Internal metadata can be created in the following ways:

See Creating Metadata.

Externalization of internal metadata is a conversion from internal metadata to external metadata being linked.

After you have created internal metadata as a part of a graph, you may want to convert it to external (shared) metadata. In such a case, you would be able to use the same metadata in other graphs (other graphs would share it).

To externalize any internal metadata item into external (shared) file, right-click an internal metadata item in the Outline pane and select Externalize metadata from the context menu. After that, a new wizard will open in which the meta folder of your project is offered as the location for this new external (shared) metadata file; now you can click OK. You can also rename the offered metadata filename.

After that, the internal metadata item disappears from the Outline pane Metadata group, but, at the same location, already linked, the newly created external (shared) metadata file appears. The same metadata file appears in the meta subfolder of the project and it can be seen in the Project Explorer pane.

You can even externalize multiple internal metadata items at once. To do this, select them in the Outline pane and, after right-click, select Externalize metadata from the context menu. After doing that, a new wizard will open in which the meta folder of your project will be offered as the location for the first of the selected internal metadata items and then you can click OK. The same wizard will open for each of the selected metadata items until they are all externalized. If you want (a file with the same name may already exist), you can change the offered metadata filename.

You can choose adjacent metadata items when you press Shift and move the Down Cursor or the Up Cursor key. If you want to choose non-adjacent items, use Ctrl+Click at each of the desired metadata items instead.

Export of metadata creates new external metadata as a copy of internal metadata.

This case is somewhat similar to that of externalizing metadata. Now you create a metadata file that is outside the graph in the same way as that of externalized file, but such a file is not linked to the original graph. Only a metadata file is being created. Subsequently you can use such a file for more graphs as an external (shared) metadata file as mentioned in the previous sections.

To export internal metadata into external (shared) one, right-click some of the internal metadata items in the Outline pane, click Export metadata from the context menu, select and expand the project you want to add metadata into, select the meta folder, rename the metadata file, if necessary, and click Finish.

After that, the Outline pane metadata folder remains the same, but in the meta folder in the Project Explorer pane, the newly created metadata file appears.

If you want to create shared metadata, select File  New  Other in the main menu.

Then expand the CloverDX  Metadata item and decide whether you want to define metadata yourself (User defined), or extract it from one of the available sources.

After its creation (see previous sections), external (shared) metadata must be linked to each graph in which it is to be used. You need to right-click either the Metadata group or any of its items and select New metadata  Link shared definition from the context menu. After that, a File selection wizard displaying the project content will open. You must expand the meta folder in this wizard and select the desired metadata file from the files contained in this wizard.

You can even link multiple external (shared) metadata files at once. To do this, right-click either the Metadata group or any of its items and select New metadata  Link shared definition from the context menu. After that, a File selection wizard displaying the project content will open. You must expand the meta folder in this wizard and select the desired metadata files from the files contained in this wizard. You can select adjacent file items by pressing Shift and moving the Down Cursor or the Up Cursor key. If you want to select non-adjacent items, use Ctrl+Click at each of the desired file items instead.

You can link external metadata from library by right-clicking either the Metadata group or any of its items and select New metadata  Link shared definition from library. After that, File selection wizard opens and you can list all installed libraries on the CloverDX Server. Only public metadata is shown.

Once you have created and linked external (shared) metadata, in case you want to put it into the graph, you need to convert it to internal metadata. In such a case you would see its structure in the graph itself.

You can internalize any linked external (shared) metadata file by right-clicking the linked external (shared) metadata item in the Outline pane and clicking Internalize metadata from the context menu.

You can even internalize multiple linked external (shared) metadata files at once. To do this, select the desired external (shared) metadata items in the Outline pane. You can select adjacent items when by pressing Shift and moving the Down Cursor or the Up Cursor key. If you want to select non-adjacent items, use Ctrl+Click at each of the desired items instead.

After that, the selected linked external (shared) metadata items disappear from the Outline pane Metadata group, but, at the same location, newly created internal metadata items appear.

The original external (shared) metadata files still exist in the meta subfolder and can be seen in the Project Explorer pane.

SQL query metadata can be used as a type for variables in CTL code.

If a direct reference to a field is made, the Transform editor shows this warning: Field [field_name] may not exist in record with SQL query metadata [record_name]

SQL query metadata allows you to create reusable graphs thanks to parameterization of the connection and query used, allowing you to use the same graph with multiple database tables or databases.

SQL query metadata is useful in cases where the exact fields of metadata are irrelevant, such as when dumping a DB table to a file. When columns are added to a table, it breaks metadata extracted from DB as the field counts no longer match. So if you use SQL query metadata, you no longer have to go back and manually add fields. If you want to enforce exact metadata structure, you should use metadata link:extracted from a database.

In most aspects, the metadata behaves similarly to a non-SQL query metadata; however, there are some limitations: