 |
Claims  |
|
|
What is claimed is:
1. In a programmed electronic digital computer including a display unit, a
system program comprising:
program code configured to generate status messages representing progress
advisories and technical advisories as the system program is loaded and
run in the computer;
a display generator configured to generate and transmit icons corresponding
to status messages representing progress advisories to the display unit;
a message log; and
a logging mechanism configured to store status messages representing
technical advisories in the message log.
2. A computer as in claim 1, in which the system program further comprises
a message handler configured to receive status messages, determine if they
are progress advisories or technical advisories, transmit status messages
representing progress advisories to the display generator, and transmit
status messages corresponding to technical advisories to the logging
mechanism.
3. A computer as in claim 1, in which the status messages representing
progress advisories correspond to milestone events in the loading and
running of the system program.
4. A computer as in claim 3, in which the status messages and progress
icons representing progress advisories are selected to replace a larger
number of text status messages.
5. A computer as in claim 3, in which:
the system program comprises a plurality of modules; and
the milestone events correspond to beginning and completion of loading and
running selected modules.
6. A computer as in claim 5, in which the modules comprise an operating
system and at least one system service module.
7. A computer as in claim 3, in which the icons comprise;
a first icon which represents a beginning of a milestone event; and
a second icon which represents completion of said milestone event.
8. A computer as in claim 7, in which the display generator is configured
to cause the second icon to replace the first icon.
9. A computer as in claim 7, in which the first icon comprises a moving
progress indicator.
10. A computer as in claim 3, in which the icons comprise a moving progress
indicator which indicates how much of the system program has been loaded.
11. A computer as in claim 1, in which:
the program code is further configured to generate status messages
representing warnings; and
the display generator is further configured to generate and transmit
warning messages corresponding to the warnings to the display unit.
12. A computer as in claim 11, in which the display generator is configured
to generate the warning messages as including instructions for dealing
with conditions corresponding to the warnings respectively.
13. A computer as in claim 12, in which the display generator is configured
to generate the warning messages as including alphanumeric text.
14. A computer as in claim 12, in which the display generator is configured
to generate the warning messages as including prompts for selecting one of
a plurality of actions.
15. A digital data storage medium for storing a system program for an
electronic digital computer which has a display unit, the system program
comprising:
program code configured to generate status messages representing progress
advisories and technical advisories as the system program is loaded and
run in the computer;
a display generator configured to generate and transmit icons corresponding
to status messages representing progress advisories to the display unit;
a message log; and
a logging mechanism configured to store status messages representing
technical advisories in the message log.
16. A medium as in claim 15, in which the system program further comprises
a message handler configured to receive status messages, determine if they
are progress advisories or technical advisories, transmit status messages
representing progress advisories to the display generator, and transmit
status messages corresponding to technical advisories to the logging
mechanism.
17. A medium as in claim 15, in which the status messages representing
progress advisories correspond to milestone events in the loading and
running of the system program.
18. A medium as in claim 17, in which the status messages and progress
icons representing progress advisories are selected to replace a larger
number of text status messages.
19. A medium as in claim 17, in which:
the system program comprises a plurality of modules; and
the milestone events correspond to beginning and completion of loading and
running selected modules.
20. A medium as in claim 19, in which the modules comprise an operating
system and at least one system service module.
21. A medium as in claim 17, in which the icons comprise;
a first icon which represents a beginning of a milestone event; and
a second icon which represents completion of said milestone event.
22. A medium as in claim 21, in which the display generator is configured
to cause the second icon to replace the first icon.
23. A medium as in claim 21, in which the first icon comprises a moving
progress indicator.
24. A medium as in claim 17, in which the icons comprise a moving progress
indicator which indicates how much of the system program has been loaded.
25. A medium as in claim 15, in which:
the program code is further configured to generate status messages
representing warnings; and
the display generator is further configured to generate and transmit
warning messages corresponding to the warnings to the display unit.
26. A medium as in claim 25, in which the display generator is configured
to generate the warning messages as including instructions for dealing
with conditions corresponding to the warnings respectively.
27. A medium as in claim 26, in which the display generator is configured
to generate the warning messages as including alphanumeric text.
28. A medium as in claim 26, in which the display generator is configured
to generate the warning messages as including prompts for selecting one of
a plurality of actions.
29. A medium as in claim 15, comprising a magnetic storage unit for storing
the system program.
