When a component encounters an error situation or needs to notify a management application of a status change, for example, the component sends an event to the service layer. If a management application has requested to receive unsolicited notifications from that component, the service layer forwards the event to the management application as an indication.

You can use events to enhance the manageability of your component by providing detailed information about the status of the component and by notifying management applications of these changes in a timely manner. Events are especially useful when a serious error or similar change has occurred and the management application must be informed immediately.

Events are issued with the DmiIndicate function call. The service layer processes the events as they are received and returns a status value indicating the success or failure of the DmiIndicate call. For more information about the DmiIndicate call and its associated command blocks, read DmiIndicate Command Block.