Adding Metadata Objects

Example of an AddMetadata Request That Creates Multiple, Related Metadata Objects

The following AddMetadata request creates a table object, column objects, and an association to the previously defined SASLibrary object in a single method call. The SAS Metadata Model supports several metadata types for describing tables. In this example, the PhysicalTable metadata type is used to represent a table that is materialized in a file system. A PhysicalTable object is associated to a Column object with a Columns association. A PhysicalTable object is associated to a SASLibrary object with a TablePackages association.

<AddMetadata>
 <Metadata>
   <PhysicalTable Name="Sales Offices" Desc="Sales offices in NW region" 
     PublicType="Table">
     <TablePackages>
       <SASLibrary ObjRef="A53TPPVI.A1000001"/>
     </TablePackages>
     <Columns>
        <Column
           Name="City"
           Desc="City of Sales Office"
           ColumnName="City"
           SASColumnName="City"
           ColumnType="12"
           SASColumnType="C"
           ColumnLength="32"
           SASColumnLength="32"
           SASFormat="$Char32."
           SASInformat="$32."
          PublicType="Column"/>
        <Column
           Name="Address"
           Desc="Street Address of Sales Office"
           ColumnName="Address"
           SASColumnName="Street_Address"
           ColumnType="12"
           SASColumnType="C"
           ColumnLength="32"
           SASColumnLength="32"
           SASFormat="$Char32."
           SASInformat="$32."
          PublicType="Column"/>
        <Column
           Name="Manager"
           Desc="Name of Operations Manager"
           ColumnName="Manager"
           SASColumnName="Manager"
           ColumnType="12"
           SASColumnType="C"
           ColumnLength="32"
           SASColumnLength="32"
           SASFormat="$Char32."
           SASInformat="$32."
          PublicType="Column"/>
        <Column
          Name="Employees"
          Desc="Number of employees"
          ColumnName="Employees"
          SASColumnName="Employees"
          ColumnType="6"
          SASColumnType="N"
          ColumnLength="3"
          SASColumnLength="3"
          SASFormat="3.2"
          SASInformat="3.2"
          PublicType="Column"/>
        </Columns>
    </PhysicalTable>
 </Metadata>
 <Reposid>A0000001.A53TPPVI</Reposid>
 <NS>SAS</NS>
 <Flags>268435456</Flags>
 <Options/>
</AddMetadata>

In the request, the <REPOSID>, <NS>, and <FLAGS> elements contain the same values as in Example of an AddMetadata Request That Creates an Application Metadata Object. In the <METADATA> property string, note the following:

<PHYSICALTABLE> is the metadata type. Name=, Desc=, and PublicType= are attributes of the PhysicalTable metadata type.
<TABLEPACKAGES> is the association name that creates the association to the SASLibrary object. The Objref= attribute in the <SASLIBRARY> subelement informs the SAS Metadata Server that the association is being created to an existing object.
<COLUMNS> is the association name that creates the associations to the Column objects. The column definitions are nested under the Columns association name.
Four Column objects are created. For each object, consider the following:
- Name= is a required attribute.
- The ColumnName=, ColumnType=, and ColumnLength= attributes describe the names and values of the items in a DBMS.
- The SASColumnName=, SASColumnType=, and SASColumnLength= attributes indicate their corresponding values in a SAS table.
- A ColumnType= value of 12 indicates VARCHAR. A ColumnType= value of 6 indicates FLOAT.
For more information about the properties for the PhysicalTable and Column metadata types, see the SAS Metadata Model documentation.

Here is an example of the output returned by the SAS Metadata Server:

<!-- Using the ADDMETADATA method. -->

<PhysicalTable Name="Sales Offices" Desc="Sales offices in NW region" 
 Id="A53TPPVI.A4000001">
 <TablePackages>
  <SASLibrary ObjRef="A53TPPVI.A1000001"/>
 </TablePackages>
 <Columns>
  <Column Name="City" Desc="City of Sales Office" ColumnName="City" 
    SASColumnName="City"  ColumnType="12" SASColumnType="C" ColumnLength="32" 
    SASColumnLength="32" SASFormat="$Char32." SASInformat="$32." 
    PublicType="Column" Id="A53TPPVI.A5000001">
    <Table>
     <PhysicalTable ObjRef="A53TPPVI.A4000001"/>
    </Table>
  </Column>
  <Column Name="Address" Desc="Street Address of Sales Office" 
    ColumnName="Address" SASColumnName="Street_Address" ColumnType="12" 
    SASColumnType="C" ColumnLength="32" SASColumnLength="32" SASFormat="$Char32." 
    SASInformat="$32." PublicType="Column"  Id="A53TPPVI.A5000002">
    <Table>
     <PhysicalTable ObjRef="A53TPPVI.A4000001"/>
    </Table>
  </Column>
  <Column Name="Manager" Desc="Name of Operations Manager" ColumnName="Manager" 
    SASColumnName="Manager" ColumnType="12" SASColumnType="C" ColumnLength="32" 
    SASColumnLength="32" SASFormat="$Char32." SASInformat="$32." 
    PublicType="Column" Id="A53TPPVI.A5000003">
    <Table>
     <PhysicalTable ObjRef="A53TPPVI.A4000001"/>
    </Table>
  </Column>
  <Column Name="Employees" Desc="Number of employees" ColumnName="Employees" 
    SASColumnName="Employees" ColumnType="6" SASColumnType="N" ColumnLength="3" 
    SASColumnLength="3" SASFormat="3.2" SASInformat="3.2" PublicType="Column" 
    Id="A53TPPVI.A5000004">
    <Table>
     <PhysicalTable ObjRef="A53TPPVI.A4000001"/>
    </Table>
  </Column>
</Columns>
</PhysicalTable>

The output string mirrors the input string, with the exception that a two-part metadata object identifier is assigned to each new metadata object.

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