An apparatus and method for determining a program neighborhood of a client node
in a client-server network is described. The program neighborhood of the client
node includes application programs hosted by application servers on the network.
The present invention enables a user of a client node to learn of these application
programs. The user is not required to know where to find such applications or to
manually establish links to such applications. To make the client node aware of
its program neighborhood, a host server collects application-related information
corresponding to application programs hosted by the servers in the network. The
application-related information can include the application name, the server location
of the application, minimum capabilities required of client nodes for executing
the application, and those users who are authorized to use that application. User
credentials are received from the client system. The user credentials are used
to filter the application-related information. Information representing those application
programs that are available to the client node is transmitted from the host server
to the client system for display. In a Windows-based client node, the information
can be represented by a graphical icon for each available application program.
