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Desktop Management Task Force, Inc.
XML As a Representation for Management Information – A White Paper
Version 1.0
September 15th, 1998
Technical inquiries and editorial comments should be directed in writing to:
Desktop Management Task Force, Inc. (DMTF)
c/o
MacKenzie Kesselring, Inc.Introduction *
Acknowledgement
*
Overview
*Some Background on XML
*Generalized Markup
*HTML- A Markup Language for Graphical Display
*XML – A Markup Language for Structured Data
*Syntax and Technical Overview Of XML
*XML: Validation and Document Type Definitions
*Extensible Style Language and Style Sheets
*Examples of Existing XML Vocabularies
*
The Benefits of Using XML to Represent Management Information
*Local Processing On the Client
*Rendering and Transformations
*Heterogeneous Applications
*XML As a Source of Management Data
*Choice of Validation Location
*
Mapping Choices
*An XML Vocabulary for CIM Management Information
*References
*Information about CIM and XML
*
This document gives a summary of the history, functionality and capabilities of the eXtensible Markup Language (XML). It describes several compelling reasons why XML is a particularly useful technique for representing structured systems management information.
The document concludes by proposing that a mapping should be defined between the CIM meta-model and an XML vocabulary, thus allowing the representation of any CIM management information in the form of one or more XML documents. Allowing CIM information to be represented in the form of XML brings all of the benefits of XML and its related technologies to management information modeled using the CIM meta-model.
The basis of this document is unashamedly taken from a whitepaper by Roger Booth of the Microsoft Corporation. His excellent work was extremely useful in guiding the work of the DMTF in its first steps to utilize XML for the transporting CIM Information
The eXtensible Markup Language (XML) is a subset of the Standardized Generalized Markup Language (SGML). Markup languages (such as XML, or SGML) are designed to add structure and convey information about documents and data. In "markup" languages, the main mechanism for supplying structural and semantic information is by decorating the document with "elements" comprising a "start tag", optionally some content, and an "end tag".
XML is a markup language used for representing structured data in textual form. A specific goal of XML was to keep most of the descriptive power of SGML whilst removing as much of the complexity as possible. XML is similar in concept to HTML, but whereas HTML is used to convey graphical information about a document, XML is used to represent structured data in a document.
An XML document can optionally have a description of its grammar attached. The grammar for an XML document is described using a mechanism known as a "Document Type Definition" (DTD). The DTD describes the allowable elements in the XML document and describes the structure of those elements. An XML document that is structured according to the rules defined in the XML specification is termed "well formed". In addition to being "well formed", an XML document can optionally be "valid". A "valid" XML document must contain a DTD, and the grammar of the document must conform to that specified in the DTD. The process of testing to make sure that an XML document conforms to the description of the grammar described in the DTD is commonly termed "validation".
XML documents do not ordinarily contain information about how the data contained within the data should be rendered. The graphical rendering of an XML document cab be achieved by the use of an "eXtensible Style Language" (XSL) style sheet. More generally, XSL style sheets can be used to not only render XML information graphically but can also be used to transform XML documents into other formats. Any number of XSL style sheets can be associated with an XML document. For example given that some management information is represented in the form of an XML document, it would be possible to write a web-based application that graphically represented the management object in a variety of ways simply by applying a number of different style sheets to the document.
Management information represented in the form of an XML document can be useful for assisting local processing on the client without incurring a roundtrip to the server. In addition, an XML representation of information is useful for passing data between heterogeneous management systems. Because XML parsers are available for many platforms and if a suitable XML Vocabulary was defined for the management information then management information can be passed between management stations regardless of the underlying platform or operating environment.
In order to make the use of XML to represent management information truly useful, an XML Vocabulary must be defined and agreed upon. The XML vocabulary for management would be produced by defining a DTD that dictated the structure or meta-model that all "valid" XML management documents must adhere to. There has already been a great deal of research in the area of defining a meta-model for management. The output of this research has resulted in the production of the "Common Information Model" CIM as defined by the DMTF [1].
