System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Unleashed

Writing Advanced Queries

Until now, the only type of query illustrated has been a simple value query to look for computers with more than 1024MB of RAM. However, the complexity in writing queries for ConfigMgr can grow to be quite challenging. Not only does ConfigMgr support a number of different criterion types, it also supports some hidden functions not readily exposed in the console.

Using the query builder is definitely a much simpler process than writing WQL queries by hand. However, the query builder is limited in the options it displays when in Design view. ConfigMgr supports the use of Extended WQL for query writing, which supports select clauses such as COUNT, DISTINCT, ORDER BY, DATEPART, and so on. Some of these options such as DISTINCT ...