Metadata in Your Workspace
Metadata is data that describes the assets in webMethods components. An asset is any object you create and work with in a webMethods component. For example, in Designer, assets include processes, tasks, portlets, and so on. Each asset in Designer has metadata automatically generated about it and saved to the workspace index — a process referred to as workspace indexing.
Metadata consists of a variety of information about an asset. All assets have names and (optionally) descriptions. An asset also may have values for certain properties, such as the Process ID of a process. If an asset references other assets, like a task step that references a service, it will have metadata about such associations.
The essential idea of metadata is to provide information describing each asset, what it contains, and what assets it references or depends on.
Metadata is accessed by using
Designer's search capabilities. You can search metadata for information about various assets. For more information, see
webMethods
Workspace Metadata Search.
Before making a change to an asset, you might want to locate any assets that refer to it or are dependent on it. This helps ensure you are not making changes that would adversely affect other assets. For more information, see
Related Assets.
Local metadata that is stored on your computer is referred to as workspace metadata. Workspace metadata is stored in a database, on your computer, called the workspace index (see
The Workspace Index).
You can also share workspace metadata with other users by publishing it to
CentraSite (see
Metadata in
CentraSite ).
Important:
When you reuse an asset from CentraSite, only a minimally required amount of information about that asset is transferred to the workspace where you use it. As a result, when you query the workspace, you do not find the same metadata you find when you query CentraSite. Additionally, reference chains in CentraSite are not fully reflected in the workspace. If process A references process B, which references process C in CentraSite, when you reuse process B in your workspace, the relationship between B and C is not preserved. When you reuse an Integration Server service from CentraSite, you lose the information about the relationships that Integration Server service has with other assets. If service A calls service B, and you reuse service A, you only get service A.
For information about setting CentraSite preferences, see the CentraSite Help.
Related Topics