The CIM meta-model as defined by the DMTF can be used as the basis for the DTD that defines the XML representation (vocabulary) of management information. This mapping of the CIM meta model to an XML DTD is termed the "CIM XML Vocabulary". Using this technique, a mapping can be defined between any management information that can be modeled using CIM and the CIM XML Vocabulary. Put more simply; once the mapping is defined anything that can be currently be modeled using CIM, and represented using MOF would then be capable of being represented in XML using the CIM XML Vocabulary. Of course the reverse would also be true in that any information that is represented using the CIM XML Vocabulary can also be represented using MOF syntax. In fact, an XSL style sheet can be written that can transform management information represented in valid CIM XML Vocabulary into MOF syntax.
Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a subset of Standardized Generalized Markup Language (SGML).
XML is a universal standard for representing any kind of structured data. XML has been standardized by the W3C (see ref).
The following sections describe the history of XML, and position the technology with respect to other markup languages and applications such as SGML, and HTML. A brief introduction to the syntax of XML and a very brief example is given. Finally some information is given about some of the more useful and relevant (in the context of systems management) standards and techniques that are related to XML and it's use.
Standardized Generalized Markup Language (SGML) was published in 1986 [1]. In this context, the work "markup" means the insertion of information into a document. When inserted into a document "markup" is used to convey information about the document that is in some sense related to the content. For example, "markup" could be inserted into a document that describes the structure of the document (paragraph markers, heading structure etc). As another example markup could be used to describe how content should be displayed (for example bold or italic).
SGML is an example of a "markup" language. SGML allows the definition of start and end tags that can surround document content. The example below shows the definition of a level 3 heading:
<H3>Generalized Markup</H3>
In this example <H3> is a "start tag", "</H3>" is an end tag and the whole is described as an "element" of type "h3". An important aspect of elements is that they can be nested:
<PARAGRAPH>This is a paragraph that has a <BOLD>bold</BOLD> section within it</PARAGRAPH>
SGML does not enforce any particular set of element types. SGML provides a means by which new element types can be defined. Because of this, SGML is probably best thought of as a language for defining markup languages. When a set of SGML elements is defined to solve a particular problem, this is referred to as an "SGML Application".
A "Document Type Definition" or DTD is used to describe an "SGML Application". The DTD describes the allowed elements, attributes and entities allowed in the application, together with information about how they can be structured. The DTD that describes the application is actually a part of an SGML document.
HTML- A Markup Language for Graphical Display
The HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is actually an SGML application, with a DTD that describes the allowed elements etc. HTML is used to attach display markup to a document. It is important to note that HTML is used only for the purposes of display and not for structuring information or data.
An example fragment of HTML is shown below:
<P>This is a paragraph that has <B>bold</B> text in it</P>
It is important to note that with standard HTML each page has a predetermined style that is dictated by the HTML markup.
XML – A Markup Language for Structured Data
XML was formed out of a desire to produce a markup language with the power and flexibility of SGML, but without the complexity.
Unlike HTML, which is an SGML application (a defined set of SGML elements, etc. using a DTD), XML is a subset of SGML. Therefore like SGML, but unlike HTML, XML does not have a predefined set of elements, rather it allows XML "vocabularies" to be defined using a DTD.
More precisely: HTML is an SGML application targeted at display markup for documents, XML is a subset of SGML targeted at data representation. It is possible therefore to imagine the Web as consisting of HTML for display purposes, and XML for data representation and description purposes.
Syntax and Technical Overview of XML
This section does not attempt to describe the full XML syntax (for descriptions of the full syntax see
http://www.w3.org/XML/).XML is similar to HTML in the sense that it is a text based markup language. XML is unlike HTML in that it is a subset of SGML as opposed to being an SGML application, and that also it is used for representing any kind of structured data, not only display information.
