Hierarchical Console Command Composition for Storage Administration
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Solution Overview
Problem
System administrators face challenges in remembering and accurately inputting complex command names for administrative tasks and storage operations in management consoles, leading to a detrimental user experience.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for composing console commands using a concise command prefix followed by hierarchical command parameters, allowing users to select desired entity and action designations from a command tree, thereby forming simplified aliases recognizable by command shells like PowerShell.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If complex command names are used in command shells, then the functionality and precision of storage operations are improved, but the ease of operation and user experience deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The complex command name is segmented into multiple components: a concise prefix (e.g., 'xms') and hierarchical parameters (e.g., 'Volume', 'Get'). Users input only the prefix and select parameters from a command tree, avoiding the need to remember full complex command names while maintaining operational precision.
Solution Approach 2:
A command tree structure serves as an intermediary between the user and the full command syntax. The system presents a simplified interface where users select from predefined parameters, and the system automatically constructs the complete command, thus mediating between simple user input and precise command execution.
2Loss of information
If full command names are displayed, then the completeness of command information is improved, but the device complexity and interface complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The command information is segmented into a fixed prefix and variable parameters. The interface displays only the prefix and allows selection of parameters from a structured command tree, reducing visual complexity while preserving complete command information through the hierarchical parameter selection process.
Solution Approach 2:
The command structure is transformed from a single-dimensional full command name into a multi-dimensional hierarchical parameter system. Users navigate through levels of the command tree (e.g., entity type, action, parameters), organizing information in a structured hierarchy that reduces interface complexity while maintaining information completeness.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for facilitating the composition of console commands for storage systems and appliances. The techniques include receiving a command prefix at a management console and accessing a plurality of first parameter designations associated with the command prefix from a first hierarchical level of a command tree. The techniques include receiving a selection of a first parameter designation from among the first parameter designations and accessing a plurality of second parameter designations associated with the first parameter designation from a second hierarchical level of the command tree. The techniques include receiving a selection of a second parameter designation from among the second parameter designations and merging the command prefix, the first parameter designation, and the second parameter designation to form a console command for performing a specified task or operation. The techniques include performing the specified task or operation by executing the console command, which may have its own parameters.