Metadata is data about the business applications' APIs. For each business application, metadata defines the business entities that the business application interacts with and the methods available in the business application. Metadata authors define metadata by using XML. The Business Data Catalog stores the metadata in the metadata repository.

Note:
Metadata is data about the business application, not the line-of-business (LOB) data itself. LOB data exists only in the business application.

The Business Data Catalog provides a schema definition file (XSD) that defines the schema that is allowed in the XML file, which in turn defines the metadata for a business application. The XML documents must adhere to this schema.

You can find the BdcMetadata.XSD file in the \Bin directory of your Office SharePoint Server 2007 installation, typically at <Root>\Program Files\Microsoft Office Server\12.0\Bin.

Important:
When you author metadata in Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, copy the XSD to your working folder and set the SchemaLocation attribute in the XML file to point to the schema file. Visual Studio 2005 provides IntelliSense capabilities that greatly simplify editing.

The Business Data Catalog now supports two types of XML application definition files: Model and Resource. A Model application definition file contains the base XML metadata for a system. A Resource file definition file enables you to import or export only the localized names, properties, and permissions, in any combination. Following are the types of Resource files:

• LocalizedNames   Contains localized names for the metadata objects in a particular locale. When you import this file, its information is merged with the existing metadata in the metadata repository. If a localized name for the locale already exists, it is overwritten with the information from the LocalizedNames file.

• Properties   Contains properties for metadata objects. When you import this file, its information is merged with the existing metadata in the metadata repository. If a property already exists, its value is overwritten with the information from the Properties file.

• Permissions   Contains access control lists (ACLs) for metadata objects. When you import this file, its information is merged with the existing metadata in the metadata repository. However, if an access control entry (ACE) already exists for an object, its value is overwritten with the information from the Permissions file. For example, if the existing application definition only had User A with access to Entity A and now if you import a Permissions file with only User B with access to the Entity A, then the old ACL for Entity A will be deleted and a new one created with only User B.

To help you understand the metadata model and get started writing your own metadata, the SDK provides the AdventureWorks SQL Server 2000 Sample. The sample defines the Customer Orders and Products mini-scenario in the AdventureWorks SQL Server 2000 sample database. The Authoring Metadata section walks you through the AdventureWorks sample and also provides you with instructions to make the sample work.

Important:
The default installation of Microsoft SQL Server 2000 does not include the AdventureWorks database. Download the AdventureWorks SQL Server 2000 sample database from the Microsoft Download Center.

For a Web service sample, see Walkthrough: Amazon Web Service Sample. For a more complex Web Service sample, see SampleWebService.

Tasks

Concepts