Classes and Properties

[This is preliminary documentation and subject to change.]

Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) classes can include one or more properties, or name/value pairs that describe the data of the class. Properties are assigned names that cannot begin with a digit or a double underscore and cannot contain white space. Property values must belong to one of the types described in Managed Object Format (MOF) Data Types.

When a subclass contains a property with the same name as a property in its superclass, the subclass always overrides the inherited property.

Properties can also be modified by descriptors known as qualifiers. Qualifiers provide additional information about the use of a property, such as whether it acts as a key or can contain NULL values. Users can define their own qualifiers if one of the standard qualifiers does not suit their purpose. In addition to properties, qualifiers can be attached to classes, instances, methods, and parameters.