[racktables-users] Re: Searching on Dictionary Terms (Attributes)
- From: Denis Ovsienko <pilot@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: racktables-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:25:21 +0400
On Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:44:37 -0700 Gilmore, Justin (LNG-SEA) wrote:
> Comments following:
> -----------------------
>
> > Is there a way to search and filter by Dictionary terms (Attributes)
> > instead of using Tags? In trying to avoid tags getting out of
> control
>
> Could you tell more about the difficulties with tags?
>
> [JG] The problem we're seeing with the Tag tree is it quickly gets out
> of hand, especially when getting as granular as a hardware model. For
> example, it doesn't make sense to create a Tag tree of Cisco > Router >
> 7606,7609,7613,etc. just for search ability when there is already a
> populated Dictionary of "Router Models" right out of the box. The piece
> missing is the ability to Search on those dictionary terms. But, if I
> click on any Object and click on its Object Type, it returns a filtered
> down list of those Object Types.
> We're trying to reserve the use of Tags specifically for those
> things that don't warrant a whole Dictionary, just quick terms or
> keywords.
I personally use tens of tags. Sometimes it is not convenient, but it's
the only way to keep stuff in order. I think, some of these
inconveniences could be addressed by a better user interface to the
same schema. Sometimes it is slow. There are ways to speed it up also.
The only thing I'm sure about is there's no silver bullet for this task.
>
> > The matter used to be, that searching for, say, "3Com 4500G PWR
> > 48-port" is in fact searching for each of the words, which the phrase
> > consists of.... Could you suggest any other designs of this new
> search?
>
> [JG] The Tag filtering dialog box (right-hand side of Objects page) is
> already a great start, but it should also include Dictionary terms. I
> guess I don't understand the point of having both Tags and Dictionaries,
> especially since the Dictionaries have populated descriptions out of the
> box?
The point is that these systems don't compete. One provides a series of
fixed values, which different pieces of code can rely upon. Another
provides a mean to categorize stuff. I don't like the necessity to do
double maintenance work, but that's the least evil for today.
>
> On search dialog design, either the existing Tag Filter format,
> or a statement builder with dropdown boxes would be great. As an example
> of the statement builder, see the following link to Best Practical
> Request Tracker's ticket searching page:
>
> http://bestpractical.com/images/screenshots/rt/3.0/search.gif
Request tracker's QBE form is definitely an overkill for RackTables. We
need something cleaner.
> If this is something other people are interested in, perhaps it is worth
> a feature request?
I would be glad to forward this piece of work to someone else, who can
design and finish it appropriately.
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