Abstract: The present comparison technique operates on objects having the same type, similar types, or different types. Multiple comparison objects may be compared against one or more reference objects. The comparison objects may be obtained from a prior cmdlet in a pipeline of cmdlets operating in an object-based environment. The reference object and comparison object may be compared in an order-based manner or in a key-based manner. In addition, specific properties may be specified which will identify which properties of the reference object and the comparison object to compare during the comparison. The comparison may generate an output that identifies the difference and/or similarities. The output may be pipelined to another cmdlet for further processing.

Abstract: A method and system for extending the functionality of a management console uses a data object as a carrier to pass context information of an extended snap-in of the management console to an extension snap-in to enable the extension snap-in to provide extension functionality. The extension snap-in is registered with an information store as an extension of the extended snap-in. When the extended snap-in is invoked to provide management behavior, it creates a data object that exposes the context information using pre-selected clipboard formats. The extension snap-in is identified by referring to the information store, and the data object is passed to the extension snap-in. The extension snap-in obtains the context information from the data object using the pre-selected clipboard formats and performs its management behavior according to the received context information.