An XML document is made up of elements that consist of textual information contained between a "start tag", and an "end tag". The information between the "start tag" and the "end tag" is sometimes referred to as the "content" (or sometimes the "data"). Unlike HTML the set of tags is not pre-defined, and all elements must be either top level, or be contained within another unique element, that is the document structure is a directed tree of elements with a single "root" element.
A document author can decide upon the best set of tags for a particular purpose. It can also be the case that particular sets of tags are defined for a particular type of data, or vertical application. These sets of tag definitions are termed "XML vocabularies". Examples of XML vocabularies are given in the section: <
Examples of Existing XML Vocabularies>.As an example here is a section of XML that might describe three cups of coffee ordered from a well-known coffee vendor:
<ORDER>
<COFFEE>
<LATTE>
<MILK type=non-fat/>
<SIZE>tall</SIZE>
<SYRUP sugarfree = true>vanilla</SYRUP>
</LATTE>
<SHOTS>2</SHOTS>
</COFFEE>
<COFFEE>
<ESPRESSO/>
<SHOTS>3</SHOTS>
</COFFEE>
<COFFFEE>
<AMERICANO>
<SIZE>grande</SIZE>
</AMERICANO>
<SHOTS>1</SHOTS>
</COFFEE>
</ORDER>
Note that it is possible to specify an element using an abbreviated mechanism (e.g. <ESPRESSO/>). This abbreviated syntax can be used when the element is an empty element (contains no content).
Element tags may have further information associated with them in the form of name-value pairs termed "attributes". Attributes tend to be used to convey more further qualifying information about the element (e.g. <MILK type=non-fat/>
All text (including all markup) in XML can be in Unicode, and consequently XML can be represented in any international language.
Unlike HTML, all XML elements must be strictly nested. Each element must have a start tag and an end tag. Although elements may be nested, they must not overlap.
XML: Validation and Document Type Definitions
A Document Type Definition (DTD) describes what are the allowable elements in an XML document and describes the structure of the elements. More precisely, the DTD describes the grammar used by a particular XML document.
An XML document that is structured according to the rules defined in the XML specification is termed "well formed". In addition to being "well formed", an XML document can optionally be "valid". A "valid" XML document must contain a DTD, and the grammar of the document must conform to that specified in the DTD. The process of testing to make sure that an XML document conforms to the description of the grammar described in the DTD is commonly termed "validation".
An XML document may or may not have an associated DTD (it is optional). Clearly the document cannot be "validated" (proven to conform to a particular XML vocabulary) if there is no attached DTD. Either the DTD can be physically contained within the document or it may be referenced externally. If the DTD is referenced externally, it does not have to reside in the same location as the XML document. As an example an externally referenced DTD could be used to validate that an XML document conforms to an XML vocabulary defined by a DTD that is held by a central validating authority.
The sample below shows a DTD for the XML document above describing an order of coffee:
<!DOCTYPE ORDER [
<!ELEMENT ORDER (COFFEE+)>
<!ELEMENT COFFEE ((LATTE|AMERICANO|ESPRESSO), SHOTS)>
<!ELEMENT LATTE (MILK,SIZE,SYRUP)>
<!ELEMENT AMERICANO (SIZE)>
<!ELEMENT ESPRESSO EMPTY>
<!ELEMENT SHOTS (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT MILK EMPTY>
<!ELEMENT SIZE (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT SYRUP (#PCDATA)>
<!ATTLIST MILK type (non-fat | one-percent | two-percent | full-fat) #REQUIRED>
<!ATTLIST SYRUP sugarfree (true | false) #REQUIRED>
]>
Here the DTD tells us that the document called "ORDER" consists of at least one "COFFEE" element. Each "COFFEE" element consists of one of a choice of "LATTE", "AMERICANO", or "ESPRESSO" elements, and one "SHOTS" element. Each "LATTE" element consists of one of each of the "MILK", "SIZE", and "SYRUP" elements. Each "AMERICANO" element consists of one "SIZE" element. The "ESPRESSO" element has no contents (neither data nor other elements). The "SHOTS" element contains only data. The "MILK" element has no contents (neither data nor other elements). The "SIZE" and "SYRUP" elements contain only data. The "MILK" element must have on attribute of name "type", which can only take on one of the values: "non-fat", "one-percent", "two-percent" or "full-fat". The "SYRUP" element must have one attribute of name "sugarfree", which can only take on one of the values: "true" or "false".