30. A medium as in claim 15, comprising an optical storage unit for storing
the system program.
31. A medium as in claim 15, comprising an electronic memory unit for
storing the system program.
32. A method for generating an iconic startup message display on a display
unit of an electronic digital computer, comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a system program including program code configured to
generate status messages representing progress advisories and technical
advisories as the system program is loaded and run in a computer;
(b) loading and running the system program in the computer;
(c) generating and transmitting icons corresponding to status messages
representing progress advisories to the display unit; and
(d) storing status messages representing technical advisories in a message
log.
33. A method as in claim 32, further comprising the steps of:
(e) receiving status messages; and
(f) determining if the status messages are progress advisories or technical
advisories.
34. A method as in claim 32, in which step (a) comprises providing the
system program such that the status messages representing progress
advisories correspond to milestone events in the loading and running of
the system program.
35. A method as in claim 34, in which step (a) comprises providing the
system program such that the status messages and progress icons
representing progress advisories are selected to replace a larger number
of text status messages.
36. A method as in claim 34, in which:
step (a) comprises providing the system program such that it includes a
plurality of modules; and
the milestone events correspond to beginning and completion of loading and
running selected modules.
37. A method as in claim 36, in which step (a) comprises providing the
system program such that the modules comprise an operating system and at
least one system service module.
38. A method as in claim 34, in which step (c) comprises generating the
icons as comprising;
a first icon which represents a beginning of a milestone event; and
a second icon which represents completion of said milestone event.
39. A method as in claim 38, in which step (c) comprises causing the second
icon to replace the first icon.
40. A method as in claim 38, in which step (c) comprises generating the
first icon as moving progress indicator.
41. A method as in claim 34, in which step (c) comprises generating the
icons as comprising a moving progress indicator which indicates how much
of the system program has been loaded.
42. A method as in claim 32, in which:
step (a) comprises providing the system program such that the program code
is further configured to generate status messages representing warnings;
and
the method further comprises the step of:
(g) generating and transmitting warning messages corresponding to the
warnings to the display unit.
43. A method as in claim 42, in which step (g) comprises generating the
warning messages as including instructions for dealing with conditions
corresponding to the warnings respectively.
44. A method as in claim 43, in which step (g) comprises generating the
warning messages as including alphanumeric text.
45. A method as in claim 43, in which step (g) comprises generating the
warning messages as including prompts for selecting one of a plurality of
actions. |
|
 |
|
 |
Claims |
|
|
|
Description |
|
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the art of electronic digital
computers, and more specifically to a user-friendly iconic message display
indicating the progress and status of loading and running a system program
in an electronic digital computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern computer system programs which include an operating system per se,
system service modules, service "daemons" and other modules are generally
"message-rich" in that they generate a large number of status messages
while the system program is being loaded and run. These messages are
displayed on the screen of a video monitor as text.
Most of these messages contain numerical data or other highly technical
information which is not useful or relevant to a typical user. Even if the
information were relevant, the messages are displayed too briefly for a
user to comprehend or benefit from them.
Generally, these messages will be of two types: progress advisories which
indicate the progress of loading the system program, and technical
advisories which include audit data for possible use by service personnel
and warnings that a partial or total failure has occurred. An exemplary
progress advisory message might be "MSDEX.DRV LOADED AT 0x4F895C3D",
whereas a technical advisory indicating a failure might be "ERROR 17F6 AT
0x8B2976A9".
The purpose of the progress advisory messages is presumably to advise a
user of the status and progress of loading the system program, whereas the
purpose of the technical advisory messages relating to failures is to
inform a user as to which module of the system failed and the type of
failure. However, these messages fail to achieve their intended purpose
because the "language" in which they are presented is unintelligible to a
typical user.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes the drawbacks and limitations of the prior
art by converting a system program which originally produced a text-based
startup message display into a graphical startup message display which
generates and displays user-friendly iconic messages representing
milestone events that are readily intelligible to a typical computer user.
The icons are updated every few seconds and accurately indicate the
progress of loading and running the system program as well as indicating
any failures and corresponding actions that should be taken.
More specifically, an electronic digital computer according to the present
invention is programmed with a system program including an operating
system and a plurality of system service modules which generate a number
of status messages representing selected milestone events while it is
being loaded and run, including progress advisories and technical
advisories. User-friendly icons are displayed on a display monitor in
response to the progress advisories, indicating which milestone event is
occurring and how much of the event has been completed.
