[54] WORKGROUP NETWORK MANAGER FOR CONTROLLING THE OPERATION OF WORKSTATIONS WITHIN THE COMPUTER NETWORK
[75] Inventors: Robert Earl Beck, Arlington Heights;
Ronald L. Schoenberger, Clarendon
Hills, both of 111.
[73] Assignee: Beck Systems, Inc., Chicago, 111.
[ * ] Notice: The term of this patent shall not extend beyond the expiration date of Pat. No. 5,586,322.
[21] Appl. No.: 746,499
[22] Filed: Nov. 12, 1996
Related U.S. Application Data
[63] Continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 459,528, Jun. 2, 1995, Pat. No. 5,586,322, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 986,116, Dec. 4, 1992, abandoned, which is a continuationin-part of Ser. No. 898,191, Jun. 11, 1992, Pat. No. 5,440, 739.
[51] Int. CI.6 G06F 15/163
[52] U.S. CI 707/201; 707/10; 395/200.33;
395/200.38; 395/200.58
[58] Field of Search 707/10, 201; 395/200.33,
395/200.38, 200.53, 200.58
[56] References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
4,905,162 2/1990 Hartzband et al 395/62
A workgroup organized network manager for controlling the operation of individual workstations within a computer network. The workgroup organized network manager organizes workstations into workgroups and controls the distribution of information to each of the workstations within a defined workgroup. The tasks each workstation performs are defined by a specification consisting of programs. A library of programs is maintained on a host workstation designated as a controlling workstation within the workgroup. The host workstation keeps track of activity occurring on the individual workstations within the workgroup. A file maintenance and inventory system compares the attributes of files, directories, and software located on the workstation to check for discrepancies between files, directories, or software intended to be identical and for locating missing or extra files, directories, and software.
36 Claims, 43 Drawing Sheets
