Resource-only DLLs

Using resource-only DLLs and the Microsoft® Windows NT® registry, you can override the graphics of existing architectures, objects, and groups. You can provide graphics for new architectures, objects, and groups that have been added to the Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) inventory by using custom Management Information Format (MIF) files. When new architectures, new types of objects, or new properties are added to the SMS inventory, the SMS Administrator uses the default graphic to display these items if no resource-only DLL is supplied.

The set of DLLs can be specified using the following registry keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\SMS\ResDLLs

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\SMS\ResDLLs

When the SMS Administrator searches for display graphics in the resource-only DLLs, it searches the DLLs in the following order:

  1. DLLs listed in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. The SMS Administrator uses the reverse of the order listed in the installed value to search the DLLs.
  2. DLLs listed in HKEY_CURRENT_USER. The SMS Administrator uses the reverse of the order listed in the installed value to search the DLLs.
  3. MS Administrator's own application resources. Some architectures, objects, and groups (such as the Personal Computer architecture, Macintosh workstation computers, and the Processor and Disk groups) have graphics predefined in the SMS Administrator's resources. However, these graphics can be overridden by a resource-only DLL.

Because the graphic for an item may have more than one available format, the SMS Administrator may search the list of resources several times. For example, if the SMS Administrator needed to display a Macintosh workstation, it would first search for a graphic for the specific architecture, system type, and role in all resources. In this case, the resource name would be Personal_Computer_Macintosh_Workstation. If the resource with this name is found, the SMS Administrator uses that graphic. If no resource with this name is found, it searches for the graphic for the architecture and role. In this case, the resource name would be Personal_Computer_Workstation. If no resource matching this name is found, the SMS Administrator searches for the graphic for the architecture. In this case, the resource name would be Personal_Computer_None. If no resource matching this name is found, the default graphic is displayed.