HP WBEM Services for HP-UX and Linux System Administrator's Guide

Glossary
management information format (MIF) database
Glossary108
management information format (MIF)
database
Part of DMI that stores and
manages information and passes it to
management applications on request. MIFs
define the standard manageable attributes
of PC products in categories including PC
systems, servers, printers, LAN adapters,
modems, and software applications.
Management Interface (MI) The MI
allows DMI-enabled applications to access,
manage and control desktop systems,
components and peripherals.
metamodel A CIM component that
describes the entities and relationships
representing managed objects. For example,
classes, instances, and associations are
included in the metamodel.
metaschema The metaschema is a formal
definition of the model. It defines the terms
used to express the model and its usage and
semantics.
method 1. A function describing the
behavior of a class. Including a method in a
class does not guarantee an implementation
of the method. The Implemented qualifier is
attached to the method to indicate that an
implementation is available for the class.
2. A function included in a CIM Object
Manager API interface.
MOF file A text file that contains definitions
of classes and instances, using Managed
Object Format (MOF) formatting.
multiple inheritance The ability of a
subclass to derive from more than one
superclass.
named element An entity that can be
expressed as an object in the meta schema.
namespace A unit for grouping classes and
instances to control their scope and visibility.
Namespaces are not physical locations; they
are more like logical databases containing
specific classes and instances. Objects
located within a namespace must have
unique names (specified by one or more key
values) within that namespace. Objects in a
different namespaces can be unique even if
they have the same keys, because the two
objects reside in separate namespaces.
object path A formatted string used to
access namespaces, classes, and instances.
Each object on the system has a unique path
which identifies it locally or over the
network. Object paths are conceptually
similar to Universal Resource Locators
(URL).
Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) A
specification for an API that defines a
standard set of routines with which an
application can access data in a data source.
operational semantics The formalization
of real objects by putting them into a
common language.
override Indicates that the property,
method, or reference in the derived class
overrides the similar construct in the parent
class in the inheritance tree or in the
specified parent class.
PAM (Pluggable Authentication Model)
A product that coordinates user
authentication tools for system security.