Abstract: A data communication system comprising a first plurality of software entities, each having a respective entity identifier and a respective plurality of characteristics, and a data repository, wherein a first software entity of the first plurality of software entities instigates establishment of a first collection of data at the data repository, the first collection of data having at least one collection identifier selected from the plurality of characteristics of the first software entity, each of a second plurality of the first plurality of software entities having a respective set of the respective plurality of characteristics that matches the at least one collection identifier instigates addition of the entity identifier of the respective software entity to the first collection of data, at least one of the second plurality of software entities instigates addition of data to the first collection of data, and at least one other of the second plurality of software entities obtains a portion of the data from t

Abstract: Determining a pricing information for an instance of an application program comprises: receiving a software discovery result for the application program instance; receiving at least one custom rule associated with an application program indicated in the software discovery result; evaluating, by a rule engine, one or more conditions of the received at least one custom rule on one or more parameter values of the received software discovery result; and in dependence on a result of the evaluation, processing the at least one custom rule, the processing comprising determining the pricing information for the application program instance.

Abstract: Mechanisms are provided for consistent and coherent layout for an installation wizard. The mechanisms divide the installation wizard into a plurality of actions. The mechanisms generate a graphical user interface panel for each of the plurality of actions to form a plurality of graphical user interface panels and generate at least one optional view for each graphical user interface panel. For each given action of the installation wizard, the mechanisms present a graphical user interface panel with a default view based on context of the given action and responsive to user input selecting an optional view, present the graphical user interface panel with the selected optional view.

Abstract: A mechanism is provided in a data processing system for installing a software product in a data processing system using a debug mode of an installation wizard. The mechanism separates an installation wizard for installing a software product in a data processing system into a plurality of installation code portions. Each of the plurality of installation code portions corresponds to a state. The mechanism associates each of the plurality of installation code portions with a display panel. The mechanism initializes execution of the installation wizard. For a given installation code portion within the plurality of code portions, the mechanism presents a display panel associated with the given installation code portion to a user, receives user input associated with the given installation code portion, and proceeds to the next installation code portion. The mechanism then completes the installation wizard to install the software product in the data processing system.