Any XML document, which references this DTD, must conform to the rules specified within the DTD in order to be considered a "valid" XML document.
Extensible Style Language and Style Sheets
XML allows data or content to be augmented with markup thus conveying extra information about the semantics of the data. Because XML documents generally only convey information about the structure and semantics of data they do not usually carry information about how the information is to be viewed, displayed or rendered.
Given a particular XML document it is the case that there is an infinitude of different ways in which this information can be rendered or viewed. A standard called eXtensible Style Language (XSL) has been proposed to address this issue. An XML style-sheet is essentially a group of rules for transforming an XML document. Generally these transformations are used for the purposes of augmenting XML document data with information about how to display or view the information, although they can be also be used for other forms of transformation (for example defining a mapping to tab-delimited format). In short, an XSL style-sheet contains rules which recursively maps XML elements to some other structure (such as a presentation structure). Finally XSL itself conforms to the XML syntax, which means both that it can be validated and that authors do not have to learn a completely new syntax.
An XSL style sheet is made up of one or more "construction rules". A construction rule describes how a particular XML element is to be transformed (possibly into some form of displayable output). A rule itself consists of a "pattern" (which identifies an XML element) and an "action" which describe s what to do with elements that match the "pattern". An example from the coffee shop is shown below:
<xsl>
<rule>
<target-element type = "size"/>
<P color="red" font-style="bold">
<children/>
</P>
</rule>
</xsl>
In this example, the "target-element" element is a "pattern" which "targets" <size> elements within the XML document. In addition, the <children/> "action" indicates that the contents of the <size> element should be placed within the <P> element.
If we apply the style sheet above to the XML document example shown above, the output would be:
<P color="red" font-style="bold">tall</P>
<P color="red" font-style="bold">grande</P>
It is easy to see how this process can be used to augment XML information with display information using HTML for example.
In addition to declarative transformations, XSL style sheets can make use of scripts (e.g. ECMAScript) to extend the XSL functionality.
Examples of Existing XML Vocabularies
There are many XML vocabularies that have been defined for vertical applications.
The "Open Software Definition" is an XML Vocabulary that is used for describing software packages and their dependencies.
The "Mathematical Markup Language" (MathML) is a low-level syntax for representing structured data such as mathematics in machine-to-machine communication over the Web, providing a much-needed solution for including mathematical expressions over the Web. In developing MathML, the goal was to define an XML-compliant markup language that describes the content and presentation of mathematical expressions. For more information see <
Mathematical Markup Language>There are many, many other industry efforts in the area of XML standards, vocabularies and applications. One of the best sources of information about these initiatives is <
Other XML Initiatives>
The Benefits of Using XML to Represent Management Information
XML is particularly useful in certain circumstances and scenarios. XML is considered especially useful in the N tier arrangements where the UI or client tier uses Web based techniques to render or manipulate information.
The sections below describe the scenarios in which the use of XML to represent management data is considered particularly advantageous.
As described in the section above <
Extensible Style Language and Style Sheets> XSL style sheets can be used to transform XML documents to other representations. For example, XML document can be augmented with display information in the form of HTML. Many style sheets can be attached to a single XML document, thus effectively providing a choice of transformations or renderings. For example in the case of an management information represented as XML style sheets might be produced to map the XML into a MOF or into HTML renderings of property information.The rendering transformation (application of the style sheet) can be carried out either on the client of on the server. Performing the rendering transformation using XSL on the client is likely to be preferable to the server because the client can perform different rendering actions without returning to the server each time for new information. As an example of this a Web page could be produced that prompts the user with the various rendering alternatives (for example XML, MOF, or property tables) allowing the user to select. When the user has selected the rendering can be carried out on the client by the (re)application of an XSL style-sheet without having to return to the server for further information.
