Specifying Parameter Substitution

  • Article

You can use parameter substitution for the CommandLine, CriteriaQuery, CriteriaMessage, and Sub2Query registry keys. The substitution is performed using the instance data of the node, which you can view from the node's property sheet. You can use both instance properties and system properties in your substitution.

Depending on your use, you may need to wrap the substitution string with quotes, such as "##SUB:__SERVER##". For example, quotes are required in WMI Query Language (WQL) statements when the substitution involves string data. If you use a registry file (.reg) to load the registry, you must escape the quote marks, such as \"##SUB:__SERVER##\".

There are two methods available for substitution:

  • Single value
  • Multiple value

Single Value Substitution

The first method provides single value substitution using the following format:

##SUB:<property name>## or ##SUB2:<property name>##

Note that the angled brackets are not part of the syntax.

A single value from the specified property is substituted for the string. If the property was defined as an array, only the first element of the array would be copied.

Multiple Value Substitution

The second method provides array value substitution using the following format:

##ARR:<property name>## or ##ARR2:<property name>##

Note that the angled brackets are not part of the syntax.

An array of values from the specified property is substituted for the string. If the property contains an array of strings, a comma-delimited list of strings would be substituted, such as "string1", "string2", "string3". If the property contains an array of numeric data, a comma-delimited list of numbers, such as 1, 2, 3, would be substituted.