Patent ID: 7092940

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for automating operations of a computing arrangement coupled to a message processor, wherein the computing arrangement includes a host data processing system coupled to a data storage system, and an operations processor coupled to the host and to the data storage system, comprising: defining a plurality of command queues in a pattern database, each command queue having a priority level relative to the other command queues and having storage available for a plurality of commands; defining in the pattern database a plurality of pattern definitions and response definitions, each pattern definition being associated with one or more associated response definitions, and one or more of the response definitions including one or more commands and one or more instructions, wherein each of the one or more instructions specifies queuing of a command to a designated one of the command queues; receiving message character strings at the message processor; searching the pattern database for pattern definitions that match the message character strings; for each pattern definition that matches a received message character string and in response to an instruction associated with the pattern definition and that designates a selected command queue, adding the command specified by the instruction to the selected command queue; and for a pattern definition that matches a command prompt message character string from the data storage system, dequeuing commands from the command queues in order of the priority levels of the command queues and submitting the commands to the data storage system.