Complex Content

Many of the data objects required for method invocation consist of XML Schema elements defined as

that can encompass many other elements.

For example, the

PropertyCollector.CreateFilter

method has a

spec

parameter that must be defined before method invocation. The

spec

parameter is defined as an instance of a

PropertyFilterSpec

Figure 1 shows the relationships among several data objects that

PropertyFilterSpec

consists of.

PropertyFilterSpec and Associated Data Objects

To submit complex data structures such as this to the MOB, start by navigating the

vSphere API Reference

. Find the

PropertyFilterSpec

data object. Find the

Show WSDL type definition

link, and click it to display the XML Schema definition (see XML Schema Definition of PropertyFilterSpec Data Object Type).

XML Schema Definition of PropertyFilterSpec Data Object Type shows that the

PropertyFilterSpec

data object is a

element that extends the

DynamicData

class with a sequence of two additional properties

propSet

(of type

PropertySpec)

and

objectSet

(of type

ObjectSpec

XML Schema Definition of PropertyFilterSpec Data Object Type

<complexType xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="PropertyFilterSpec">
     <complexContent>
          <extension base="vim25:DynamicData">
              <sequence>
                  <element name="propSet" type="vim25:PropertySpec" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
                  <element name="objectSet" type="vim25:ObjectSpec" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
              </sequence>
          </extension>
     </complexContent>
</complexType>

Because both elements are defined as a sequence, they must exist in the order listed. To obtain the definitions of

propSet

and

objectSet

, you must navigate further into the

vSphere API Reference

. XML Schema Extract for PropertySpec shows only the relevant parts of the XML Schema definition for

PropertySpec

. The

minOccurs=”0”

attribute means that the element does not have to exist. The

maxOccurs=”unbounded”

attribute means that the element can be populated as an array of any size. (When

minOccurs

is not set, but

maxOccurs

is set, the default for

minOccurs

defaults to 1, meaning one instance is required.)

XML Schema Extract for PropertySpec

<sequence>
     <element name="type" type="xsd:string"/><element name="all" type="xsd:boolean" minOccurs="0"/><element name="pathSet" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
</sequence>

Navigate through the

vSphere API Reference

to the

ObjectSpec

definition. ObjectSpec Definition as XML Schema shows the excerpt.

ObjectSpec Definition as XML Schema

...
<sequence>
     <element name="obj" type="vim25:ManagedObjectReference"/>
     <element name="skip" type="xsd:boolean" minOccurs="0"/>
     <element name="selectSet" type="vim25:SelectionSpec" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
</sequence>
...

Extrapolating from the WSDL definitions shown in XML Schema Definition of PropertyFilterSpec Data Object Type, XML Schema Extract for PropertySpec, and ObjectSpec Definition as XML Schema might produce results similar to those shown in CreateFilter Spec Property Entry.

CreateFilter Spec Property Entry

<spec>
     <propSet>
          <type>VirtualMachine</type>
          <all>false</all>
          <pathSet>config.guestFullName</pathSet>
     </propSet>
     <objectSet>
          <obj type=”Folder”>group-v4</obj>
          <skip>true</skip>
     </objectSet>
</spec>

In this example, the

<spec>

element identifies the

spec

parameter of the

CreateFilter

method. The order of the element tags is as defined in the XML Schema for the property (XML Schema Definition of PropertyFilterSpec Data Object Type). The

pathSet

property defines the full path to the nested data object of interest. In CreateFilter Spec Property Entry, the

pathSet

property defines the path to the

guestFullName

property of the target virtual machine. ObjectSpec Definition as XML Schema shows the UML of these nested data objects.

Nested Data Objects

All of these details are available in the

vSphere API Reference

. By examining the WSDL definition, you can construct the strings needed to submit parameters through the MOB.

Passing Complex Structures to Methods

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VMware vSphere SDKs and Tools 6.7

Complex Content