If there is a failure in loading the system program, a user can provide
service personnel with an accurate evaluation of the system condition by
reporting which icon was displayed last on the monitor.
Technical advisories such as audit records which are not relevant to a user
are stored as entries in a silent message log for possible later use by
service personnel. In response to a technical advisory indicating a
partial or fatal load failure, a iconic or text message is displayed which
instructs a user to take one or more actions, such as reporting the
failure to a system administrator or service center.
In one embodiment of the invention, text messages which are generated by
the system program are intercepted and processed to generate the iconic
and technical advisories that are transmitted to the display monitor and
the silent log. In another embodiment of the invention, program code is
incorporated into the system program which directly causes icons to be
generated and transmitted to the monitor, and directly causes technical
advisories to be stored in the message log.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be
apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed
description, taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which like
reference numerals refer to like parts.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electronic digital computer which is
programmed with a system program according to the present invention;
FIGS. 2 to 4 are diagrams illustrating alternative iconic displays
according to the invention;
FIGS. 5 to 10 are diagrams illustrating alternative text displays according
to the invention; and
FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a system program according to the
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 illustrates an electronic digital computer 10 which is programmed
with a system program according to the present invention as will be
described in detail below. The computer 10 includes a motherboard 12 which
is provided with one or more magnetic disk drives, CD-ROM optical drives,
or other digital data storage devices 14.
Although not explicitly illustrated, the motherboard 12 is also provided
with conventional elements of an electronic digital computer, including a
central processing unit (CPU), non-volatile (ROM) and volatile (RAM)
electronic memory, an input/output interface, etc. The computer 10 also
includes a display unit 16 in the form of a video monitor, and a keyboard
18 for data entry.
The system program is provided as software including digital instruction
and data code that implements the required functionality. The system
program generally comprises a main module including an operating system
per se having a "kernel", as well as a number of additional functional
modules such as system service modules, service "daemons", drivers,
libraries, etc.
For the purpose of the present invention, the system program can be
considered as including the operating system and/or any system service or
other modules which are normally loaded and run prior to executing an
application program.
In the example of FIG. 1, the system program includes an operating system
which can include any combination of core functions, libraries, etc. The
operating system is represented by an icon such as a hourglass 30 on the
display unit 16 when it has been initially found by a boot loader and is
in the process of being loaded, and by an icon 20 after loading has been
successfully completed.
After the operating system has been loaded, system services such as
networking are loaded in a serial manner. Successful initialization of
loading these system services is indicated by, for example, an icon 22.
The system program further includes system service modules including file
services, network services and video services which are represented by
icons 24, 26 and 28 respectively. Further illustrated in FIG. 1 is a strip
gage progress indicator icon 32.
As will be described in detail below, the system program generates a large
number of text status messages as it is being loaded and run. In a first
embodiment of the invention, these messages are intercepted, and the icons
20 to 32 are generated and displayed rather than the text messages. In a
second embodiment of the invention, selected text messages in the system
program are replaced by invocations to display icons as illustrated in
FIG. 1.
In either case, the icons represent milestone events in the loading and
running of the system program. Although thousands of text messages may be
generated in the conventional manner, only a few icons corresponding to
selected messages will be generated in accordance with the present
invention. These icons are updated every few seconds or the like so that
the user can be apprised of the progress of loading the system program in
a user-friendly and useful manner.
A key aspect of the invention is that the regular progress updates are
produced, preferably every few seconds, so that the user is given
satisfactory assurance that startup is proceeding as it should. A long
delay on the order of 20 to 40 second for one icon, while within the scope
of the invention, is less preferred as it might leave the user unsure as
to whether or not the system is still working.
Generally, as a milestone event in the loading of the system program
occurs, a corresponding icon will be displayed on the unit 16. The icon
will have a certain appearance at the beginning of the event, and a
different appearance when the event has been successfully completed. The
color, size and/or shape of the icon can change.
For example, when a milestone event has begun and is in progress, the
hourglass icon 30 can be displayed, and when the event has been completed,
the icon 30 can be replaced by an icon representing the event itself such
as the icons 20 to 28. Various other examples of iconic representations
will be described below.
Generally, the system program includes a number of major modules such as
system service modules which are loaded serially. Each module can include
a large number of sub-modules, and a typical system program can include
thousands of individual modules. A milestone event will typically be
constituted by the loading of one or more major modules, although the
invention is not limited to any particular criterion for selection of
milestone events.
