capability of real time end to end circuit display during patching or circuit trace activity when the user inserts or removes a patch cord plug at a patch panel or presses the trace button over a patch panel connector port the rack controller or tracer module 62 fig1 a may display graphically the portion of the circuit in question that is located in the local patching field however it may also issue a query in real time to the system manager database requesting end to end circuit trace information for the circuit in question because the database includes information about the cabling infrastructure and the connectivity of fixed cables at the site when the requested trace information is received from the system manager the rack controller can supplement the circuit trace it originally displayed to show the endpoints of the circuit the user may also have the option of expanding the trace so he can scroll through a trace of the entire end to end circuit thus the user can view not only information regarding patching at the patch panels themselves but also information about the connectivity of fixed cabling at the site the information may be displayed on a monitor of a desktop or laptop computer a gui interface a touchscreen a tablet a u201c smart phone u201d or the like bluetooth or near field communication wireless connections may be used with the table smart phone etc an exemplary.