Abstract: An autonomic computing system is automatically maintained in a steady state. The system has parameters, each of which has one or more threshold. The system may further have influencers, adjustment of which affects the parameters. A value of a first variable specifying how the parameters or influencers are changed once a decision has been made to change the parameters or influencers is received. A value of a second variable specifying how the system and the parameters are affected responsive to a change in the parameters is also received. Where influencers are present, a value of a third variable specifying whether the influencers are distinct or common is also received. One or more of the parameters or influencers are adjusted, based on the values of the first, second, and/or third variables, to return the parameters to more-normal (e.g., median) values.

Abstract: A dictionary for compressing and decompressing textual data has a number of keys. Each key is associated with an identifier. The keys include static word or phrase keys, where each static word or phrase key lists one or more unchanging words in a particular order. The keys further include dynamic phrase keys, where each dynamic phrase key lists a number of words and one or more placeholders in a particular order, and each placeholder denotes a place where a word or phrase other than the words of the dynamic phrase key is to be inserted. At least one of the dynamic phrase keys may identify one or more of the words by identifiers for corresponding static words or phrase keys. At least one of the static word or phrase keys may identify one or more of the words by identifiers for corresponding other static words or phrase keys.

Abstract: A dictionary for compressing and decompressing textual data has a number of keys. Each key is associated with an identifier. The keys include static word or phrase keys, where each static word or phrase key lists one or more unchanging words in a particular order. The keys further include dynamic phrase keys, where each dynamic phrase key lists a number of words and one or more placeholders in a particular order, and each placeholder denotes a place where a word or phrase other than the words of the dynamic phrase key is to be inserted. At least one of the dynamic phrase keys may identify one or more of the words by identifiers for corresponding static words or phrase keys. At least one of the static word or phrase keys may identify one or more of the words by identifiers for corresponding other static words or phrase keys.

Abstract: An automated system displays enables a user to observe the activities in a system based on information in the display. From this display, the user can quickly identify the source of problems for the purpose of troubleshooting without the need to manually determine the source and nature of the problem. In this system, data about the system is gathered through a plurality of agents positioned throughout the network. This data is analyzed and a system monitor deployment configuration is developed. This monitor deployment information along with information about the various devices in the system and any relationships of devices in the system are imported to the display system. The display system then displays this information showing the present relationships of the devices in the system.

Abstract: An autonomic computing system is automatically maintained in a steady state. The system has a number of parameters, each of which has one or more threshold. The system may further have a number of influencers, adjustment of which affects values of the parameters. One or more of the parameters are determined as each reaching one of its threshold, and are referred to as to-be-affected parameters. Each to-be-affected parameter is identified and its thresholds identified. A correlation value may be determined between each influencer and each to-be-affected parameter, and/or between each to-be-affected parameter and each other to-be-affected parameter. The to-be-affected parameters are adjusted, based on the correlation values determined, so that the to-be-affected parameters return to more-normal values.

Abstract: An automated system displays enables a user to observe the activities in a system based on information in the display. From this display, the user can quickly identify the source of problems for the purpose of troubleshooting without the need to manually determine the source and nature of the problem. In this system, data about the system is gathered through a plurality of agents positioned throughout the network. This data is analyzed and a system monitor deployment configuration is developed. This monitor deployment information along with information about the various devices in the system and any relationships of devices in the system are imported to the display system. The display system then displays this information showing the present relationships of the devices in the system.

Abstract: A method simplified drag and drop operations of display icons. This method calculates a projected path for an icon based on the past movement of the icon. The method highlights the “best fit” target icon as the mouse pointer moves across the screen. As the mouse pointer moves, or changes direction, the “best fit” target icon can change, with the current best-fit icon being highlighted. In addition to highlighting the target icon, a line or arrow from the mouse pointer to the target icon is maintained. The line presents the predicted path in a very noticeable, visual way. As the best-fit target icon changes, the line is re-drawn to point to the current best-fit icon. Regardless of how the target icon is visually indicated, releasing the mouse button will cause the drop operation to be completed “into” target. Completion of the drop could be instantaneous, or could be rendered with animation of some sort to indicate moving from the source to the target.

Abstract: A statistical tree representing an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) Schema document (XSD) is generated. The statistical tree captures information defined by the XSD by representing elements, attributes, and enumerations of the XSD as branches, nodes, and leaves of the statistical tree. The statistical tree has bits corresponding to nodes of the statistical tree. An XML document defined by the XSD is adaptively encoded, or compressed, as a number of bits based on the statistical tree that has been generated. The number of bits encoding the XML document are decoded, or decompressed, to yield the XML document also based on the statistical tree that has been generated.

Abstract: The method adjusts the playback speed of an audio recording such that the pitch of the playback is substantially the same as the pitch at the time of the original recording. Assuming tuned instruments were used for the recording, the method alters the playback speed of the recording to bring the pitch back to the original. The method should produce accurate results when correcting speed changes that were causing pitch errors less than or more than a semitone. The method can be used to correct pitch even when the first machine used for the recording had an incorrect recording speed. This method can be used to correct the speed of a nonmusical recording by referencing known frequencies or frequencies in the recording.

Abstract: The techniques of the present invention involve constructing and caching a chain of FIDs that represent the directory path to a system resource. Typically a lookupname( ) service returns a handle to the object and a handle to the object's owning directory. The owning directory handle can then be used to obtain a file identifier (FID) for the owning directory. This FID constitutes the first FID in the chain and will also act as the lookup key in the cache. The process next finds the directory's parent. A FID is obtained with the parent handle. This FID is added to the chain. The process repeats until the root of the system's file tree is reached. This result is a chain or array of FIDs representing the full path name of the directory containing the accessed object. The chain begins with the directory FID closest to the accessed object and ends with the FID representing the root of the file tree. Once constructed, the FID chain which forms a binary representation of a directory path name is placed in a cache.

Abstract: The system of the present invention is a method and system that enables consumers to receive specialized product and company information on demand to aid in consumer purchases. The system of this invention can comprise a physical interface device, a consumer profile, a products and services interface, and a consumer database. Each user in the system has an individual profile the consumer can set to identify their preferences in regard to a particular product. When the consumer sends a query about a particular product, the method of the invention performs a comparison of the consumer preferences a product with objectives ratings for that product. The consumer receives a result of these comparisons with an indication of whether the product matches the preferences indicated by the consumer. A match suggests that the product is one the consumer would purchase.

Abstract: The techniques of the present invention involve constructing and caching a chain of FIDs that represent the directory path to a system resource. Typically a lookupname( ) service returns a handle to the object and a handle to the object's owning directory. The owning directory handle can then be used to obtain a file identifier (FID) for the owning directory. This FID constitutes the first FID in the chain and will also act as the lookup key in the cache. The process next finds the directory's parent. A FID is obtained with the parent handle. This FID is added to the chain. The process repeats until the root of the system's file tree is reached. This result is a chain or array of FIDs representing the full path name of the directory containing the accessed object. The chain begins with the directory FID closest to the accessed object and ends with the FID representing the root of the file tree. Once constructed, the FID chain which forms a binary representation of a directory path name is placed in a cache.