This capability can be exploited by a management application in several situations. Different sets of style sheets can be written for different circumstances. The style sheets vary from those that are general purpose to those that are very specific to a particular application or management scenario. XSL styles sheets could be produced that turn the management information represented by XML into MOF syntax. Property page style sheets could be written to display the properties of specified management objects in tabular form. ISVs and vendors could produce their own XSL style sheets for custom graphical renderings of devices or collections or domain specific collections of management objects.
Since XSL can, also output script it is possible that dynamic management applications can be produced by using XSL, which is outputting a combination of dynamic HTML and script. As an example of this latter technique, imagine for example an instance of a "Disk" class represented in XML. A style sheet could be produced which using XML and script could produce dynamic HTML and script to display a button that when pressed could reformat the disk.
XML is particularly suitable as a data representation mechanism for use in heterogeneous environments. Because XML is based upon an open industry standard, implementations of XML parsers exist for many platforms, and in many programming languages. Implementations are available on Unix and in C++ and Java. In addition, some parser implementations allow access to XML element tree from various different scripting languages and environments.
It is also already the case that multiple implementations of parsers and APIs exist for all popular makes of browsers. For example, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 4.0 browser ships with both a ‘C++’ and a Java implementation of an XML parser.
These facts make XML an ideal standard medium for transferring data between heterogeneous platforms. In systems management environments the XML representation of management information could be used to transfer data between co-operating management platforms for example. These management platforms need not necessarily be running the same operating environments, but interoperability is enabled because of a common understanding of the XML representation of management information.
XML as a Source of Management Data
XML can also make a useful source of management data. For devices that currently have no way of supplying management information it may be the case, that XML is a convenient mechanism for surfacing this data.
It may also be the case that as more XML vocabularies are defined that some of this information might be useful from a management perspective. It should be possible to provide mappings between these XML vocabularies and the vocabulary used for management by the use of XSL style-sheets. Examples of XML vocabularies that may be useful in this regard include OSD [3] and CDF [4].
XML documents can optionally be "validated". The "validation" of an XML document is carried out by checking that the XML document conforms to a definition given by a Document Type Definition (DTD) .
Either a DTD specification can be contained within the XML document or it can be referenced remotely via a link. The validation against a remote DTD has interesting ramifications for systems management using XML representations of management information. Using XML validation via a remote link it may be possible to check that management information represented in the form of an XML document conforms to the meta-model by validating the document against a DTD served by a centralized validation site such as the DMTF.
In the case of centralized validation, the device supplying the management information need not have to supply the validation information, but rather the link to the DTD describing the meta-schema for the management information. This situation may be particularly suitable for small devices with limited resources. This technique may also be valuable for validating that information from an un-trusted, untested, or unknown server does indeed conform to the XML vocabulary being used for management.
There are two basic choices that could be take in mapping CIM data to an XML transport:
XML-Data proposal. In this case, CIM Instances are valid XML documents. An example of Schema mapping would look like this:Schema mapping: CIM Classes would be described using the
<Disk>
<PROPERTIES>
<Freespace>200</Freespace>
</PROPERTIES>
</Disk>
MetaSchema mapping: CIM metaschema would be described using XML encoding. In this case, CIM Classes and instances are XML documents. An example of metaschema mapping would look like this:
<CLASS Name="Disk">
<PROPERTY Name="Freespace">
200
</PROPERTY>
<CLASS>
Schema mapping has scoping problems with CIM Schema names. Using XML-Data, schema mapping could give better validation, but with no Inheritance and no loose ordering the Document Type Definition (DTD) would be unwieldy. Using Xlink, many of these problems would be eliminated.
MetaSchema mapping has some distinct advantages today. Only one DTD would be needed and avoids the current limitations of DTD (i.e., no ordering, scoping, no inheritance). The limitations are limited validation power.
