Abstract: A method and apparatus for determining and selecting configuration options and settings of circuit boards used in a computer system is disclosed. The options and settings are placed in a file according to a given format, at which time the system determines if non-conflicting use of the common system resources is possible. If so, these option and setting parameters are used to configure the circuit boards.

Abstract: A computerized system for dynamically and automatically configuring circuit boards to carry out functions from various manufacturers and a computer system without the user intervention. A single computer system may include, for example, a modem board, a video board, a disk controller board, and a multiple function board, each circuit board from a different manufacturer and each circuit board requires a computer resources for operation. These resources may include interrupt request (IRQ) lines, direct memory access (DMA) channels, I/O port addresses, memory address ranges and circuit board slot locations. The computerized system determines the type of slot required for each circuit board to be inserted in the computer by reading the circuit board configuration file for each board. The system will assign a circuit board to an available slot locations of the required type.

Abstract: A computer program permits a user to simulate configuring add-in boards for a computer system. A board may be "pulled" from an inventory list for inspection, and may be "inserted" into any legal slot in the computer system. The program can automatically generate any permissible configurations for the board, i.e., configuration of the board's address resource allocations that avoid conflicts with the address resource allocations of other, already-installed boards. The user may select from among permissible configurations; for a selected configuration, the user may display to screen or printer a drawing of the switch- and jumper settings on the board that are needed to implement the selected configuration.