Collector variable properties specify how to collect information
for the server manifest.
You can define the following types of properties in a collector:
- Set value
- These properties assign a named, static value to the server. You
specify the property name and the value.
- Special values can be used in the value to get predefined responses.
Special values begin with the underscore (_) character. See Special properties in collectors.
- Built-in
- These properties return information about the host assigned to
the server resource. For a list of built-in properties, see Built-in properties.
- Run command
- This type of property specifies a command for the system to run.
The property value is set to the output from running the command.
By default the first 255 characters of output are used. You can use
a regular expression to extract specified parts of the output.
- Property: name of the property
- Command: the command to run on the host
assigned to the server resource
- Regular Expression: optional, a regular
expression to use to filter the output. If specified, the build system
attempts to match the regular expression with each line of
output from the command. The first time a line matches, the system
retrieves the value of $1, which is a Perl convention, and uses $1
as the value for that property. The regular expression must include
at least one set of parentheses so that it returns a value. Consult
Perl documentation for more information about constructing Perl regular
expressions.
- Include
- This type of property specifies a list of collectors. You can
nest collectors. When you create a collector of type Include, you
specify the name of another collector as its value. When the build
system creates or updates the manifest, the system inserts the properties
from the referenced collector.
Tip: The system applies collector variable properties
in the order that they are listed in the collector; later properties
of the same name override earlier ones. Use this feature when
you include one collector within another one. If you want to use some
of the variable properties of a collector but not all, override the
ones you do not want to use.
The system also applies a few properties automatically, such as
the BF_NAME property that contains the logical name of the server.
These are considered as part of the special manifest properties. See Pre-set properties.