The SAS Open Metadata
Interface provides the AddMetadata method to enable you to instantiate
SAS Metadata Model metadata types in a SAS Metadata Repository. The
AddMetadata method creates SAS Metadata Model metadata objects as
defined in an input XML metadata property string. Depending on the
content of the input metadata property string, the method can be used
to instantiate a single SAS Metadata Model object, or many related
or unrelated SAS Metadata Model objects. It is the responsibility
of the caller to build an appropriate input metadata property string
to represent an object in a SAS Metadata Repository.
In SAS 9.3, most application
and system objects that are managed in a SAS Metadata Repository are
described by a set of SAS Metadata Model metadata types, rather than
by just one metadata type. This set of metadata types is referred
to as a
logical metadata definition.
To ensure consistency
among the logical metadata definitions representing common and shared
objects in SAS applications, SAS 9.3 introduces an object type dictionary
called the SAS type dictionary.
The SAS type dictionary
is described in Using Interfaces that Read and Write Metadata in SAS 9.3.A logical metadata definition
that you create with AddMetadata is considered a custom definition.
It might not conform to the SAS type dictionary. SAS recommends that
you use SAS wizards and procedures to create metadata instead.
The information in this
chapter is provided as background information about the internal processes
that create metadata and for customers who want to create metadata
that is not managed by the SAS type dictionary.