WMI and System.Management namespace - Enumerating classes

Sure, Andy.

If you pass a WMI class name at the command line, then this program should enumerate its properties:

using System;
using System.Management;

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
       if (args.Length != 1)
       {
          Console.WriteLine("Must be exactly one argument");
          return;
       }
 
       string wmiClassName = args[0].Trim();
       ManagementClass wmiClass = new ManagementClass(wmiClassName);
       int number;

       try
       {
          number = wmiClass.Properties.Count;        
       }
       catch
       {
          Console.WriteLine("Class not found");
          return;
       } 

       string temp = (number != 1) ? "properties" : "property";
       string temp2 = (number != 0) ? "as follows" : "";
       Console.Clear();
       Console.WriteLine("{0} has {1} {2} {3}\n", wmiClassName, number, temp, temp2);  
       int count = 0;

       foreach (PropertyData prop in wmiClass.Properties)
       {
           Console.WriteLine("{0, -30} {1}", prop.Name, prop.Type);
           count++;
           if (count % 15 == 0)
           {
               Console.WriteLine("\nPress any key to continue ...\n");
               Console.ReadKey();
           }
       }
      
       Console.ReadKey();
    }            
}

Thanks Alan, that is exactly what I was after. I just could not figure out the select statement to get the meta data so thankyou for preserving my sanity.

Having got the class name any idea how I can enumerate the properties for that class?

A bit more verbose than the VB Script but try this:

using System;
using System.Management;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
       ManagementScope scope = new ManagementScope("root\\cimv2");
       WqlObjectQuery query = new WqlObjectQuery("select * from meta_class"); 
       ManagementObjectSearcher searcher = new ManagementObjectSearcher(scope, query, null); 
       Console.Clear();
       int count = 0;
       foreach (ManagementClass wmiClass in searcher.Get())
       {
           Console.WriteLine(wmiClass["__CLASS"].ToString());
           count++;
            if (count % 20 == 0)
            {
               Console.WriteLine("\nPress any key to continue ...\n");
               Console.ReadKey();
            }
       }
    }            
}