Method

Like properties, methods belong to the class that owns them. A method is an action the objects of a given class are programmed to complete. For example, the method public String getName() returns the name of an instance as a concatenation of its keys and their values. Collectively, these actions describe the behavior of the class. Methods can belong only to the class that owns them. Within the context of a class, each method must have a unique name. A method of a given class can be overridden by a method of its subclass.

New classes inherit the definition of the method from the superclass, but not the implemented method. The definition of the method, indicated by a qualifier, serves as a placeholder in which a new implemented method can be provided. The CIM Object Manager checks for methods by starting from the lowest-level class and moving up the tree to the root class searching for a qualifier type that indicates a method.