DFS Namespace Forms

[vailenwallaces]

I'm building a DFS-Namespace provisioning form.

The data is inherently a tree — folders with parent references — and each node has permission assignments attached to it.

Right now I model this as two flat list fields in the same form:

[ DFS Nodes list ]          [ Permissions list ]
  NodeId | Name | Layer …     NodeId | Role | MemberType | MemberValue
  1      | Finance  | 1        1      | WRITE | GROUP      | GRP-Finance-Write
  2      | Reports  | 2        1      | READ  | USER       | jane.doe@corp.local
  3      | Archive  | 2        2      | READ  | GROUP      | GRP-Finance-Read

What the user actually wants to see is something like:

▶ Finance  (Layer 1)
    ├─ 👤 GRP-Finance-Write  [WRITE]
    ├─ 👤 jane.doe@corp.local [READ]
    │
    ├─▶ Reports  (Layer 2)
    │       └─ 👤 GRP-Finance-Read  [READ]
    │
    └─▶ Archive  (Layer 2)

I have created a working example using subforms and two lists. Is there an alternative approach to represent the structure (e.g., a tree structure with permissions) in a clearer or more efficient way?

I attached the yaml file what i tested. Subforms are working very well ;-)

Behind the DFS Tree is a Share on a Netapp we plan to use ABE on DFS Level just for understanding.

1.yaml

[ansibleguy76]

First of all, why not nest everything... you seem to build a way that can now be built directly with subforms.

try this one... I assume this is what you aiming for.

dfs.yaml

[ansibleguy76]

The goal here is that you want to build a nested recursive structure. That's exactly what is possible now.
Output

domain: corp.local
dfs_nodes:
  - NodeName: Finance
    SharePath: \\test\test
    Permissions:
      - Role: GRANT
        MemberType: USER
    Nodes:
      - NodeName: Marketing
        SharePath: \\test\test
        Permissions:
          - Role: GRANT
            MemberType: GROUP
        Nodes: []
  - NodeName: HR
    SharePath: \\server\hr
    Permissions:
      - Role: GRANT
        MemberType: USER
    Nodes:
      - NodeName: insurances
        SharePath: \\some\path
        Permissions:
          - Role: LIST
            MemberType: GROUP
        Nodes: []

Visualization (quick copilot attempt)

[vailenwallaces]

The visualization isn’t really working right now.

Also, I received some incorrect information earlier. It actually needs to be structured so that only the last DFS node points to a file share; the nodes in between are just “META” DFS nodes. But the general direction is correct.

I’d also like to have some kind of dynamic tree structure that users can build interactively. However, the approach with the subforms is already very good and comes quite close.

I’m currently updating to version 6.2 in the test environment now that it’s officially GA 🙂

[ansibleguy76]

I didn't really add a lot though into it. It was more as a "how-to" and you can can finetune. List & Subform allows for recursive tree building. Visualization is html building expression => Again, I didn't add a lot of thought into it, just showcasing it's possible. I'll leave the tweaking up to you. If somehow you do bump into a technical impossibility, let me know.

[ansibleguy76]

Ps : next to come is multilanguage => Dutch & english so far, I hope for some "translators/reviewers" later

[vailenwallaces]

"Ps : next to come is multilanguage => Dutch & english so far, I hope for some "translators/reviewers" later"
I can definitely contribute German and help with translations/reviews if needed.

[ansibleguy76]

building 6.2.1-rc => german is included (give it 10 minutes to build)