Abstract: The present invention relates to querying an interfacing device to determine the manufacturer and model of the interfacing device. The querying is accomplished by first inputting signals with known communication means of particular manufacturers. By comparing the responses of the interfacing device to these signals and comparing them to anticipated responses, the manufacturer of the interfacing device can be determined. The anticipated response is the known response to the inputted signals of a particular manufacturer. In other words, the manufacturer of an interfacing device can be deducted according to its reaction to predetermined input signals. The interfacing device is then queried in a similar fashion to determine the model.

Abstract: A monitoring device having a memory containing data representing access information configured to be used by a selected communication protocol to extract information related to a monitored device among distinct devices communicatively coupled to a network, including: a processor configured to select an implementation identifier among a plurality of implementation identifiers; and the processor being configured to access an external information storage unit to obtain support information for accessing the monitored device using the at least one access function, the support information including precondition information that identifies a location within a data structure of the monitored device from which to obtain the at least one of model information, a unique identifier, and status information of the monitored device.

Abstract: A system for monitoring a user's usage of a target application. Such a target application can, as examples, be a software program running on a computer or a workstation, an image forming device, an appliance, etc. The target application includes a user interface with a plurality of commands which a user can select. In the example of the target application being a software program, the commands may be icons displayed on a computer screen which a user can point to with a mouse pointer and then click on. In the case of the target application being an image forming device or an appliance, the interface may be an operation panel with buttons, a touch pad, etc. which a user can press. The present invention monitors the user's usage of such interfaces and logs data of the user's usage of such interfaces. The logged data can then be communicated by Internet mail to a designated location.

Abstract: A method, system, and computer program product for extracting, for a selected communication protocol, status information related to a monitored device communicatively coupled to a network, including accessing the monitored device using the selected communication protocol to obtain at least vendor information related to the monitored device; obtaining, from a first memory, information identifying an access function for extracting the status information from an accessible data file on the monitored device; generating a string based on the obtained vendor information and the obtained access function information; retrieving, from a second memory in correspondence to the generated string, (1) information of a data processing object associated with the access function, and (2) an information map that includes at least a type of status information to be extracted from the monitored device and a weight associated with the status information; and accessing the monitored device using the access function, the informatio

Abstract: There is provided a method, system, and computer program product for extracting information related to a monitored device communicatively coupled to a network using an HTTP communication protocol. The method includes: retrieving, from a first memory, vendor and model information of the monitored device; determining vendor and model through the web page from the monitored device; obtaining the device state information; and storing, in a second memory, the device information obtained in the accessing step, in association with the vendor and model information.

Abstract: There is provided a method, system, and computer program product for extracting information related to a monitored device communicatively coupled to a network using an HTTP communication protocol. The method includes: retrieving, from a first memory, vendor and model information of the monitored device; determining vendor and model through the web page from the monitored device; obtaining the device state information; and storing, in a second memory, the device information obtained in the accessing step, in association with the vendor and model information.

Abstract: In a monitoring system for networked devices, a system, method, and computer program product for obtaining a globally-unique identifier for a network device, and sending the same to a central monitor responsible for monitoring devices on multiple networks. A remote monitoring workstation monitors devices connected to a network using IP-based SNMP commands and stores the device monitoring information in a database. The remote monitoring workstation queries the database to obtain an IP address and the collected monitoring information for a device, uses the IP address to request a globally-unique identifier (e.g., a MAC address) from a device using SNMP commands, then sends the monitoring information including the globally-unique device identifier to a central monitoring workstation via an e-mail message.

Abstract: There is provided a method, system, and computer program product for extracting information related to a monitored device communicatively coupled to a network using an HTTP communication protocol. The method includes: retrieving, from a first memory, vendor and model information of the monitored device; determining vendor and model through the web page from the monitored device; obtaining the device state information; and storing, in a second memory, the device information obtained in the accessing step, in association with the vendor and model information.

Abstract: A system, method and program product for diagnosing, controlling and collecting information from devices. Information regarding events of each one of a plurality of target applications executing in an application unit is collected and formatted into one of multiple data formats for transmission through one of multiple communication protocols at the request of each of the target applications, through an interface. The event information for a particular target application is formatted and transmitted according to a combination of a data format and communication protocol requested by the target application. The formatting of data representing the event information is handled in at least three levels of software classes, with two levels of abstract classes and one concrete software class. The formatting of information to be transmitted through the requested communication protocol is handled in at least three levels of software classes, with one abstract class and two levels of concrete classes.

