Assisted display for command line interfaces

• US 8,910,063 B2
• Filed: 03/27/2012
• Issued: 12/09/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sarbin, Brian
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu, Kieu
• Assistant Examiner(s): Weber, Joy M
• Application Number:
  US13/431,840
• Publication Number:
  US 20130263043A1
• Time in Patent Office: 987 Days
• Field of Search: 715/784, 715/700, 715/763, 715/967, 717/124, 717/106
• US Class Current: 715/763
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/453 Help systems

Abstract

A method for an assisted display for command line interfaces is described. In an embodiment, an input region and an output region of a command line interface are displayed. Commands are displayed within the input region as they are received. A history is maintained that stores the output of previous executions. At least a portion of the output maintained by the history is displayed within the output region. The output region is scrolled by adding one or more outputs from the history to the display of the output region and/or removing one or more outputs from the display of the output region. Wherein, scrolling the output region does not cause the display of the input region to become obscured. In another embodiment, an input assistance region is displayed that walks a user through selecting commands supported by the command line interface as well as options and arguments for those commands.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

concurrently displaying an input region and an output region of a command line interface;

receiving one or more commands via the input region, wherein each command of the one or more commands comprises one or more characters and identifies an operation of an executable program;

for each command of the one or more commands;

displaying the one or more characters of the command in the input region as each character of the command is received,

executing the command, via the executable program, resulting in an output,

adding the output to an output history, and

resetting the display of the input region prior to accepting a next command;

displaying at least a portion of the output history in the output region; and

scrolling the display of the output region to perform one or more of;

adding one or more outputs from the output history to the display of the output region or removing one or more outputs from the display of the output region, wherein the scrolling does not obscure the display of the input region;

wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein outputs of different commands displayed in the output region are separated by one or more delimiters.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more delimiters identify which command of the one or more commands produced the output displayed after the one or more delimiters in the output region.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising re-executing a particular command of the one or more commands in response to receiving a selection of a resend graphical element associated with the output of the particular command in the output region.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising receiving a modification of the particular command before re-execution.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying an input assistance region;

displaying at least a portion of a list of commands supported by the command line interface in the input assistance region;

receiving one or more characters of a new command that is currently being entered into the input region of the command line interface;

re-displaying the portion of thelistof commands based on the one or more characters of the new command.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising concurrently displaying the input assistance region, the input region and the output region.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising the computer determining a set of predicted commands of the list of commands supported by the command line interface that have the one or more characters as a sub-string and selecting the portion for re-display from the set of predicted commands.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising displaying a description of the particular command in response to receiving a selection of a drill-down graphical element associated with the particular command in the displayed portion of the list of commands.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising displaying a particular command in the input region in response to receiving a selection of a particular command in the displayed portion of the list of commands.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

in response to receiving a selection of the particular command in displayed portion of the list of commands, displaying within the input assistance region a list of options for the particular command;

receiving a selection of a set of options from the list of options;

displaying the particular command with the set of options in the input region.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

in response to receiving a selection of the set of options, displaying within the input assistance region a list of arguments for the particular command;

receiving a selection of a set of arguments from the list of arguments;

displaying the particular command with the set of options and the set of arguments in the input region.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising executing the particular command with the set of options and the set of arguments in response to receiving input indicating that entering the particular command is complete.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions, which when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform:

concurrently displaying an input region and an output region of a command line interface;

receiving one or more commands via the input region, wherein each command of the one or more commands comprises one or more characters and identifies an operation of an executable program;

for each command of the one or more commands;

displaying the one or more characters of the command in the input region as each character of the command is received,

executing the command, via the executable program, resulting in an output,

adding the output to an output history, and

resetting the display of the input region prior to accepting a next command;

displaying at least a portion of the output history in the output region; and

scrolling the display of the output region to perform one or more of;

adding one or more outputs from the output history to the display of the output region or removing one or more outputs from the display of the output region, wherein the scrolling does not obscure the display of the input region.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein outputs of different commands displayed in the output region are separated by one or more delimiters.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein one or more delimiters identify which command of the one or more commands produced the output displayed after the one or more delimiters in the output region.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions which when executed cause the one or more processors to perform:

re-executing the particular command in response to receiving a selection of a resend graphical element associated with the output of the particular command in the output region.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, further comprising instructions which when executed cause the one or more processors to perform receiving a modification of the particular command before re-execution.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions which when executed cause the one or more processors to perform:

displaying an input assistance region;

displaying at least a portion of a list of commands supported by the command line interface in the input assistance region;

receiving one or more characters of a new command that is currently being entered into the input region of the command line interface;

re-displaying the portion of the list of commands based on the one or more characters of the new command.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, further comprising instructions which when executed cause the one or more processors to perform concurrently displaying the input assistance region, the input region and the output region.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, further comprising instructions which when executed cause the one or more processors to perform determining a set of predicted commands of the list of commands supported by the command line interface that have the one or more characters as a sub-string and selecting the portion for re-display from the set of predicted commands.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, further comprising instructions which when executed cause the one or more processors to perform displaying a description of the particular command in response to receiving a selection of a drill-down graphical element associated with a particular command in the displayed portion of the list of commands.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, further comprising instructions which when executed cause the one or more processors to perform displaying a particular command in the input region in response to receiving a selection of a particular command in the displayed portion of the list of commands.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23, further comprising instructions which when executed cause the one or more processors to perform:

in response to receiving a selection of the particular command in displayed portion of the list of commands, displaying within the input assistance region a list of options for the particular command;

receiving a selection of a set of options from the list of options;

displaying the particular command with the set of options in the input region.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24, further comprising instructions which when executed cause the one or more processors to perform:

in response to receiving a selection of the set of options, displaying within the input assistance region a list of arguments for the particular command;

receiving a selection of a set of arguments from the list of arguments;

displaying the particular command with the set of options and the set of arguments in the input region.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 25, further comprising instructions which when executed cause the one or more processors to perform executing the particular command with the set of options and the set of arguments in response to receiving input indicating that entering the particular command is complete.

27. A system comprising:

a memory comprising instructions executable by one or more processors; and

the one or more processors coupled to the memory and operable to execute the instructions, the one or more processors being operable when executing the instructions to;

concurrently display an input region and an output region of a command line interface;

receive one or more commands via the input region, wherein each command of the one or more commands comprises one or more characters and identifies an operation of an executable program;

for each command of the one or more commands;

display the one or more characters of the command in the input region as each character of the command is received,

execute the command, via the executable program, to obtain an output,

add the output to an output history, and

reset the display of the input region prior to accepting a next command;

display at least a portion of the output history in the output region;

scroll the display of the output region to perform one or more of adding one or more outputs from the output history to the display of the output region or removing one or more outputs from the display of the output region, wherein the scrolling does not obscure the display of the input region.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the one or more processors are further operable, when executing the instructions, to:

display an input assistance region;

display at least a portion of a list of commands supported by the command line interface in the input assistance region;

receive one or more characters of a new command that is currently being entered into the input region of the command line interface;

re-display the portion of the list of commands based on the one or more characters.

29. The system of claim 27, wherein the one or more processors are further operable, when executing the instructions, to re-execute a particular command of the one or more commands in response to receiving a selection of a resend graphical element associated with the output of the particular command in the output region.

30. The system of claim 28, wherein the one or more processors are further operable, when executing the instructions, to display a description of a particular command in response to receiving a selection of a drill-down graphical element associated with the particular command in the displayed portion of the list of commands.