About Configuration Manager Console Views

Applies To: System Center Configuration Manager 2007, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 console views are displayed in the results pane of the Configuration Manager 2007 console. You can create your own views and make them available anywhere in the tree view hierarchy.

Creating the View Assembly

A view assembly is created when the following classes are implemented:

SmsFormViewControlBase. This class defines the control that the user sees in the Configuration Manager console results pane.

SmsFormViewBase. This class provides access to the query processor, refresh operations, and action processing. The code you write in SmsFormViewControlBase typically uses this class to get the IResultObject object for any objects that are selected by the user in the Configuration Manager console.

ViewDescriptionBase. This class provides information about the view.

After it is created, the view assembly is placed in the %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Configuration Manager\AdminUI\bin folder where it is loaded by the Configuration Manager console.

For more information, see How to Create a Configuration Manager Console View and How to Use Objects Passed to a Configuration Manager Console View.

Creating the Node XML

The view is integrated into the Configuration Manager console when you create an XML file that describes the location, queries, actions, and resources that are needed for the node that displays the view. The node XML file is placed in the %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Configuration Manager\AdminUI\ConsoleRoot\Extensions\Nodes folder, under a folder that is named with the GUID of the parent node for the node.

For more information, see How to Create Node XML for a Configuration Manager Console View.

For more information about node XML, see Configuration Manager Console Nodes.

Help

F1 Help

You can add F1 Help support to your views by specifying the HelpID attribute of the view QueryDescription element in the node XML. In the HelpID attribute you specify the path to the .chm file and the topic that you want to display in the following format:

HelpID="<path to chm>::<path to topic><topic name>.htm"

For example, the following QueryDescription element declaration loads the "How to Create a Package" topic from the Configuration Manager 2007 .chm. The .chm is assumed to be in c:\chm.

<Queries>

<QueryDescription NamespaceGuid="a0f56f00-0fce-4fff-a908-0a199f119265" Type="WQL" DisplayName="##SUB:__CLASS##" HelpTopic="C:\chm\SystemCenterConfigurationManager_SDK.chm::/html/f41c0fa8-6bc8-4bbb-86ab-c30f673baf09.htm" >

<ViewAssemblyDescriptions>

<ViewAssemblyDescription>

<Assembly>ConfigMgrObjectsControl.dll</Assembly>

<Type>Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.AdminConsole.ConfigMgrObjectsView.ConfigMgrObjectsViewDescription</Type>

</ViewAssemblyDescription>

</ViewAssemblyDescriptions>

<Query>SELECT * FROM meta_class</Query>

</QueryDescription>

</Queries>

For more information about using the QueryDescription element, see How to Create Node XML for a Configuration Manager Console View.

Custom Help

You can also display your own .chm outside of the F1 Help system. For example, you can add a button to your form that opens your Help .chm. For more information about opening Help from Windows forms, see the MSDN documentation about the .NET Framework Class Library Help Class.

See Also

Concepts

Configuration Manager Console Extension
How to Create a Configuration Manager Console View
How to Create Node XML for a Configuration Manager Console View
How to Use Objects Passed to a Configuration Manager Console View