About Collectors

The Collectors gather information from different platforms to populate a custom field during each inventory cycle. Adding Collectors is the second step in creating a Collected Custom Field. In this step, you configure Collectors that automatically update the field with data from devices.

NOTE: You can assign only one Collector per operating system to a custom field.

In the Collectors tab in the Device Custom Field - Collected dialog, you can select and configure Collectors for Windows or macOS. Each data Collector requires specific input values to perform its evaluation or retrieve data. The inputs vary based on the operation of the collector selected.

The following tables list the Collector Types for Windows and macOS. Select a Collector Type to view its configuration details.

For Windows:

Collector Type	Description
Registry	Retrieves or evaluates registry keys and values.
File/Folder	Retrieves or evaluates files or folders.
Process	Retrieves or evaluates running processes.
Service	Retrieves or evaluates services.
WMI Property	Retrieves or evaluates information for a WMI class and property.

For macOS:

Collector Type	Description
File/Folder	Retrieves or evaluates files or folders.
Process	Retrieves or evaluates running processes.
Service	Retrieves or evaluates services.
Plist Entry	Retrieves or evaluates values in a macOS property list file.

Rules for Collected Fields:

A custom field’s data type must match the output of the selected Collector operation.
Only one Collector per operating system can be assigned to a custom field.
Users can modify Collector inputs when editing a custom field.
The list of available data types is determined by the selected Collector's operation.
For example,
- If you choose an operation that returns a Boolean result, only Boolean is available as data type. Other data types do not appear.
- If you choose two operations with one returning a Boolean result and the other returning Version, both Boolean and Version data type are available in the list. Other data types do not appear.

About Collector Types

Registry

This Collector allows you to check for the existence of a registry key or value, compare a value, or retrieve a value. This is supported only for the Windows operating system.

The following are the Operation for Registry:

Operation	Description
Registry Key Exists	Checks if a registry key exists.
Get Registry Value	Retrieves the value of a registry key.
Compare Registry Value	Compares a registry value to a reference value.

Each Operation has Input fields and Possible Outputs.

Operation	Inputs	Description	Possible Output
Registry Key Exists	Registry Key Path	The full path of the registry key. This is a required field.	Boolean
Registry Key Exists	Registry Value Name	The name of the registry value to compare. Leave blank to retrieve the (Default) value. This is an optional field.	Boolean
Get Registry Value	Registry Key Path	The full path of the registry key. This is a required field.	String Number Boolean Date DateTime Version
Get Registry Value	Registry Value Name	The name of the registry value to retrieve. Leave it blank to retrieve the default value. This is an optional field.	String Number Boolean Date DateTime Version
Compare Registry Value	Registry Key Path	The full path of the registry key. This is a required field.	Boolean
	Registry Value Name	The name of the registry value to compare. Leave blank to retrieve the (Default) value.
	Reference Type	The data types of the comparison value. This is a required field. Select a value from the drop-down list: String Number Boolean Date DateTime Version
	Evaluation Type	The type of comparison to perform. This is a required field. Selecting a value in Reference Type enables the field. The options available in the drop-down are: Equal Not Equal Less Than Less Than Or Equal Greater Than Greater Than Or Equal Contains Not Contains Starts With Ends With
	Reference Value	The value to compare against the property. This is a required field. It becomes available after you select a value in the Reference Type field. If the Reference Type is set to String, you can leave the reference value blank. The type of input updates based on the option you choose in the Reference Type field.

File/Folder

The Collector returns an evaluation based on a file or folder path. This is supported for the Windows and macOS operating system. The following are the Operation for File/Folder:

Operation	Description
FIle/Folder Exists	Checks if a file or folder exists. For Windows and macOS.
File Version	Fetches the version of a file. For Windows only.
File Version Evaluation	Evaluates the version of a file. For Windows only.

Each Operation has Input fields and Possible Outputs.

Operation	Inputs	Description	Possible Output
FIle/Folder Exists	File/Folder Path	The path of the file or folder to check. This is a required field.	Boolean
File Version	File Path	The full path of the file. This is a required field.	Version
File Version Evaluation	File Path	The full path of the file. This is a required field.	Boolean
	Reference Type	The data type of the comparison value. This is a required field. Select a value from the drop-down list: Version
	Evaluation Type	The type of comparison to perform. This is a required field. Selecting a value in Reference Type enables the field.
	Reference Value	The value to compare against the property. This is a required field. If the Reference Type is set to String, you can leave the reference value blank. The type of input updates based on the option you choose in the Reference Type field.

