processors (such as microprocessors, communications and network processors, etc.), system memory, peripheral devices, and any other hardware components within a system. For example, communications fabric  302  can be implemented with one or more buses. 
         [0038]    Memory  306  and persistent storage  308  are computer-readable storage media. In this embodiment, memory  306  includes random access memory (RAM)  316  and cache memory  318 . In general, memory  306  can include any suitable volatile or non-volatile computer-readable storage media. 
         [0039]    The one or more operating systems and programs, integrated user interface  113 , and user interface program  112  in computing device  110 ; and the one or more operating systems and program product one data, product two data, and product three data in central registry  120 , are stored in persistent storage  308  for execution by one or more of the respective computer processors  304  via one or more memories of memory  306 . In this embodiment, persistent storage  308  includes a magnetic hard disk drive. Alternatively, or in addition to a magnetic hard disk drive, persistent storage  308  can include a solid state hard drive, a semiconductor storage device, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, or any other computer-readable storage media that is capable of storing program instructions or digital information. 
         [0040]    The media used by persistent storage  308  may also be removable. For example, a removable hard drive may be used for persistent storage  308 . Other examples include optical and magnetic disks, thumb drives, and smart cards that are inserted into a drive for transfer onto another computer-readable storage medium that is also part of persistent storage  08 . 
         [0041]    Communications unit  312 , in these examples, provides for communications with other data processing systems or devices. In these examples, communications unit  312  includes one or more network interface cards. Communications unit  312  may provide communications through the use of either or both physical and wireless communications links. The programs, integrated user interface  113 , and user interface program  112  in computing device  110 ; and the one or more operating systems and program product one data, product two data, and product three data in central registry  120 , may be downloaded to persistent storage  308  through communications unit  312 . 
         [0042]    I/O interface(s)  314  allows for input and output of data with other devices that may be connected to computing device  110 , central registry  120 , product one server  114 , product two server  116 , and product three server  118 . For example, I/O interface  314  may provide a connection to external devices  320  such as a keyboard, keypad, a touch screen, and/or some other suitable input device. External devices  320  can also include portable computer-readable storage media such as, for example, thumb drives, portable optical or magnetic disks, and memory cards. Software and data used to practice embodiments of the present invention, e.g., programs, integrated user interface  113 , and user interface program  112  in computing device  110 ; and the one or more operating systems and program product one data, product two data, and product three data in central registry  120 , can be stored on such portable computer-readable storage media and can be loaded onto persistent storage  308  via I/O interface(s)  314 . I/O interface(s)  314  also connect to a display  322 . 
         [0043]    Display  322  provides a mechanism to display data to a user and may be, for example, a computer monitor. 
         [0044]    The programs described herein are identified based upon the application for which they are implemented in a specific embodiment of the invention. However, it should be appreciated that any particular program nomenclature herein is used merely for convenience, and thus the invention should not be limited to use solely in any specific application identified and/or implied by such nomenclature. 
         [0045]    The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

Technology Category: 3