Metadata Repository

Metadata Repository
Customization of business applications are defined through metadata. A central metadata repository enables management of individual metadata categories in “function context” sensitive way. Also, metadata defines the integration between a specific external data source for example SQL or XML based, on the one side, and a Business Entity on the other side.

• Internal Metadata Specification “Filing System”
  Internal objects describes the argument structures for the individual object services. The instantiated argument structures are named and stored in the internal reference-based filing system. From this location they are selected for interactive invocation of related services or for construction of arguments for ordering of batch jobs.
• Field Descriptions in ”Business Entities”
  Data carrying fields, both those “born” in the system as well as those created as part of the application’s Business Entity adaptation, all have connected metadata. These metadata are additions to the information already registered in the underlying database system tables. For instance, a list of possible value choices attached to a specific dropdown list (Control Style) on a named field.
• Runtime Evaluated Metadata Contents ( Parameter Service)
  Attributes can all be managed via Parameters. Firstly, the system contains dynamic “System Parameters” (such as Today, Now, CurrentUser, ComputerName, etc) and secondly, an unlimited number of application defined parameters. Application Parameters may constitute different “scope”: Session(User), Permanent(User), Permanent(Global) – and as such be assigned values both interactively via application specific windows and via activation of various services, including DMAPI.
  
  By using “Late Binding”, programming expressions (If-Then-Else, etc.) evaluated at runtime are enabled, and a Parameter can embed and refer to other Parameters. For instance, metadata describing a query for “Leasing Contracts” (Extended Data) can combine both fixed data and runtime-evaluated data in a way that allows the query to only find “Leasing Contracts” within the current user’s security rights. In addition, the system allows for specification of parameters for a Parameter that can affect the SQL dialect service to act in a certain way. As a result, the runtime specialized dynamic SQL can also be used in queries or updates.