Multi-Document Editor Using Grammar-Based Scaffolding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for maintaining network device configurations in complex infrastructure networks are largely manual and lack comprehensive automation, leading to errors and difficulties in managing consistent configuration settings across multiple devices, which can result in network performance issues or failures.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a structured grammar-based scaffolding system that allows for the merging of configuration changes across multiple network devices, using a restricted grammar language (RGL) to identify and validate configuration settings, providing a single comprehensive view for administrators to manage and update settings efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual methods are used to maintain network device configurations, then flexibility in managing individual devices is maintained, but errors increase and consistency across multiple devices deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses templates to create standardized configuration models that can be copied and applied across multiple network devices. These templates define consistent parameter settings, device types, and configuration structures, ensuring reliability while reducing manual effort through automated replication of proven configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
The configuration management system segments network devices into hierarchical groups and applies templates at different levels (device-type level and instance level). This segmentation allows consistent management of common parameters across groups while permitting device-specific customizations, resolving the contradiction between consistency and flexibility.
2Productivity
If automated configuration management is implemented, then consistency across devices is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces templates as intermediary objects between configuration management operations and actual network devices. Templates serve as blueprints that simplify automated configuration by pre-defining parameter structures, validation rules, and device hierarchies, thereby improving productivity without proportionally increasing system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
Configuration templates are prepared in advance with predefined structures, parameter definitions, and validation rules. This preliminary action allows the system to automatically generate and validate device configurations without complex real-time processing, improving efficiency while keeping the runtime system relatively simple.
3Reliability
If configuration changes are applied manually to each device, then device-specific customization is maintained, but time consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges configuration management operations by allowing template-level updates to automatically propagate to multiple devices. Configuration changes are applied once at the template level and automatically distributed to all associated devices, dramatically reducing time consumption while maintaining accuracy through centralized control and automated validation.
4Reliability
If comprehensive configuration validation is implemented, then error prevention is improved, but processing overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
Validation rules, constraints, and error-checking mechanisms are embedded in templates during their creation. This preliminary setup allows the system to perform automated validation without complex real-time processing, as the validation logic is pre-configured and efficiently applied during configuration generation and updates.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a client-server editing model to provide a client side interface to a server side multi-document editor (multi-edit capability) that may be used for editing multiple configuration documents (e.g., device configurations represented as documents) simultaneously. The sever side component may maintain information relating to multiple configuration documents by parsing a plurality of different network device configuration documents to create a set of slots and anchor points relative to locations of related parameter settings within each of the different network device configuration documents. The server side may transmit a condensed view of an area of interest to a remote client device along with location information that may be used to reverse map to original documents. Upon receiving user input a change may be implemented. Throughout the editing session data provided to a client side application could be logically compressed to avoid redundant information from multiple sources being provided.