The methodology for the Metaschema mapping would be to define CIM in a DTD:
Values
Qualifiers
Properties
Methods
Paths
Class, Instance and Association
Given the current state of the XML it has been decided to take a phased approach:
Phase 1, A quick useful practical solution using a CIM DTD.
Phase 2, A more complete solution still using the basic DTD with extensions.
Phase 3, A Complete solution using XML-Data when the XML-Data, Xlink and XSL proposals from the W3C are more stable and mature.
An XML Vocabulary for CIM Management Information
The Common Information Model (CIM) is an object-oriented information model standardized within the DMTF for the purposes of providing a conceptual framework within which any management data may be modeled. It comprises:
A meta-schema to formally describe the model.
Core schemas to capture notions that are applicable to all areas of management.
Standard schemas to model vendor-independent information within a small number of specific areas of management (Networks, Applications and so forth).
Extensions schemas to represent vendor-specific extensions of the standard schemas (for example, the Win32 schema).
Currently CIM schema (classes and instances) are expressed textually in MOF (Managed Object Format), a vernacular of IDL. XML allows for interchange of this CIM information using widely available, common XML tools such as parsers.
For illustrative purposes only, one possible mapping of CIM information to XML is shown below. This mapping illustrates how a single CIM class could be mapped to XML. This example is not meant to show a "standard" mapping of CIM to XML, but simply one of many possible mappings.
The MOF syntax for the class is show below:
[Abstract]
class CIM_ManagedSystemElement
{
[MaxLen(64)] string Caption;
string Description;
[MappingStrings{"MIF.DMTF|ComponentID|001.5"}]
datetime InstallDate;
string Name;
[Values{"OK","Error","Degraded","Unknown"}] string Status;
};
The corresponding XML mapping for this class is shown below:
<?xml version="1.0" ?>
- <!DOCTYPE CIM SYSTEM "http://WBEM_TECRA_2/wbem/cim.dtd">
- <CIM CIMVERSION="2.0" DTDVERSION="1.0" >
- <CLASS>
- <CLASSPATH>
- <NAMESPACEPATH>
- <HOST>WBEM_TECRA_2</HOST>
- <NAMESPACE>
<NAMESPACENODE>ROOT</NAMESPACENODE>
<NAMESPACE>
<NAMESPACENODE>CIMV2</NAMESPACENODE>
</NAMESPACE>
</NAMESPACE>- </NAMESPACEPATH>
- <CLASSNAME>CIM_ManagedSystemElement</CLASSNAME>
- </CLASSPATH>
- <QUALIFIER NAME="Abstract" LOCAL="true" TYPE="boolean" OVERRIDABLE="EnableOverride"
TOSUBCLASS="Restricted" TRANSLATABLE="false">- <VALUE>TRUE</VALUE>
</QUALIFIER>- <PROPERTY NAME="Caption" CLASSORIGIN=
"CIM_ManagedSystemElement" LOCAL="true"TYPE="string">- <QUALIFIER NAME="CIMTYPE" LOCAL="true" TYPE="string" OVERRIDABLE="EnableOverride" TOSUBCLASS="ToSubclass" TRANSLATABLE="false">
- <VALUE>string</VALUE>
</QUALIFIER>- <QUALIFIER NAME="MaxLen" LOCAL="true" TYPE="sint32" OVERRIDABLE="EnableOverride" TOSUBCLASS="Restricted" TRANSLATABLE="false">
- <VALUE>64</VALUE>
