CIM Tutorial > CIM > Overview > Meta Schema > Class

CIM Meta Schema - Class

A class is a blueprint, or prototype, that defines the properties and the methods common to a particular kind of object.  Each CIM class is a blueprint for a type of managed element. Classes contain properties, which describe the data of the class, and methods , which describe the behavior of the class.  A class is scoped by the schema in which it belongs. A class must belong to only one schema and the class name must be unique for that schema. A fully qualified class name includes the schema name using the following format: schemaname_classname.

Example:

[Abstract, Version ("2.7.0"), Description (
    "ManagedElement is an abstract class that provides a common superclass"  
    "(or top of the inheritance tree) for the non-association classes in the CIM Schema.") ]
class CIM_ManagedElement {

    [MaxLen (64), Description (  
        "The Caption property is a short textual description (one-"    
        "line string) of the object.") ]   
    string Caption;  
    
    [Description (  
        "The Description property provides a textual description of "
        "the object.") ]   
    string Description;    
      
    [Description (  
        "  A user-friendly name for the object. This property allows "
        "each instance to define a user-friendly name IN ADDITION TO its "
        "key properties/identity data, and description information. \n"
        "  Note that ManagedSystemElement's Name property is also defined "
        "as a user-friendly name. But, it is often subclassed to be a "
        "Key. It is not reasonable that the same property can convey "
        "both identity and a user friendly name, without inconsistencies. "
        "Where Name exists and is not a Key (such as for instances of "
        "LogicalDevice), the same information MAY be present in both "
        "the Name and ElementName properties.") ]
    string ElementName;
};