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#68 Explorer: Improvements in context menus
Feature request for ECUTE CIM Explorer 3.0.1, Full RCP version.
Here are some usability improvements I suggest, in order to improve ease of use, and make the user experience more consistent with standard ways to present context menus and property dialogs. There are attached pictures that show the current context menus.
1. Some of the property-like informations of various objects are shown in the "Details" tab in the lower right pane. I suggest to rename this tab from "Details" to "Properties", for consistency with general Eclipse look and feel (I continue to refer to it via "Details" in the comments further down).
2. Context menu of a "bookmark folder" object:
a) It is not clear what the command "Discover" does. Invoke "Discover" on all CIMOMs in the folder ? If so, is this a useful function to have ? It seems to me the function should either be removed or renamed to "Discover Namespaces".
b) The "Change name" menu entry should be changed to "Properties" and the dialog it brings up, should be redesigned to be a properties dialog (which allows to edit the name of the bookmark folder as the currently only property to change).
c) The "Details" tab in the lower right pane does not currently change when a bookmark folder object is selected. I suggest that bookmark folder objects are also shown in the "Details" tab, with their one property (its name).
3. Context menu of a CIMOM object:
a) It is not intuitively clear what the command "Discover" does. The CIMOM has been added manually, so it does not need to be discovered anymore, and the detection of namespaces is not normaly considered to be a "discovery". I suggest to rename this menu entry from "Discover" to "Discover Namespaces".
b) The "Authenticate" menu entry provides redundant functionality relative to the "Modify Cimom" menu entry. I suggest to remove the "Authenticate" menu entry and its dialog completely, and to rename the "Modify Cimom" menu entry to "Properties".
c) The "Details" tab in the lower right pane does not show the same information as the "Modify Cimom" (or the suggested "Properties") dialog. Some information is missing (folder name, namespace), some information is presented using a different structure (host+port vs. WbemUrl), and the subdivision of properties into categories "General" and "Credentials" in the "Details" tab does not match the subdivision of fields in the "Modify Cimom" dialog. I suggest to show the same information in the "Details" tab as in the suggested "Properties" dialogand present it as consistently as possible.
4. Context menu of a namespace object:
a) Add a "Properties" command to the context menu that brings up a Properties dialog which allows to edit the same information presented in the "Details" tab when selecting the namespace.
b) The "Details" tab of a namespace object shows the credentials information, which is not really part of the namespae object itself and cannot be separately edited for a namespace. They can only be edited at the CIMOM level, and that is correct so. I suggest to remove the credentials information from the Details tab of a namespace object.
b) The "Details" tab of a namespace object shows the Protocol and WbemUrl information, which is not really part of the namespae object itself and cannot be separately edited for a namespace. They can only be edited at the CIMOM level, and that is correct so. I suggest to remove these properties from the Details tab of a namespace object.
c) The "Details" tab of a namespace object shows a "Namespace Type" property whose only purpose seems to be to distingiush between interop namespaces and other namespaces. There is no concept of a "namespace type" with this semantics in CIM or WBEM. In fact, the term "namespace type" means something different in DSP0004. I suggest to change this property into a boolean property named "Interop Namespace" and values Yes/No or True/False.
5. Context menu of a Directory Agent object:
a) Rename the "Modify" menu entry to "Properties".
b) It is not clear what "Discover" discovers. I did not try it out, but assume it discovers SLP enabled CIMOMs that are registered with the DA. I suggest to rename the "Discover" menu entry to "Discover CIMOMs".
c) The "Details" tab in the lower right pane does not currently change when a Directory Agent object is selected. I suggest that Directory Agent objects are also shown in the "Details" tab, with their name and host as properties.
6. Context menu of the "Local Subnet" object:
a) It is not clear what "Discover" discovers. For me, it discovers nothing, so I could not test it. I assume it discovers CIMOMs ? If so, does it do a port scan or SLP SA discovery ? If it does a port scan, on which ports, on which subnet, and on which of my network adapters ? I think much improvement is needed in terms of allowing proper configuration of this kind of subnet discovery, by means of a properties dialog. Besides the properties dialog, the properties should also show up in the "Details" tab when the "Local Subnet" object is selected.
Andy
Context menu of a bookmark folder
Context menu of a CIMOM object
Logged In: YES
user_id=318392
Originator: YES
File Added: Context Menu CIMOM.png
Context menu of a Directory Agent object
Logged In: YES
user_id=318392
Originator: YES
File Added: Context Menu Directory Agent.png
Context menu of a Local Subnet object
Logged In: YES
user_id=318392
Originator: YES
File Added: Context Menu Local Subnet.png
Logged In: YES
user_id=318392
Originator: YES
File Added: Context Menu Namespace.png
Context menu of a Namespace object