Abstract: A method, system, and computer program product for efficiently extracting status information related to a remotely monitored device communicatively coupled to a network, including determining requested first status values to be obtained from the device using a first communication protocol among a plurality of communication protocols; determining requested second status values to be obtained from the device using a second communication protocol among the plurality of communication protocols; accessing the device to extract the requested first status values using the first communication protocol; storing, in a device status map, each extracted first status value in association with a respective unique identifier; and accessing the device using the second communication protocol to extract those status values of the requested second status values not stored in the device status map.

Abstract: A system for monitoring a user's usage of a target application. Such a target application can, as examples, be a software program running on a computer or a workstation, an image forming device, an appliance, etc. The target application includes a user interface with a plurality of commands which a user can select. In the example of the target application being a software program, the commands may be icons displayed on a computer screen which a user can point to with a mouse pointer and then click on. In the case of the target application being an image forming device or an appliance, the interface may be an operation panel with buttons, a touch pad, etc. which a user can press. The present invention monitors the user's usage of such interfaces and logs data of the user's usage of such interfaces. The logged data is stored in the form of an abstract class, and the abstract class is sent to a sending unit. The logged data can then be communicated by the sending unit by Internet mail to a designated location.

Abstract: A method, system, and computer program product for extracting status information from within a script of a web page stored on a monitored device using an abstract class interface, the abstract class interface including a first function configured to obtain support information used to extract the status information and a second function configured to extract the status information from within the script of the web page using the support information.

Abstract: In a system for remotely monitoring networked devices and appliances, email messages are sent across networks, the email messages containing configuration, status or other information. For flexibility, it is desirable to quickly and easily change the message type designation, and to easily determine a data structure definition based on the received message type. To achieve this goal, the message type designation of a given message's information may be defined within the message itself, and extracted at the receiving end before the information is analyzed or stored according to the data structure definition. Thus, a large number of devices is allowed to communicate configuration, status and/or other types of information in a variety of message types. A method is provided for receiving information concerning a remotely monitored device, the information being contained in a message that also includes a message type designation.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for monitoring at least one network connected device (monitored device) using a controller is disclosed. Initially, the controller/monitoring system attempts to establish communication with the monitored device. If the controller cannot be configured to interface with the monitored device, then configuration information, such as, manufacturer, model, and a unique identifier are obtained from the monitored device. In the process of determining the configuration information, a determination is made to find out if the monitored device is supported by the controller using information from System Support Database (SSD). A device object is created using information from the SSD, thus establishing a communication protocol between the controller and the monitored device Subsequently, configuration information for the monitored device is updated in the System Configuration Database (SCD).

Abstract: A monitoring system, method, and computer-program product tracks events and device states in a device and sends those events and states to a remote central service center using an Internet access module. The remote central service center monitors the received events and states for errors or warnings. The monitoring software (e.g., a dynamic link library) supports multiple data formats and multiple protocols to more effectively communicate the event and state information.

Abstract: A method, system, and computer program product for extracting status information related to a monitored device communicatively coupled to a network using an HTTP communication protocol.

Abstract: A method, system, and computer program product for extracting status information related to a monitored device communicatively coupled to a network using an HTTP communication protocol.

Abstract: A method, system, and computer program product for creating a data processing object associated with a communication protocol used to extract status information related to a monitored device communicatively coupled to a network, including accessing the monitored device using the communication protocol to obtain at least vendor information related to the monitored device; obtaining, from a first memory, information related to an access function for extracting the status information from an accessible data file on the monitored device; generating a string using the obtained vendor information and the obtained access function information; obtaining, from a second memory, information related to a creation function corresponding to the generated string; and creating the data processing object using the obtained creation function.

Abstract: In a communication system having one or more monitored devices communicatively coupled to a monitoring system, a method of obtaining status information of a monitored device is described. The method includes creating a communication session using HTTP protocol with the monitored device, ii) accessing a web page of the monitored device in order, to obtain information displayed on the web page, iii) parsing the displayed information using a first and second data structure vectors in order to obtain the status information of the monitored device, and iv) closing the communication session upon parsing all the information displayed on the web page or upon obtaining desired status information.

Abstract: In a monitoring system for networked devices, a system, method, and computer program product for collecting and sending information related to monitored devices. When a first type of information is collected and not reported to a central monitoring workstation, the collected information, such as, for example, alarm conditions, is stored in a database connected to a remote monitoring workstation, and when information is to be sent to the central monitoring workstation, both the first type of information from the database and currently-collected first type of information as well as a second type of information is sent to the central monitoring workstation. Once the information is sent to the central monitoring workstation, the values in the database corresponding to the first type of information is reset and the next monitoring cycle begins.