Process

The Collector returns an evaluation based on a process name. This is supported for the Windows and macOS operating system. The following are the Operation for Process:

Operation	Description
Process Exists	Checks if a process exists. For Windows and macOS.

Each Operation has Input fields and Possible Outputs.

Operation	Inputs	Description	Possible Output
Process Exists	Process Name	The name of the Process. This is a required field.	Boolean

Service

The Collector returns an evaluation based on a service name. This is supported for the Windows and macOS operating system. The following are the Operation for Service:

Operation	Description
Service Exists	Checks if a service exists.
Service Running	Checks if a service is running.

Each Operation has Input fields and Possible Outputs.

Operation	Inputs	Description	Possible Output
Service Exists	Service Name	The name or display name of the service to check. This is a required field.	Boolean
Service Running	Service Name	The name or display name of the service to check. This is a required field.

WMI Property

The Collector returns a value or evaluation based on a property value of a WMI Object. If more than one instance exists, the property for the first item will be returned. This is supported only for the Windows operating system.

The following are the Operation for WMI Property:

Operation	Description
Get WMI Property Value	Retrieves a property value from a WMI object.
Evaluate WMI Property Value	Evaluates a property value from a WMI object.

Each Operation has Input fields and Possible Outputs.

Operation	Inputs	Description	Possible Output
Get WMI Property Value	Namespace	The WMI namespace to query. This is an optional field.	String Number Boolean Date DateTime
	Class	The WMI class to query. This is a required field.
	Filter	Enter a WMI query filter to select a specific instance This is an optional field.
	Property Name	The name of the property to retrieve. This is a required field.
Evaluate WMI Property Value	Namespace	The WMI namespace to query. This is an optional field.	Boolean
	Class	The WMI class to query. This is a required field.
	Filter	The WMI query filter to select a specific instance. This is an optional field.
	Property Name	The name of the property to retrieve. This is a required field.
	Reference Type	Select the data type of the comparison value. This is a required field. Select a value from the drop-down list: String Number Boolean Date DateTime Version
	Evaluation Type	Select the data type of the comparison value. This is a required field. Selecting a value in Reference Type enables the field. The options available in the drop-down change depending on the option you select in the Reference Type field. The available options are: Equal Not Equal Less Than Less Than Or Equal Greater Than Greater Than Or Equal Contains Not Contains Starts With Ends With
	Reference Value	Type the value to compare against the property. This is a required field. It becomes available after you select a value in the Reference Type field. If the Reference Type is set to String, you can leave the reference value blank. The type of input updates based on the option you choose in the Reference Type field.

Plist Entry

The Collector retrieves a value or evaluates data from a macOS plist entry. This is supported only for macOS operating system. The following are the Operation for Plist Entry:

Operation	Description
Get Plist Entry Value	Retrieves a value from a plist entry.
Plist Entry Exists	Checks if a plist entry exists.
Evaluate Plist Entry	Evaluates a plist entry value.

Each Operation has Input fields and Possible Outputs.

Operation	Inputs	Description	Possible Output
Get Plist Entry Value	Plist File Path	The path of the plist file. This is a required field.	String Number Boolean Date DateTime Version
	Plist Entry Key	The key of the plist entry to check. This is a required field.	String Number Boolean Date DateTime Version
Plist Entry Exists	Plist File Path	The path of the plist file. This is a required field.	Boolean
	Plist Entry Key	The key of the plist entry to check. This is a required field.	Boolean
Evaluate Plist Entry	Plist File Path	The path of the plist file. This is a required field.	Boolean
	Plist Entry Key	The key of the plist entry to check. This is a required field.
	Reference Type	The data type of the comparison value. This is a required field. Select a value from the drop-down list: String Number Boolean Date DateTime Version
	Evaluation Type	The type of the comparison to perform. This is a required field. Selecting a value in Reference Type enables the field. The options available in the drop-down change depending on the option you select in the Reference Type field. The available options are: Equal Not Equal Less Than Less Than Or Equal Greater Than Greater Than Or Equal Contains Not Contains Starts With Ends With
	Reference Value	Type a value to compare against the property. This is a required field. It becomes available after you select a value in the Reference Type field. If the Reference Type is set to String, you can leave the reference value blank. The type of input updates based on the option you choose in the Reference Type field.