CIM Studio

The easiest tool for browsing WMI is CIM Studio. CIM Studio is available as part of the WMI tools, which are available from the Microsoft Web site at https://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/.

After you install the WMI SDK, you can start CIM Studio from the WMI SDK program group. CIM Studio prompts you for the name of a namespace. If you are not sure which namespace to use, you can click Browse for Namespace. An explanation of how SMS uses WMI namespaces is listed in the "How SMS Uses WMI" section earlier in this appendix. In the Browse for Namespace dialog box, click Connect, and then click OK.

After selecting a namespace, a window appears. The left pane is the class explorer, which you can use to browse the class names. The right pane is the class viewer, which shows the properties of the currently selected class. You can also use the Methods tab to display the methods that are available for the class.

Table B.2 lists the commonly used buttons and icons for WMI CIM Studio.

Table B.2 Commonly Used CIM Studio Buttons

Button	Function
	Search for Class - most classes are intuitively named, so you can search for a class that includes what you are looking for in the name. For example, if you need a class that gives memory details, search for the word memory.
	Browse for Namespace - if you decide that this namespace is not what you need, you can go back and browse for a more appropriate namespace.
	Instances - if the class looks promising and you want to see some actual data, you can use this button to see instances of the class.
	WQL Queries - if the class has many instances, or if you only want to see particular instances, you can use this button to run a query.
	Help for class - many classes include descriptive text that describes the purpose of the class and its properties and methods. The details provided for the methods include any parameters that the methods can use.
	Help - full details about CIM Studio. Note that it must be double-clicked.

CIM Studio also includes the MOF Generator Wizard, which can save the definition of WMI objects as MOF files. If the objects are not computer-specific, the MOF files that are created by the MOF Generator Wizard can be transferred to another computer and compiled there to make the objects available on that computer as well.

For More Information

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