Win32_PrinterController - powershell.one

The Win32_PrinterController association WMI class relates a printer and the local device to which the printer is connected. Note that this class only returns instances for local printers.

Methods

Win32_PrinterController has no methods.

Properties

Win32_PrinterController returns 7 properties:

'AccessState','Antecedent','Dependent','NegotiatedDataWidth','NegotiatedSpeed',
'NumberOfHardResets','NumberOfSoftResets'

Unless explicitly marked as writeable, all properties are read-only. Read all properties for all instances:

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PrinterController -Property *

Most WMI classes return one or more instances.

When Get-CimInstance returns no result, then apparently no instances of class Win32_PrinterController exist. This is normal behavior.

Either the class is not implemented on your system (may be deprecated or due to missing drivers, i.e. CIM_VideoControllerResolution), or there are simply no physical representations of this class currently available (i.e. Win32_TapeDrive).

AccessState

UINT16

State of the controller access to the device. This information is necessary when a logical device can be commanded by, or accessed through, multiple controllers.

Unknown

Active

Inactive

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PrinterController | Select-Object -Property Antecedent, Dependent, AccessState

Antecedent

KEY PROPERTY CIM_CONTROLLER

Reference to the CIM_Controller instance representing the local device associated with this printer.

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PrinterController | Select-Object -Property Antecedent, Dependent

Dependent

KEY PROPERTY WIN32_PRINTER

Reference to the Win32_Printer instance representing the printer associated with the local device.

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PrinterController | Select-Object -Property Antecedent, Dependent

NegotiatedDataWidth

UINT32

Data width in use between devices (when several bus or connection data widths are possible). Data width is specified in bits. If data width is not negotiated, or if this information is not available or important to device management, the property should be set to 0 (zero).

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PrinterController | Select-Object -Property Antecedent, Dependent, NegotiatedDataWidth

NegotiatedSpeed

UINT64

Speed in use between devices (when several bus or connection speeds are possible). Speed is specified in bits per second. If connection or bus speeds are not negotiated, or if this information is not available or important to device management, the property should be set to 0 (zero).

For more information about using uint64 values in scripts, see Scripting in WMI.

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PrinterController | Select-Object -Property Antecedent, Dependent, NegotiatedSpeed

NumberOfHardResets

UINT32

Number of hard resets issued by the controller.

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PrinterController | Select-Object -Property Antecedent, Dependent, NumberOfHardResets

NumberOfSoftResets

UINT32

Number of soft resets issued by the controller.

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PrinterController | Select-Object -Property Antecedent, Dependent, NumberOfSoftResets

Examples

List all instances of Win32_PrinterController

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PrinterController

Learn more about Get-CimInstance and the deprecated Get-WmiObject.

View all properties

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PrinterController -Property *

View key properties only

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PrinterController -KeyOnly

Selecting Properties

To select only some properties, pipe the results to Select-Object -Property a,b,c with a comma-separated list of the properties you require. Wildcards are permitted.

Get-CimInstance always returns all properties but only retrieves the ones that you specify. All other properties are empty but still present. That’s why you need to pipe the results into Select-Object if you want to limit the visible properties, i.e. for reporting.

Selecting Properties

The code below lists all available properties. Remove the ones you do not need:

$properties = 'AccessState',
              'Antecedent',
              'Dependent',
              'NegotiatedDataWidth',
              'NegotiatedSpeed',
              'NumberOfHardResets',
              'NumberOfSoftResets'
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PrinterController | Select-Object -Property $properties

Limiting Network Bandwidth

If you work remotely, it makes sense to limit network bandwidth by filtering the properties on the server side, too:

Get-CimInstance -Class Win32_PrinterController -Property $property | 
Select-Object -Property $property

Selecting Instances

To select some instances, use Get-CimInstance and a WMI Query. The wildcard character in WMI Queries is % (and not “*”).

The parameter -Filter runs a simple query.

Listing all instances where the property Caption starts with “A”

Get-CimInstance -Class Win32_PrinterController -Filter 'Caption LIKE "a%"' 

Using a WQL Query

The parameter -Query uses a query similar to SQL and combines the parameters -Filter and -Property. This returns all instances where the property Caption starts with “A”, and returns the properties specified:

Get-CimInstance -Query "SELECT NumberOfHardResets, Antecedent, NegotiatedDataWidth, AccessState FROM Win32_PrinterController WHERE Caption LIKE 'a%'"

Any property you did not specify is still present but empty. You might need to use Select-Object to remove all unwanted properties:
Get-CimInstance -Query "SELECT NumberOfHardResets, Antecedent, NegotiatedDataWidth, AccessState FROM Win32_PrinterController WHERE Caption LIKE 'a%'" | Select-Object -Property NumberOfHardResets, Antecedent, NegotiatedDataWidth, AccessState

Accessing Remote Computers

To access remote systems, you need to have proper permissions. User the parameter -ComputerName to access one or more remote systems.

Authenticating as Current User

# one or more computer names or IP addresses:
$list = 'server1', 'server2'

# authenticate with your current identity:
$result = Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PrinterController -ComputerName $list 
$result

Authenticating as Different User

Use a CIMSession object to authenticate with a new identity:

# one or more computer names or IP addresses:
$list = 'server1', 'server2'

# authenticate with a different identity:
$cred = Get-Credential -Message 'Authenticate to retrieve WMI information:'
$session = New-CimSession -ComputerName $list -Credential $cred

$result = Get-CimInstance Win32_PrinterController -CimSession $session

# remove the session after use (if you do not plan to re-use it later)
Remove-CimSession -CimSession $session

$result

Learn more about accessing remote computers.

Requirements

To use Win32_PrinterController, the following requirements apply:

PowerShell

Get-CimInstance was introduced with PowerShell Version 3.0, which in turn was introduced on clients with Windows 8 and on servers with Windows Server 2012.

If necessary, update Windows PowerShell to Windows PowerShell 5.1, or install PowerShell 7 side-by-side.

Operating System

Win32_PrinterController was introduced on clients with WindowsÂ Vista and on servers with Windows ServerÂ 2008.

Namespace

Win32_PrinterController lives in the Namespace Root/CIMV2. This is the default namespace. There is no need to use the -Namespace parameter in Get-CimInstance.

Implementation

Win32_PrinterController is implemented in CIMWin32.dll and defined in Win32_Printer.mof. Both files are located in the folder C:\Windows\system32\wbem:

explorer $env:windir\system32\wbem
notepad $env:windir\system32\wbem\Win32_Printer.mof

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