Using WMI Explorer: More Features

In addition to the basic features, WMI Explorer has advanced features to make it easier to search WMI and refine your queries.

In this section:

• Search WMI
• Find a Class, Property, or Method
• Filter Results
• Export Results
• Display WMI Help and Examples
• Need more?

Search WMI

You can use the Search feature of WMI Explorer to do high-resolution string searches through WMI that would be difficult with traditional tools.

For example, you can search for class names that include 'Processor' or classes with a 'DeviceID' method in a particular namespace, but you can also search for text in the descriptions of a property or method.

To start a search:

1. On the ribbon, in the Find group, click Search.
   
   
2. In Search for, enter the search string.
3. From Scope, select a namespace or use all namespaces.
4. In Search in, select the search fields.
5. Click OK.

The results appear in the Search Results pane of the Output window.

To step through the search results :

• On the ribbon, in the Find group, click Previous result and Next result.
  
  

The selected class and property appear in the Class and Property/Method panes.

Find a Class, Property, or Method

The Find feature finds strings in the names of classes, properties, and methods that WMI Explorer displays. If you click a namespace and use Find, Find finds classes in the namespace. If you click a class, it finds properties and methods in the class.

To find a string in a class name:

1. In the Namespace pane, select a namespace.
2. On the ribbon, in the Find group, type the word you want to find.
3. Press Enter or click Find Next or Find Previous.

To find a string in a property or method name:

1. In the Namespace pane, select a namespace.
2. In the Class pane, select a class.
3. On the ribbon, in the Find group, type the word you want to find.
4. Press Enter or click Find Next or Find Previous.

Filter Results

You can filter the results of the Search, Find, and Query features in WMI Explorer. When set, the Filter feature includes strings and excludes categories of classes from the results.

To exclude categories of classes from WMI Explorer results:

Click the buttons (L - R):

• Exclude class names that begin with 'CIM_'
• Exclude class names that begin with 'Win32_'
• Exclude class names that begin with '__System'
• Exclude class names that include 'Perf'
• Exclude class names that begin with 'MSFT_'

To include only classes with specified word in the class name:

• In the Filter box, type the word.

For example, if you type Alarm, WMI Explorer displays only classes with 'Alarm' in the class name.

Export Results

You can export query results in HTML, Text, XML, or CSV format.

To export results:

1. Run a query. For help, see "Run a Query" in this manual.
2. On the ribbon, in the Export group, click a format button.
   
   
3. Navigate to the path and assign a file name for the exported file.

To export results from a Windows PowerShell query, use the cmdlets:

• HTML: ConvertTo-HTML | Out-File
• Text: Out-File or Set-Content
• XML: Export-Clixml
• CSV: Export-CSV

Display WMI Help and Examples

WMI Explorer includes help for all classes, properties, and methods, and dynamically generated examples that you can run to query WMI on your local computer.

To display help for a WMI class, property, or method, select the element and then, in the Output pane, click the Help tab.

To run an example, click the Run this link.

Need more?

This manual guides you through the features of WMI Explorer. If you have questions that aren't answered here, search the SAPIEN Blog and the WMI Explorer forum (for licensed users) or the Trial Software Questions forum (trial users). If you can't find what you need, post a question on either forum. We'll get back to you quickly.