How to Add New Properties to an Existing Resource Type

Article
05/03/2011

Applies To: System Center Configuration Manager 2007, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2

In Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007, when the Data Discovery Manager (DDM) detects that your data discovery record (DDR) contains a property that does not exist in the resource class, the property is added to the resource class. Depending on the data type of the new property, previous instances of the resource will contain either a zero or an empty string ("") for the value of the new property. You should specify all the class properties when you update an existing resource class. However, do not include the seven properties that the DDM creates for you. When the DDM creates a new resource class, it adds these additional properties to the class:

ResourceID
AgentName
AgentSite
AgentTime
Name
ResourceType
SMSAssignedSite

For a description of these properties, see SMS_R_System. In addition to creating these properties, the DDM creates an instance of SMS_ResourceMap for the new ResourceType value.

To add properties to an existing resource type

Get a specific instance of an existing resource.
Create a new instance of the SMSResGenl class.
Create a new DDR using the NewDDR method.
Add properties to the DDR using the ADDPROP_ methods.
Write the new DDR to a file using the DDRWrite method.

Example

The following example creates a DDR that adds the OrganizationalUnit property to the SMS_R_System class. You can then use this property to create collections based on departments and distribute software accordingly. If your organization uses Active Directory, you can use the information it contains to populate the OrganizationalUnit property.

The following example shows the key, name, and GUID properties that you use to update the system resource class.

Sub CreateDDRToAddNewPropertiesToAnExistingResourceType()
 
    ' Define variables.
    Dim resourceID
    Dim existingResource 
    Dim newDDR 
    Dim siteCode
    Dim organizationalUnit
    
    ' Set variables.
    resourceID = 5
    siteCode = "TQ1"
    organizationalUnit = "Test OU"
    
    ' Get a specific resource (client) object using the resourceID value.
    Set existingResource = GetObject("winmgmts:root/sms/site_" & siteCode & ":SMS_R_System.ResourceID=" & resourceID & "")
    
    ' Load an instance of the SMSResGen.dll.
    Set newDDR = CreateObject("SMSResGen.SMSResGen.1")
     
    ' Create a new DDR using the DDRNew method.
    newDDR.DDRNew "System", "Department Discovery", siteCode
    
    ' Add properties to the new DDR using the DDRAdd methods.
    newDDR.DDRAddInteger "Client", existingResource.Client, ADDPROP_NONE
    newDDR.DDRAddString "Client Version", existingResource.ClientVersion, 15, ADDPROP_NONE
    newDDR.DDRAddStringArray "IP Addresses", existingResource.IPAddresses, 64, ADDPROP_NONE
    newDDR.DDRAddStringArray "IP Subnets", existingResource.IPSubnets, 64, ADDPROP_NONE
    newDDR.DDRAddString "Last Logon User Domain", existingResource.LastLogonUserDomain, 64, ADDPROP_NONE
    newDDR.DDRAddString "Last Logon User Name", existingResource.LastLogonUserName, 255, ADDPROP_NONE
    newDDR.DDRAddStringArray "MAC Addresses", existingResource.MACAddresses, 64, ADDPROP_KEY
    newDDR.DDRAddString "NetBIOS Name", existingResource.NetbiosName, 32, ADDPROP_NAME
    newDDR.DDRAddString "Operating System Name and Version", existingResource.OperatingSystemNameandVersion, 64, ADDPROP_NONE
    newDDR.DDRAddString "Resource Domain OR Workgroup", existingResource.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup, 64, ADDPROP_NONE
    newDDR.DDRAddStringArray "Resource Names", existingResource.ResourceNames, 128, ADDPROP_NONE
    newDDR.DDRAddStringArray "SMS Installed Sites", existingResource.SMSInstalledSites, 3, ADDPROP_NONE
    newDDR.DDRAddString "SMS Unique Identifier", existingResource.SMSUniqueIdentifier, 64, ADDPROP_GUID And ADDPROP_KEY
    newDDR.DDRAddStringArray "System Roles", existingResource.SystemRoles, 32, ADDPROP_NONE
        
    ' The new property that is being added.
    newDDR.DDRAddString "Organizational Unit", OrganizationalUnit, 64, ADDPROP_NONE
     
    ' Write new DDR to file.
    newDDR.DDRWrite "NewDDR_AddToExistingResource.DDR"
    wscript.echo "Created new DDR."

