Claims
- 1. A method, comprising:
generating a client computer inventory associated with a client computer based on a scan of the client computer; and performing an opportunity analysis to identify update opportunities for the client computer inventory; said performing the opportunity analysis utilizing rules of a rule knowledge base.
- 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the scan includes scanning for software files.
- 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the scan includes scanning for an operating system.
- 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the scan includes scanning for hardware peripherals.
- 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the scan includes scanning for hardware components.
- 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the rule knowledge base includes a rule file defining an opportunity and a condition for an item in the inventory for the opportunity.
- 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the condition includes a predefined value selected from the group consisting of absent, present, optional, and value of a measurable characteristic of the item in the inventory.
- 8. The method according to claim 1, and further comprising displaying at least one aspect of the update opportunities to a user of the client computer.
- 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the rules of the rule knowledge base involve a user profile associated with the client computer.
- 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the rules of the rule knowledge base involve a configuration environment of the client computer.
- 11. A computer program product, comprising:
computer code for generating a client computer inventory associated with a client computer based on a scan of the client computer; and computer code for performing an opportunity analysis to identify update opportunities for the client computer inventory, the opportunity analysis utilizing rules of a rule knowledge base.
- 12. The computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the scan includes scanning for software files.
- 13. The computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the scan includes scanning for an operating system.
- 14. The computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the scan includes scanning for hardware peripherals.
- 15. The computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the scan includes scanning for hardware components.
- 16. The computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the rule knowledge base includes a rule file defining an opportunity and a condition for an item in the inventory for the opportunity.
- 17. The computer program product according to claim 16, wherein the condition includes a predefined value selected from the group consisting of absent, present, optional, and value of a measurable characteristic of the item in the inventory.
- 18. The computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the rules of the rule knowledge base involve a user profile associated with the client computer.
- 19. The computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the rules of the rule knowledge base involve a configuration environment of the client computer.
- 20. A method, comprising:
scanning a client computer; generating a client computer inventory based on the scanning; performing an opportunity analysis to identify update opportunities for the client computer inventory utilizing rules of a rule knowledge base; displaying at least one aspect of the update opportunities to a user of the client computer; and updating the client computer inventory based on the update opportunities; wherein the rules of the rule knowledge base involve at least one of a user profile and a configuration environment associated with the client computer.
RELATED APPLICATION(S)
[0001] The present application is a continuation of an application filed Apr. 1, 2002 under Ser. No. 10/114,359 which, in turn, is a continuation of an application filed Feb. 16, 2001 under Ser. No. 09/785,676 which is now issued under U.S. Pat. No. 6,370,578 and which, in turn, is a continuation of an application filed Oct. 29, 1999 under Ser. No. 09/430,263 which is now issued under U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,199.
Continuations (3)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10114359 |
Apr 2002 |
US |
Child |
10202164 |
Jul 2002 |
US |
Parent |
09785676 |
Feb 2001 |
US |
Child |
10114359 |
Apr 2002 |
US |
Parent |
09430263 |
Oct 1999 |
US |
Child |
09785676 |
Feb 2001 |
US |