[This is preliminary documentation and subject to change.]
Event consumers are the recipients of notifications that report the occurrence of an event. Event consumers register with CIMOM to receive the notifications by specifying a query that defines the event class and conditions under which delivery occurs.
WBEM identifies two types of consumers:
A temporary consumer receives event notifications only while it is active; its registration is temporary. Because registration is temporary, temporary consumers must re-register each time they start up. For example, a user interface application might register to receive notifications about objects that it displays. This type of consumer need not receive notifications when it is inactive.
A permanent consumer receives event notifications until its registration is explicitly cancelled; it does not matter whether the consumer is active. When CIMOM receives an event notification for a permanent consumer, it determines whether the consumer is currently running. If not, it locates and starts the consumer.
Permanent consumers correspond to actions that occur as the result of events. Notifications of the events are forwarded to permanent consumers by CIMOM if they match a user-specified filter. For example, a permanent consumer might register to receive notification of an event that results in a fax being sent.