The icons 30 and 32 can represent the progress of loading a current module
or modules which constitute a milestone event, or the progress of loading
the entire system program. Alternatively, the icons 30 and 32 can be used
in combination, with one of them indicating the progress of loading a
current module, and the other indicating the progress of loading the
entire system program. The icons 20 and 22 differ in that they each
represent completion of a unique event, rather than an event in progress,
with the icon 20 indicating that the operating system has been loaded, and
the icon 22 indicating that initialization of loading the networking
system services has been completed.
It is further within the scope of the invention to provide specific icons
for certain events, and a strip gage for events which are relatively
devoid of particular milestones (either because there are none, or because
they are uninteresting).
The iconic display as illustrated in FIG. 1 provides a user-friendly method
of informing a user of the progress of loading the system program,
including which milestone events have occurred (e.g. which major modules
have been loaded) and how much of a current module and/or the entire
system program has been loaded. As the system loads, all of the icons
corresponding to completed milestone events (e.g. loaded major modules)
can remain on the monitor, or alternatively only the icons for a currently
loading module and a last loaded module can be displayed.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, it will be assumed that the strip gage icon 32
represents the progress of loading the entire system program, and that the
hourglass icon 30 represents the progress of loading a current module,
which as shown in the drawing is the display services module represented
by the icon 28.
The strip gage icon 32 is a moving indicator which changes appearance, e.g.
changes from clear to dark or colored from right to left, in accordance
with the amount or percentage of the system program which has been loaded.
The icon 32 indicates that approximately 50% of the system program has
been loaded. This includes sequentially loading the operating system, file
services and network services as indicated by the icons 20, 22, 24 and 26.
The hourglass icon 30 (which could be replaced by a stopwatch or other
applicable icon) includes a simulated substance that moves from the upper
chamber to the lower chamber to indicate the progress of loading the
current module, which is the display services module as represented by the
icon 28. Upon successful loading and running of the entire system program,
a suitable message will be displayed, the system program will launch a
startup application program, etc. in a conventional manner. Another
contemplated implementation of the hourglass icon 30 is to make it static,
and flash at a low frequency such as 1/2 to 2 times per second.
The present invention not only enables a typical user to know the progress
of loading the system program, but also provides a user-friendly method of
determining at which point in the loading process a failure occurred and
accurately reporting the failure to service personnel. For example, if the
system locked up or otherwise failed with the icon 26 being the last icon
displayed, the user can report to the service personnel that the system
failed while loading the network services module, or "while the picture of
the two computers connected together was being displayed".
Numerous alternative iconic displays are contemplated within the scope of
the present invention. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the icon for
a module which is currently loading can be an hourglass or other progress
indicator such as indicated at 34, with or without a legend such as
"NETWORKING STARTING". After loading of the network services has been
initialized, the hourglass icon 34 will change to an icon such as
designated by the numeral 22 in FIG. 1.
Another exemplary iconic display is illustrated in FIG. 3, in which the
icon 20 has been deleted from the display and replaced by the icon 22
after initialization of loading the networking services has been
successfully completed. Loading of the file services is indicated by an
icon 24', which has the same general appearance as the icon 24 but a
different color or other attribute as illustrated in phantom line. The
strip gage 32 indicates that loading of the file system has been
approximately 50% completed.
FIG. 4 illustrates another exemplary iconic display, in which the operating
system, file services and network services modules have been loaded, and
the display services module is currently loading. The icon 26 for the
network services module, which was the last successfully loaded module, is
displayed, with the previous icons being deleted. The display services
module is represented by a simple hourglass 36, which does not provide a
progress advisory but merely indicates that the next module is loading.
The progress is indicated by the strip gage 32.
If the system were to fail at this point, a user could report to service
personnel that the last icon displayed was an hourglass, and that the one
before that was a picture of two computers connected together. From this,
the service person can accurately determine that the system failed after
loading the network services module and while loading the display services
module.
The use of progress icons as described above produces a much simpler and
friendlier indication of the progress of a normal system startup. If,
however, a serious problem is encountered, simple icons may be inadequate
to convey to the user the nature of the problem and what actions might be
required. In such cases, it is appropriate to produce textural messages;
but only if the messages are (a) actually required (in order to inform the
user that he must take some action) and (b) appropriate to (understandable
by) the intended user.
