ications associated with objects. 10. Managed object format (MOF): This is a language based on the IDL through which CIM management information could be represented to exchange infor- mation. Textual descriptions of classes, associations, properties, references, methods, and instance declarations, their associated qualifiers, and comments are the components of a MOF specification. A set of class and instance decla- rations make up the MOF file. Information Models CIM is a collection of models. Some of the models in CIM are: 1. Core model: The core model is a set of classes, associations, properties for describing managed systems. The core model can be represented as a starting point to determine how to extend the common schema. It covers all areas of management with emphasis on elements and associations of the managed environment. The class hierarchy begins with the abstract-managed element class. It includes subclasses like managed system element classes, product related classes, configuration classes, collection classes, and the statistical data classes. From the classes, the model expands to address problem domains and rela- tionships between managed entities. 2. Common models: Information models that capture notions that are com- mon to a particular management area, but not dependent of any particular technology or implementation are called the common models. This offers a broad range of information including concrete classes and implementa- tions of the classes in the common model. The classes, properties, associa- tions, and methods in the common models are used for program design and implementation. 3. Application model: This model is intended to manage the life cycle and execution of an application. Information in application model deal with managing and deployment of software products and applications. It details models for applications intended for stand-alone and distributed environment. It supports modeling of a single software product as well as a group of interdependent software products. The three 