Using Namespaces

Before writing an application, you need to understand the CIM concept of a namespace. A namespace is a directory-like structure that can contain other namespaces, classes, instances, and qualifier types. The names of objects within a namespace must be unique. All operations are performed within a namespace. The installation of Solaris WBEM Services creates two namespaces:

• root\cimv2 – Contains the default CIM classes that represent objects on the system on which Solaris WBEM Services is installed. This is the default namespace.

• root\security – Contains the security classes

When an application connects to the CIM Object Manager, it must either connect to the default namespace (root\cimv2) or specify another namespace, for example, root\security or a namespace you created.

Once connected to the CIM Object Manager in a particular namespace, all subsequent operations occur within that namespace. When you connect to a namespace, you can access the classes and instances in that namespace (if they exist) and in any namespaces contained in that namespace. For example, if you create a namespace called child in the root\cimv2 namespace, you could connect to root\cimv2 and access the classes and instances in the root\cimv2 and root\cimv2\child namespaces.

An application can connect to a namespace within a namespace. This is similar to changing to a subdirectory within a directory. Once the application connects to the new namespace, all subsequent operations occur within that namespace. If you open a new connection to root\cimv2\child, you can access any classes and instances in that namespace but cannot access the classes and instances in the parent namespace, root\cimv2.