A node exposing method including the step of a software agent obtaining from a display map, a reference to a node which is displayable in the display map. The software agent can be a platform independent software object. The node can represent a component in a complex heterogeneous system. The software agent can receive a data metric from the component. The software agent can then convert the data metric into an updated value. Once converted, the software agent can provide the updated value to the display map. The display map can responsively update the node to reflect the updated value.