3.4.2 Type Net Rule

The syntax for the type entry is defined as follows:

type: REG_SZ : ProductName Class {LowerClass}

ProductName

Specifies a name, assigned by the developer, that meets the requirements described in the preceding section, including the requirement that this name must be unique across all other components.

Class

Indicates the component class to which this component belongs. A component class can be any of the predefined Adapter, Driver, Transport, or Service, or it can be a newly defined class. A Class specification always concatenates one of these predefined values. For example, ndisDriver and netBiosTransport are valid Class specifications used by the system-supplied network drivers.

LowerClass

This optional specification is used to indicate the behavior of the lower-edge of the component. If it is omitted, the Class name is taken to indicate both the upper-edge and lower-edge behavior.

Examples of the Type Net Rule

The following examples show how type is specified in the registry for certain system network drivers under their respective ..\NameOfComponent\NetRules keys:

1. A NIC driver for an elnkii adapter has the entry
   type : REG_SZ : elnkiiSys ndisDriver elnkiiDriver

   In the preceding type specification, elnkiiSys is the name of the driver. The Class value ndisDriver indicates both that the elnkii NIC driver is part of the generic class Driver and that it is an NDIS-compliant driver. The LowerClass value elnkiiDriver is a developer-assigned name that describes the lower-edge behavior of this driver; that is, this driver manages a NIC whose adapter type is elnkii.

2. A NIC driver for an ee16 adapter has the entry
   type : REG_SZ : ee16Sys ndisDriver ee16Driver

   The preceding type specification is semantically identical to the elnkii driver's, except for the ee16-specific values.

3. A NetBIOS Nbf transport has the entry
   type : REG_SZ : nbf netBiosTransport rasCapableTransport

   The preceding type specification indicates that the product name is nbf. The Class value netBiosTransport indicates this component is part of the generic class Transport and that it handles NetBIOS-type addresses. The LowerClass value rasCapableTransport indicates that higher-level components can use this transport to support RAS operations.