End Sub

public void CreateDDRToAddNewPropertiesToAnExistingResourceType(WqlConnectionManager connection)
{
    try
    {
        // Define and set the required variables.
        int resourceID = 5;
        string siteCode = "TQ1";
        string organizationalUnit = "Test OU";
        
        // Get a specific resource (client) object using the resourceID value.
        IResultObject existingResource = connection.GetInstance(@"SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID='" + resourceID + "'");

        // Create the SMSResGenClass instance.
        SMSRSGENCTLLib.SMSResGen newDDR = new SMSRSGENCTLLib.SMSResGen();

        // Create a new DDR using the DDRNew method.
        newDDR.DDRNew("System", "Department Discovery", siteCode);

        // Add properties to the new DDR using the DDRAddInteger, DDRAddString and DDRAddStringArray methods.
        newDDR.DDRAddInteger("Client", existingResource["Client"].IntegerValue, SMSRSGENCTLLib.DDRPropertyFlagsEnum.ADDPROP_NONE);
        newDDR.DDRAddString("Client Version",existingResource["ClientVersion"].StringValue, 15, SMSRSGENCTLLib.DDRPropertyFlagsEnum.ADDPROP_NONE);
        newDDR.DDRAddStringArray("IP Addresses",existingResource["IPAddresses"].StringArrayValue, 64, SMSRSGENCTLLib.DDRPropertyFlagsEnum.ADDPROP_NONE);
        newDDR.DDRAddStringArray("IP Subnets", existingResource["IPSubnets"].StringArrayValue, 64, SMSRSGENCTLLib.DDRPropertyFlagsEnum.ADDPROP_NONE);
        newDDR.DDRAddString("Last Logon User Domain",existingResource["LastLogonUserDomain"].StringValue, 255, SMSRSGENCTLLib.DDRPropertyFlagsEnum.ADDPROP_NONE);
        newDDR.DDRAddString("Last Logon User Name",existingResource["LastLogonUserName"].StringValue, 64, SMSRSGENCTLLib.DDRPropertyFlagsEnum.ADDPROP_KEY);
        newDDR.DDRAddStringArray("MAC Addresses",existingResource["MACAddresses"].StringArrayValue, 32, SMSRSGENCTLLib.DDRPropertyFlagsEnum.ADDPROP_NAME);
        newDDR.DDRAddString("NetBIOS Name",existingResource["NetbiosName"].StringValue, 64, SMSRSGENCTLLib.DDRPropertyFlagsEnum.ADDPROP_NONE);
        newDDR.DDRAddString("Operating System Name and Version",existingResource["OperatingSystemNameandVersion"].StringValue, 64, SMSRSGENCTLLib.DDRPropertyFlagsEnum.ADDPROP_NONE);
        newDDR.DDRAddStringArray("Resource Names",existingResource["ResourceNames"].StringArrayValue, 128, SMSRSGENCTLLib.DDRPropertyFlagsEnum.ADDPROP_NONE);
        newDDR.DDRAddStringArray("SMS Installed Sites",existingResource["SMSInstalledSites"].StringArrayValue, 3, SMSRSGENCTLLib.DDRPropertyFlagsEnum.ADDPROP_NONE);
        newDDR.DDRAddString("SMS Unique Identifier",existingResource["SMSUniqueIdentifier"].StringValue, 64, SMSRSGENCTLLib.DDRPropertyFlagsEnum.ADDPROP_GUID & SMSRSGENCTLLib.DDRPropertyFlagsEnum.ADDPROP_KEY);
        newDDR.DDRAddStringArray("System Roles",existingResource["SystemRoles"].StringArrayValue, 32, SMSRSGENCTLLib.DDRPropertyFlagsEnum.ADDPROP_NONE);

        // The new property that is being added.
        newDDR.DDRAddString("Organizational Unit", organizationalUnit, 64, SMSRSGENCTLLib.DDRPropertyFlagsEnum.ADDPROP_ARRAY | SMSRSGENCTLLib.DDRPropertyFlagsEnum.ADDPROP_NONE);

        // Write new DDR to file.
        newDDR.DDRWrite("NewDDR_AddToExistingResource.DDR");
        Console.WriteLine("Created new DDR.");
    }
    catch (SmsException ex)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Failed to create DDR. Error: " + ex.Message);
        throw;
    }
}

The example method has no parameters.

Compiling the Code

This C# example requires:

Namespaces

System

System.Collections.Generic

System.Text

Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ManagementProvider

Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ManagementProvider.WqlQueryEngine

Assembly

adminui.wqlqueryengine

microsoft.configurationmanagement.managementprovider

Robust Programming

For more information about error handling, see About Configuration Manager Errors.

Security

For more information about securing Configuration Manager applications, see Securing Configuration Manager Applications.

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