[jboss-as7-dev] proposed cli changes

Tue Mar 15 05:01:33 EDT 2011

> No promises this will continue to be the case, but for now it's a 
> convenient way to keep command history -- just keep the process alive. ;)

Why wouldn't this continue to be the case ? it's all pretty stateless HTTP operations ain't it ?

/max

> 
>>> 
>>>> +1, Max's suggestion make sense to me.
>>>> 
>>>> On 07/03/2011 19:03, Max Rydahl Andersen wrote:
>>>>>>>> Max, Emanuel and I discussed the usability aspects of the cli today. We
>>>>>>>> agreed on the following:
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 1) drop the '/' prefix for the commands;
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> How does this relate to the discussion of low-level commands vs high level?
>>>>> 
>>>>> It was a long discussion - but let me see if I can summarize what drove this.
>>>>> 
>>>>> There are some subjectivity in parts of this but mostly its driven by not making the
>>>>> shell being "weird" compared to what users otherwise sees in the wild...thus / is suggested as a separator to match filesystem and url paths.
>>>>> 
>>>>> When starting up the cli it also just feels so weird and wrong to require typing / to get to a command
>>>>> (unless of course you are an IRC guy - but thats not really the audience we cater to is it  ?:)
>>>>> 
>>>>> Thus my suggestion was to make the logic so if you just type a string, i.e. "help"
>>>>> then it will mean "execute the command or alias named help" nothing else. Just like a normal shell.
>>>>> 
>>>>> If you want to "execute" something in the current node/path you need to (just like in a bash/zsh etc. without a PATH setup)
>>>>> to put ./<path>:<operation>    to execute it.
>>>>> 
>>>>> so the suggested syntax allow you to type things like:
>>>>> 
>>>>> jboss-admin.sh
>>>>> $ connect
>>>>> [/]  # default connect is root.
>>>>> $ cn subsystem=web
>>>>> [/subsystem=web]
>>>>> $ :read-resource-configuration    #executing operation against current node.
>>>>> $ ..:read-resource-configuration # executing against parent node (not sure if this should actually be ../:read-resource-configuration?)
>>>>> 
>>>>> $ cn ../hosts=undefined/server=server1  # up one level and into the path.
>>>>> [/hosts=undefined/server=server1]
>>>>> $ /subsystem=web:read-resource-configuration # execute based on root ignoring the current node
>>>>> [/hosts=undefined/server=server1]
>>>>> $ rr     # a command/alias that will execute :read-reosource-configuration
>>>>> <return the result>
>>>>> 
>>>>> We even discussed if it should be legal to do:
>>>>> [/hosts=undefined/server=server1]
>>>>> $ =server2:read-resource-configuration    # execute the operation in context of current nodetype, but change the name vs requiring eplicit typing.
>>>>> 
>>>>> $../server=server2:read-resource-configuration
>>>>> 
>>>>> With this tab completion still can know if it should be completing names, children or operations AND we get a "navigational" syntax that mimicks  well known paths.
>>>>> 
>>>>> We could even go all the way and allowed  / instead of = you could actually copy the paths directly between your curl/browser and the cli - only diff would be the operation syntax.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Hope that gave some more context - at least with these changes the CLI navigation doesn't feel so alien to newbies...their brains can spend more
>>>>> energy to actually understand the semantics of the operations than the syntax.
>>>>> 
>>>>> /max
>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Other than that question, what you describe here sounds fine (including
>>>>>> the 'cd' alias, which I know would be what I'd naturally use).
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 2) instead of '~' signifying the root node use '/';
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 3) instead of ',' as a node separator in the address (node path) use
>>>>>>>> '/'. so the format of an operation will look like
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> [node-type=node-name (/node-type=node-name)*] : operation-name
>>>>>>>> ['('param=value (,param=value)*')']
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> This (2 and 3) will make the path look more linux-like, so hopefully
>>>>>>>> more friendly for an admin.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 4) in the same spirit, the tab-completion for operations will start with
>>>>>>>> './', e.g. './subsystem=web/connector=http:read-resource'
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> or '/' to start from the root (if the current address (prefix) is
>>>>>>> something other than the root). e.g.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [subsystem=web/connector=http] /subsystem-threads:read-resource
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 5) for the command names, Max likes
>>>>>>>> cn (change node) - current /prefix or /to.
>>>>>>>> cwn (current working node) - again current /prefix or /to w/o arguments.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> I'd even go for cd to change the node. The reason I didn't add it
>>>>>>>> originally was 'directory' doesn't belong here. But cd is kind of habit
>>>>>>>> for this kind of thing, so I could add it as an alias.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Any objections or suggestions?
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>>>> Alexey
>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>>> https://lists.jboss.org/mailman/listinfo/jboss-as7-dev
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>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Brian Stansberry
>>>>>> Principal Software Engineer
>>>>>> JBoss by Red Hat
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> jboss-as7-dev mailing list
>>>>>> jboss-as7-dev at lists.jboss.org
>>>>>> https://lists.jboss.org/mailman/listinfo/jboss-as7-dev
>>>>> 
>>>>> /max
>>>>> http://about.me/maxandersen
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>> Dimitris Andreadis
>>>> Software Engineering Manager
>>>> JBoss Application Server
>>>> by Red Hat
>>>> xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>> 
>>>> http://dandreadis.blogspot.com/
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>>> 
>>> 
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>> 
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> 
> 
> -- 
> Brian Stansberry
> Principal Software Engineer
> JBoss by Red Hat
> _______________________________________________
> jboss-as7-dev mailing list
> jboss-as7-dev at lists.jboss.org
> https://lists.jboss.org/mailman/listinfo/jboss-as7-dev

/max
http://about.me/maxandersen