Mechanisms for establishing and viewing groups of devices within a network of devices are disclosed. A filter mechanism is coupled to a database of information about devices in a network having multiple network devices such as switches and routers. The database stores a filter metadata table that describes criteria by which the information in the database can be filtered to establish groups of the devices. The filter metadata drives the presentation of a filter dialog that provides a set of filters and filter criteria that can be selected by a user. The filter mechanism receives a set of user-entered criteria, selected from among the filter criteria, that define a group of the devices. The filter mechanism constructs a Boolean query to the database based upon the user-entered criteria. The database provides a dynamic view of network devices that meet the user-entered criteria. The filter metadata table describes the order of filters displayed in the filter dialog, and sources of data that provide values for the filters to be displayed in the filter dialog. Filters are persistently stored and can be retrieved and viewed by name. The membership of each device group defined by a filter is dynamically evaluated when a view is requested for a filter. The mechanisms are data-driven and can accommodate different devices as well as changes in existing devices and introduction of new devices. The invention also encompasses a method, computer program product, and computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave that are configured to carry out the processes accomplished by the mechanisms.