Abstract: Mechanisms for establishing and viewing groups of devices within a network of devices are disclosed. A filter mechanism is coupled to a database of information about devices in a network having multiple network devices such as switches and routers. The database stores a filter metadata table that describes criteria by which the information in the database can be filtered to establish groups of the devices. The filter metadata drives the presentation of a filter dialog that provides a set of filters and filter criteria that can be selected by a user. The filter mechanism receives a set of user-entered criteria, selected from among the filter criteria, that define a group of the devices. The filter mechanism constructs a Boolean query to the database based upon the user-entered criteria. The database provides a dynamic view of network devices that meet the user-entered criteria.

Abstract: A method and system are provided for allowing users to attach functionality to one or more panels in a panel sequence. The panel sequence may be presented to the user, for example, as a sequence of HTML pages that walk the user through the choices associated with a particular task. The functionality attached to the panel by the user may allow users to set on the panel, or access from the panel, user-specific information that indicates how the user should respond to the panel. Techniques are described for attaching the functionality in a conditional manner, so that the functionality is only attached o the panel when the panel is displayed in a certain context. Context information is passed from each panel in the panel sequence to the next to facilitate the determination as to whether the user-specified functionality should be displayed.