Method and apparatus for presenting objects in an arranged fashion
AssigneeEMC Corporation
InventorsPramod Kulyadi Pai, Steven S. Teng
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method, apparatus and computer program product for presenting objects in an arranged fashion is presented. A group of objects is identified and a root of a tree structure for the group of objects is determined. An arrangement for grouping into subgroups objects from the group of objects is selected. A determination is made regarding whether at least a predetermined number of objects exist for forming the subgroups and when at least a predetermined number of objects exist then forming a next level of the tree structure according to the arrangement and when less than the predetermined number of objects exist then adding the objects as leaf nodes to the tree structure. The tree structure is displayed to the user.
Claims19
A computer-implemented method of presenting objects in an arranged fashion in which a computer system performs operations comprising:
- identifying a group of objects at the computer system, each object comprises a storage device in a storage area network;
- determining a root of a tree structure for said group of objects;
- for each level of the tree structure, selecting from a plurality of arrangements for grouping objects into subgroups, each arrangement comprising a user-selected arrangement criteria based on a storage device attribute, each user-selected arrangement criteria corresponding to a specific level of the tree structure;
- from a current level of the tree structure, upon determining at least a predetermined number of objects exist for forming at least one subgroup at a next level, forming the subgroup at the next level according to a user-selected arrangement criteria that a user has associated with the next level;
- when less than the predetermined number of objects exist, placing said objects within said tree structure as respective individual leaf nodes displayed according to the user-selected arrangement criteria corresponding to the next level;
- repeating the steps of selecting from the plurality of arrangements and determining at least the predetermined number of objects exist with respect to each level of the tree structure until only leaf nodes are left at a final level of the tree structure;
- and
- displaying said tree structure.
A physical computer readable medium having computer readable code thereon for presenting objects in an arranged fashion, the medium comprising:
- instructions for identifying a group of objects, each object comprises a storage device in a storage area network;
- instructions for determining a root of a tree structure for said group of objects;
- instructions for selecting from a plurality of arrangements for grouping objects into subgroups at each level of the tree structure, each arrangement comprising a user-selected arrangement criteria based on a storage device attribute, each user-selected arrangement criteria corresponding to a specific level of the tree structure;
- instructions for forming at least one subgroup at a next level of said tree structure from a current level of the tree structure according to a user-selected arrangement criteria that a user has associated with the next level upon determining at least a predetermined number of objects exist for forming at least one subgroup at the next level;
- instructions for placing said objects within said tree structure as respective individual leaf nodes displayed according to the user-selected arrangement criteria corresponding to the next level when less than the predetermined number of objects exist;
- instructions for repeating the steps of selecting from the plurality of arrangements and determining at least the predetermined number of objects exist with respect to each level of the tree structure until only leaf nodes are left at a final level of the tree structure;
- and
- instructions for displaying said tree structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.