The scope of the present invention also includes generating and displaying
iconic messages in response to failure conditions. For example, in
response to failure of a module to successfully load, the icon for the
module can be redisplayed with an "X" or other mark thereon as indicated
at 38 or 40 in FIG. 4, or can be replaced with another icon such as an
exploding bomb.
In addition to providing progress and failure condition advisories, the
present invention also provides iconic text messages corresponding to
failure or error conditions which instruct the user as to what action to
take to correct the error condition. FIG. 5 illustrates a message that is
generated in response to a status message indicating a warning condition.
In this example, the operating system did not find the network server.
This could result from a failure of the network server itself, a
communication problem, etc.
The condition represented by FIG. 5 is a serious, but survivable error. In
this case, the message indicates the type of error, provides a prompt that
enables the user to press the ENTER key to boot locally and function as a
local terminal, and also provides a telephone number of the system
administrator whom the user can call to determine the reason the network
server did not respond and when network service can be expected to be
restored.
Preferably, the present invention, in response to a condition such as
illustrated in FIG. 5, will automatically attempt to restore full
operation in the event of a serious but survivable error. In the
illustrated example, the system program will periodically poll the network
server and attempt to establish communication. Upon successful completion
of this operation, a message such as illustrated in FIG. 6 will be
displayed which prompts a user to take one of a plurality of possible
actions, in this case reboot to the server or continue to function
locally.
FIG. 7 illustrates a text message that can be generated in response to a
fatal system error. It will be noted that certain fatal errors will result
in total failure of the system such that an advisory message cannot be
generated, and that handling such a condition is beyond the scope of the
invention. In the illustrated example, the message describes the error,
provides a telephone number for a service center, and instructs the user
what he should report to the service personnel at the center.
FIG. 8 illustrates another case of a serious but survivable error, which
again prompts the user to take appropriate action. The message will remain
displayed until the user depresses the ENTER key. FIG. 9 illustrates a
warning advisory which is generated in response to an inordinate delay.
Such a message will typically be displayed for a suitable period of time,
such as 5 to 10 seconds. Another example of a serious but survivable error
is illustrated in FIG. 10.
Although not explicitly illustrated, another alternative is to display a
message that requires confirmation, including a phrase such as "PRESS
ENTER TO CONFIRM". For example, a confirmation for the printer problem
illustrated in FIG. 10 might be preferable, whereas a brief warning for
the slow server response as illustrated in FIG. 9 would be sufficient.
A system program 50 according to a first embodiment of the present
invention is illustrated in FIG. 11. In this embodiment, a large number of
text messages are generated, and a relatively small number of these
messages are intercepted and processed to generate iconic and text
displays as described above.
The system program 50 includes a boot loader 52 which loads and runs a main
module 54 which includes the operating system or kernel per se, as well as
other system service functional modules such as the file services, network
services and display services.
As the system program 50 is being loaded and run, the loader 52 and module
54 generate a large number of text status messages as described above
which are intercepted by a message handler 56 before they can reach the
display unit 16. The message handler 56, in conjunction with a
configuration table or file 58, generates iconic messages that are
transmitted to the display 16 via a display generator 60, and log entries
that are transmitted to a silent message log 64 via a logging mechanism
62.
The system program 50 is provided on one or more electronic digital data
storage media. Typically, the system program 50 will be distributed to end
users on one or more optical storage media such as CD-ROMS, magnetic
storage media such as floppy disks, or a combination thereof.
Alternatively, the system program 50 can be downloaded from a hard drive
or other digital storage medium on a network server or internet site.
The system program 50 is loaded into a user's computer in which it
typically resides in a combination of volatile memory (RAM) and mass
storage (e.g. magnetic hard drive) during operation. Components of the
system program 50 can be paged or otherwise dynamically transferred
between volatile memory and mass storage depending on the configuration of
the system 50.
As described above, the loader 52 and module 54 normally generate text
status messages which are unintelligible to a typical user as the system
program 50 is loaded and run. These messages are intercepted and handled
by the message handler 56. Various mechanisms can be implemented within
the scope of the invention to accomplish this function. For example,
system calls which would normally be directed to the driver software for
the display unit 16 can be revectored to point to the message handler 56.
