WMI Code Creator v1.0

Download details: WMI Code Creator v1.0

"The WMI Code Creator tool generates code that uses WMI to obtain management information or perform management tasks. You can use the tool to learn how to manage computers using WMI scripting and WMI .NET. The tool generates code that runs on the local computer, a remote computer, or a group of remote computers based on your selection from the Target Computer menu on the tool. You can also execute the generated code directly from the tool.

The tool is meant to help IT Professionals quickly create management scripts and to help developers learn WMI scripting and WMI .NET. The tool helps take the complexity out of writing code that uses WMI and helps developers and IT Professionals understand how powerful and useful WMI can be for managing computers.

Using the tool, you can query for management information such as the name and version of an operating system, how much free disk space is on a hard drive, or the state of a service. You can also use the tool to execute a method from a WMI class to perform a management task. For example, you can create code that executes the Create method of the Win32_Process class to create a new process such as Notepad or another executable. The tool also allows you to generate code to receive event notifications using WMI. For example, you can select to receive an event every time a process is started or stopped, or when a computer shuts down.

The tool also allows you to browse through the available WMI namespaces and classes on the local computer to find their descriptions, properties, methods, and qualifiers.

The code that creates the tool is also included in the download. The tool was created using WMI .NET, and the code for the tool can help developers understand how WMI .NET is used to create applications and manage information. Be sure to read the end-user license agreement that is included in the download."

This is a MUST have tool if you're doing any WMI related work or R&D. If you're not doing anything with WMI or have been hesitant to play with it, then you should check out this tool ASAP.

The 10 word answer is that this tool is a WMI C#/VBScript/VB.Net code generator.

But it's much more than that. First off it's executable without installing (assuming you have .Net Framework 1.1 installed). Second the C# source for the tool is also included. Thirdly it's not just a code generator, but all an WMI exploratory and browser tool. Fourth, it provides active links to the online MSDN doc's for the given WMI namespace. Fifth, you can code gen against not only your local machine and a single remote machine, but also a group of remote machines.

All the WMI namespaces can still be a little disconcerting. The next tool needed is a plain language wizard code generator, that helps users get over the initial namespace learning curve (or bypass it entirely). You wouldn't want to "wizard" every property/event/method/namespace but you could cover the most common...

(Of course the idea's are now coming to a boil... Use an XML file to store the wizard data, so the install is still simple. Have the wizard act as a front end to this utility, so while it makes it easy for the user to do what they want to do, it also acts as a learning tool, showing the user the namespaces, classes, etc that were used to do what they wanted to do.... Like a "kick start wizard"... Just enough to get them started... yada. yada, yada)