Properties contain information about the server-side objects at a given point in time. The value of a property can be of one of the following types:
- Simple data types, such as a string, boolean, or integer (or other numeric) data type. For example, the ManagedEntity managed object has a name property that takes a string value.
- Arrays of simple data types or data objects. For example, a HostSystem managed object contains an array of managed object references (a type of data object) to virtual machines hosted by that physical machine. As another example, the SessionManager managed object has a sessionList property that is an array of UserSession data objects.
- Enumerated types (enumeration, enum) of predefined values. The values can be a collection of simple data types or data objects. For example, a virtual machine's power state can be one of three possible string values—poweredOn, poweredOff, or suspended.
The type of a property is often a string, but the property actually expects one of the values an enumeration encapsulates. For example, when you set VirtualMachineConfigSpec.guestid you can specify one of the elements of the VirtualMachineGuestOSIdentifier as a string.
- Complex (or composite) data types. For example, the HostProfileConfigInfo object contains data objects, an array of data objects, and an array of strings.