</QUALIFIER>- <QUALIFIER NAME="read" LOCAL="true" TYPE="boolean" OVERRIDABLE="EnableOverride" TOSUBCLASS="Restricted" TRANSLATABLE="false">
- <VALUE>TRUE</VALUE>
</QUALIFIER>- </PROPERTY>
- <PROPERTY NAME="Description" CLASSORIGIN="CIM_ManagedSystemElement" LOCAL="true" TYPE="string">
- <QUALIFIER NAME="CIMTYPE" LOCAL="true" TYPE="string" OVERRIDABLE="EnableOverride" TOSUBCLASS="ToSubclass" TRANSLATABLE="false">
- <VALUE>string</VALUE>
</QUALIFIER>- <QUALIFIER NAME="read" LOCAL="true" TYPE="boolean" OVERRIDABLE="EnableOverride" TOSUBCLASS="Restricted" TRANSLATABLE="false">
- <VALUE>TRUE</VALUE>
</QUALIFIER>- </PROPERTY>
- <PROPERTY NAME="InstallDate" CLASSORIGIN="CIM_ManagedSystemElement" LOCAL="true" TYPE="datetime">
- <QUALIFIER NAME="CIMTYPE" LOCAL="true" TYPE="string" OVERRIDABLE="EnableOverride" TOSUBCLASS="ToSubclass" TRANSLATABLE="false">
- <VALUE>datetime</VALUE>
</QUALIFIER>- <QUALIFIER NAME="MappingStrings" LOCAL="true" TYPE="string" OVERRIDABLE="EnableOverride" TOSUBCLASS="Restricted" TRANSLATABLE="false">
- <VALUE.INDEXED INDEX ="0">MIF.DMTF|ComponentID|001.5</VALUE.INDEXED>
- </QUALIFIER>
- <QUALIFIER NAME="read" LOCAL="true" TYPE="boolean" OVERRIDABLE="EnableOverride" TOSUBCLASS="Restricted" TRANSLATABLE="false">
- <VALUE>TRUE</VALUE>
</QUALIFIER>- </PROPERTY>
- <PROPERTY NAME="Name" CLASSORIGIN="CIM_ManagedSystemElement" LOCAL="true" TYPE="string">
- <QUALIFIER NAME="CIMTYPE" LOCAL="true" TYPE="string" OVERRIDABLE="EnableOverride" TOSUBCLASS="ToSubclass" TRANSLATABLE="false">
- <VALUE>string</VALUE>
</QUALIFIER>- <QUALIFIER NAME="read" LOCAL="true" TYPE="boolean" OVERRIDABLE="EnableOverride" TOSUBCLASS="Restricted" TRANSLATABLE="false">
- <VALUE>TRUE</VALUE>
</QUALIFIER>- </PROPERTY>
- <PROPERTY NAME="Status" CLASSORIGIN="CIM_ManagedSystemElement" LOCAL="true" TYPE="string">
- <QUALIFIER NAME="CIMTYPE" LOCAL="true" TYPE="string" OVERRIDABLE="EnableOverride" TOSUBCLASS="ToSubclass" TRANSLATABLE="false">
- <VALUE>string</VALUE>
</QUALIFIER>- <QUALIFIER NAME="read" LOCAL="true" TYPE="boolean" OVERRIDABLE="EnableOverride" TOSUBCLASS="Restricted" TRANSLATABLE="false">
- <VALUE>TRUE</VALUE>
</QUALIFIER>- <QUALIFIER NAME="Values" LOCAL="true" TYPE="string" OVERRIDABLE="EnableOverride" TOSUBCLASS="Restricted" TRANSLATABLE="false">
- <VALUE.INDEXED INDEX ="0">OK</VALUE.INDEXED>
- <VALUE.INDEXED INDEX ="1">Error</VALUE.INDEXED>
- <VALUE.INDEXED INDEX ="2">Degraded</VALUE.INDEXED>
- <VALUE.INDEXED INDEX ="3">Unknown</VALUE.INDEXED>
- </QUALIFIER>
- </PROPERTY>
- </CLASS>
- </CIM>
It should be noted that many different criteria could be applied when attempting to design the "standard" mapping of CIM to XML (or "CIM XML Vocabulary"). Examples of such criteria include, but are not limited to, verbosity, readability, ease of validation, and programmability.
The definition and ranking of the mapping criteria together with the definition of a "standard" mapping are topics for further study.
Information about the CIM can be obtained from:
http://www.dmtf.org/tech/specs.htmlXML Home page
XML- Data
XML- Linking Language (XLink)
XML- Style Sheet Language (XSL)