Book review - Developing WMI Solutions

Developing WMI Solutions  By: Craig Tunstall, Gwyn Cole

 

Developing WMI Solutions is a must read for anyone interested in serious WMI development and WMI administration. 

 

Both authors have an obvious depth and vast understanding of this exciting topic and give authoritative guidance in many aspects of WMI.  The book starts off with an exhaustive background of WMI and the governing bodies of various technologies surrounding it.

 

After the background is established, the authors cover key topics like the Common Information Model (CIM), WQL, security, data providers and the Manage Object Format (MOF) to name a few.  The reader is never left wanting as Tunstall and Cole make every word count and without leaving any fundamental topic untouched.

 

From then on the book jumps into the technologies with both feet and covers topics ranging from developing C# applications to powerful MMC Snap-ins to administrative scripts using VbScript.

 

They approach this topic from the perspective of a power developer that wants to know the specifics of developing WMI properly.  They do this well.

 

That being said, I recommend Developing WMI Solutions with reservation to a beginner or casual WMI developer.  Parts of the book assume a solid C++ background, other parts appeal to the C# developer using .NET.  I didn't find that they attempted to simplify their examples or consider a broad audience.  In those chapters, if you aren't a C++ developer, you'll have a hard time grasping the concepts covered.

 

There is a great chapter close to the end on Administration scripts using VbScript.  This chapter, in contrast to others in the book, is written in a way that anyone can pick it up and start doing some WMI administration development immediately.  The other chapters beneficial to any beginner or causal developer are the "WMI Studio" chapter and the few fundamental chapters at the beginning of the book.  But unless you're a seasoned developer or a user planning to covered the advanced topics of WMI, expect to skim a number of chapters.

 

I can't forget the chapter on WMIC.  Prior to reading this book I haven't used WMIC and I didn't have any intention to try it anytime soon.  It looked like a vast world of difficult syntax.  How wrong I was.  After reading their chapter on WMI, I have becoming a regular WMIC fan.

 

For the power WMI developer or someone planning to become one, this book is for you.  The authors dive in deep and cover the far corners of WMI with confidence and skill.  Expect to have your difficult questions answered.

 

I walked away from reading this book with a solid understanding of not just WMIC but a number of other tools that I now feel confident using and appreciative of having learned.

 

Over all, I recommend Developing WMI Solutions by Tunstall and Cole to the serious developers.  I keep it handy on my bookshelf and have used it as a reference a few times already and expect to dog ear the pages before too long.  For those serious in developing WMI solutions, this book is a must-have.