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CIM Meta Schema - Reference

A reference is a special property data type that is declared with the REF key word, indicating that it is a pointer to other instances.

A reference defines the role each object plays in an association. The reference represents the role name of a class in the context of an association. Associations support the provision of multiple relationship instances for a given object. In other words, a system can be related to many system components in many different ways.  A reference may also be used as a method parameter.

Example:

[Association, Version ("2.6.0"), Description (
    "RunningOS indicates the currently executing OperatingSystem. "
    "At most one OperatingSystem can execute at any time on a "
    "ComputerSystem. 'At most one' is specified, since the Computer"
    "System may not be currently booted, or its OperatingSystem "
    "may be unknown.") ]
class CIM_RunningOS : CIM_Dependency {

[Override ("Antecedent"), Max (1), Description (
    "The OperatingSystem currently running on the "
    "ComputerSystem.") ]
CIM_OperatingSystem REF Antecedent;

[Override ("Dependent"), Max (1), Description (
    "The ComputerSystem.") ]
CIM_ComputerSystem REF Dependent;
};