Alternatively, boot code in the loader 52 can be changed to cause an
interrupt which points to the message handler 56 whenever a system call
for display services is generated. As yet another exemplary alternative,
all status messages can redirected to the logging mechanism 62, which will
invoke the message handler 56 in response to logging of a status message
in the message log 64.
When a status message is generated, the message handler 56, in combination
with the configuration file 58, determine what type of condition is
indicated by the message. These components are programmed to define and
classify status messages into, for example, the following types.
1. Fatal errors.
2. Serious but survivable errors.
3. Inordinate delays.
4. Advisory warnings.
5. Audit records.
6. Progress advisories.
Message types 1 to 5 are technical advisories, whereas type 6 is a progress
advisory. Types 1 to 4 indicate various severities of alerts, whereas type
5 messages provide information that might be of value to a service person
at a later time.
The configuration file 58 includes a list of status messages which are
generated by the system program during loading and execution and which are
to be handled by the message handler 56. These can include all possible
messages, or a subset of all messages. In the latter case, any message
which is not in the designated subset is ignored.
As another implementation of the invention, rather than enumerating all
possible messages in each class, the configuration file 58 can describe
"rules" that enable the message handler 56 to recognize and characterize
broad classes of messages, without having to enumerate all of the
individual instances. One contemplated rule implementation is to allow
wild-card regular expressions to be used.
The configuration file 58 provides a mapping of status messages and
corresponding actions that should be taken by the message handler 56. The
entries in the configuration file 58 can include an argument indicating
the type of status message, or can alternatively include discrete program
code which tells the message handler 56 what to do in response to the
message. The file 58 will generally contain entries only for those
messages corresponding to milestone events. If an entry for a message is
not found in the file, the message is ignored.
In the case of a type 6 (progress advisory) message, the configuration file
58 will include a designation of an icon which the message handler 56
should control the display generator 60 to generate and transmit to the
display unit 16. Generally, the loader 52 or module 54 will generate a
first or start status message when a milestone event (e.g. loading of a
major module or plurality of modules) begins, and a second or end status
message when event is completed. The message handler 56 controls the
display generator 60 to display the icon as having a first appearance
(color, size, shape, etc.) in response to the start message, and a second
appearance upon successful loading of the module as described above with
reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.
The message handler 56 also controls the display generator 60 to update the
progress indicator icons at periodic intervals of, for example, every 1 to
5 seconds. This can be done in any suitable manner, such as by determining
a starting address, an ending addresses and a current address pointer of
the module in memory, using these values to calculate the percentage of
the module that has been loaded, and updating the progress indicator to
correspond to the calculated percentage. Alternatively, the status
messages can represent milestones in a module which are predetermined to
correspond to percentages of program code of the module which has been
loaded.
Another method of estimating progress is to count the number of seconds
elapsed as a percentage of the nominally required time. For example, if an
event is estimated to take 5 seconds to complete, each elapsed second will
constitute a 20% increment of progress. This alternative is especially
suited for processes that are not as readily measurable, such as loading
data into memory.
Type 1 to 5 messages can all be logged into the message log 64 if desired.
The messages can be logged verbatim, or the configuration file 58 can be
set up to translate the messages into a more desirable form. Alternatively
or additionally, the message handler 56 and configuration file 58 can be
set up to generate text warning messages in response to selected or all
type 1 to 4 messages as described above with reference to FIGS. 5 to 10.
Such text messages are generated in a manner similar to the iconic
messages, but using the configuration file 58 to map an incoming status
message with an action to be taken.
In a second embodiment of the present invention, the message handler 56 and
configuration file 58 are omitted, and their functionality is implemented
in the loader 52 and main module 54 themselves. More specifically, program
code is incorporated into the loader 52 and module 54 which directly
causes the display generator 60 to generate and transmit icons
corresponding to progress advisories to the display 16, and directly
causes the logging mechanism 62 to store technical advisories in the
message log 64.
In summary, the present invention overcomes the drawbacks and limitations
of the prior art by providing a system program which is configured to
generate and display user-friendly iconic and text messages that are
readily intelligible to a typical computer user, and accurately indicate
the progress of loading and running the system program as well as
indicating any failures and corresponding actions that should be taken.
Various modifications will become possible for those skilled in the art
after receiving the teachings of the present disclosure without departing
from the scope thereof. For example, the system program can be adapted to
automatically call a service center and transmit a message thereto in
response to a system loading error.
* * * * *
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Description |
|
