Granted Patent B2

US 7,941,484 · App. 11/156,848 · Granted May 10, 2011

Assignee: Symantec Operating Corporation

Abstract

Claims (77)

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a request for information associated with a computer systems management event;

dynamically identifying a first locale designation corresponding to a first user of a systems management tool, and a second locale designation corresponding to a second user of the systems management tool;

the systems management tool concurrently displaying information associated with the computer systems management event according to the first locale designation and according to the second locale designation, wherein the displayed information comprises a first subset localized for the first locale designation and a second subset localized for the second locale designation, wherein the first subset differs from the second subset;

receiving a request from the first user to perform an action on the first subset of the displayed information;

performing the requested action on the first subset of the displayed information in response to receiving the request from the first user, wherein performing the requested action on the first subset of the displayed information comprises generating a modified first subset of the displayed information;

automatically identifying the second subset of the displayed information as corresponding to the first subset of the information;

automatically performing an action corresponding to the requested action on the second subset of the displayed information, wherein automatically performing the action corresponding to the requested action on the second subset of the displayed information comprises generating a modified second subset of the displayed information; and

the systems management tool concurrently displaying the modified first subset of the displayed information and the modified second subset of the displayed information, wherein the modified first subset differs from the modified second subset.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the information associated with the computer systems management event is transmitted over a wide area network to be displayed according to the second locale designation.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

providing an interface to select the first locale designation from among a plurality of locale designations; and

dynamically identifying the first locale designation in response to input received via the first interface.

4. The method as recited in claim 3 , wherein the input received via the first interface is provided by a third user.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

dynamically identifying the first locale designation based on a mapping between a network address and a geographical location, wherein the network address is associated with a network connection in use by the first user.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining at least a first portion of the information displayed according to the first locale designation from a message catalog; and

determining at least a second portion of the information displayed according to the first locale designation based on an environment variable other than the first locale designation, wherein the environment variable is associated with the first user.

7. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the information displayed according to the first locale designation is included within a first entry of a first list of entries displayed according to the first locale designation, wherein each entry of the first list of entries includes information about a particular computer systems management event, wherein the information displayed according to the second locale designation is included within a second entry of a second list of entries displayed according to the second locale designation, wherein each entry of the second list of entries corresponds to a respective entry of the first list of events.

8. The method as recited in claim 7 , further comprising:

providing an interface to perform an action on a specific entry of the first list of entries; and

in response to input received via the interface, automatically performing a corresponding action on a corresponding entry in the second list of entries.

9. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

providing a first interface to request detailed information associated with the computer systems management event; and

in response to input received via the first interface,

identifying the computer systems management event as belonging to a particular category of a plurality of categories of computer systems management events;

selecting a context-specific format for displaying detailed information on computer systems management events of the particular category; and

concurrently displaying the detailed information according to the first and the second locale designations in the context-specific format.

10. The method as recited in claim 9 , wherein the detailed information is displayed according to the first locale designation in a display region associated with a first tab, and the detailed information is displayed according to the second locale designation in a display region associated with a second tab.

11. The method as recited in claim 9 , further comprising:

in response to the input received via the first interface,

identifying an executable service based on the particular category and on an authorization privilege of a provider of the input; and

providing a second interface to request invocation of the executable service.

12. The method as recited in claim 9 , further comprising,

in response to the input received via the first interface,

providing a second interface to fill a problem report form; and

automatically filling out at least a portion of the problem report form in accordance with a locale designation associated with a provider of the input.

13. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

customizing at least a portion of a display provided by the systems management tool based on contents of a local support database at a particular data center.

14. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

memory coupled to the processor,

wherein the memory stores program instructions computer-executable by the processor to implement a systems management tool, wherein the systems management tool is configured to:

receive a request for information associated with a computer systems management event;

dynamically identify a first locale designation corresponding to a first user of the systems management tool, and a second locale designation corresponding to a second user of the systems management tool;

concurrently display information associated with the computer systems management event according to the first locale designation and according to the second locale designation, wherein the displayed information comprises a first subset localized for the first locale designation and a second subset localized for the second locale designation, wherein the first subset differs from the second subset;.

receive a request from the first user to perform an action on the first subset of the displayed information;

perform the requested action on the first subset of the displayed information in response to receiving the request from the first user, wherein in performing the requested action on the first subset of the displayed information, the systems management tool is configured to generate a modified first subset of the displayed information;

automatically identify the second subset of the displayed information as corresponding to the first subset of the information;

automatically perform an action corresponding to the requested action on the second subset of the displayed information, wherein in automatically performing the action corresponding to the requested action on the second subset of the displayed information, the systems management tool is configured to generate a modified second subset of the displayed information; and

concurrently display the modified first subset of the displayed information and the modified second subset of the displayed information, wherein the modified first subset differs from the modified second subset.

15. The system as recited in claim 14 , wherein at least a portion of the information associated with the computer systems management event is transmitted over a wide area network to be displayed according to the second locale designation.

16. The system as recited in claim 14 , wherein the systems management tool is further configured to:

obtain at least a first portion of the information displayed according to the first locale designation from a message catalog; and

determine at least a second portion of the information displayed according to the first locale designation based on an environment variable other than the first locale designation, wherein the environment variable is associated with the first user.

17. The system as recited in claim 14 , wherein the information displayed according to the first locale designation is included within a first entry of a first list of entries displayed according to the first locale designation, wherein each entry of the first list of entries includes information about a particular computer systems management event, wherein the information displayed according to the second locale designation is included within a second entry of a second list of entries displayed according to the second locale designation, wherein each entry of the second list of entries corresponds to a respective entry of the first list of events.

18. The system as recited in claim 17 , wherein the systems management tool is further configured to:

provide an interface to perform an action on a specific entry of the first list of entries; and

in response to input received via the interface, automatically perform a corresponding action on a corresponding entry in the second list of entries.

19. A non-transitory, computer readable storage medium comprising program instructions, wherein the instructions are computer-executable to:

receive a request for information associated with a computer systems management event;

dynamically identify a first locale designation corresponding to a first user of a systems management tool, and a second locale designation corresponding to a second user of the systems management tool;

concurrently display information associated with the computer systems management event according to the first locale designation and according to the second locale designation, wherein the displayed information comprises a first subset localized for the first locale designation and a second subset localized for the second locale designation, wherein the first subset differs from the second subset;

receiving a request from the first user to perform an action on the first subset of the displayed information;

performing the requested action on the first subset of the displayed information in response to receiving the request from the first user, wherein performing the requested action on the first subset of the displayed information comprises generating a modified first subset of the displayed information;

automatically identifying the second subset of the displayed information as corresponding to the first subset of the information;

automatically performing an action corresponding to the requested action on the second subset of the displayed information, wherein automatically performing the action corresponding to the requested action on the second subset of the displayed information comprises generating a modified second subset of the displayed information; and

concurrently displaying the modified first subset of the displayed information and the modified second subset of the displayed information, wherein the modified first subset differs from the modified second subset.

20. The non-transitory, computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 19 , wherein at least a portion of the information associated with the computer systems management event is transmitted over a wide area network to be displayed according to the second locale designation.

21. The non-transitory, computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 19 , wherein the instructions are further computer-executable to:

obtain at least a first portion of the information displayed according to the first locale designation from a message catalog; and

determine at least a second portion of the information displayed according to the first locale designation based on an environment variable other than the first locale designation, wherein the environment variable is associated with the first user.

22. The non-transitory, computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 19 , wherein the information displayed according to the first locale designation is included within a first entry of a first list of entries displayed according to the first locale designation, wherein each entry of the first list of entries includes information about a particular computer systems management event, wherein the information displayed according to the second locale designation is included within a second entry of a second list of entries displayed according to the second locale designation, wherein each entry of the second list of entries corresponds to a respective entry of the first list of events.

23. The non-transitory, computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 22 , wherein the instructions are further computer-executable to:

provide an interface to perform an action on a specific entry of the first list of entries; and

in response to input received via the interface, automatically perform a corresponding action on a corresponding entry in the second list of entries.

Assignments (10)

Continuity (1)