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Administration Guide

# Viewing Metadata

The Metadata Browser, a component of the Liquid Data Console, enables you to view information on data services, their functions, and their dependencies. This chapter describes how to use the Metadata Browser, and includes the following sections:

- Introducing the Metadata Browser
- Browsing Data Service Metadata
- Displaying Function Metadata
- Searching Metadata

# Introducing the Metadata Browser

The Metadata Browser enables you to view metadata related to a Liquid Data deployment. The information includes the data services that are deployed, their functions and return types, dependencies between data services, and more. Essentially, metadata documents the data model represented by the Liquid Data deployment.

The Metadata Browser is particularly useful for:

- Liquid Data administrators who need to gauge effects of changes to underlying data sources.
- Developers of Liquid Data client applications wanting to determine what data services are available and their calling conventions.

You can use the Metadata Browser to access metadata in the following ways:

- Browse metadata by data service. You can display metadata associated with a specific data service. For more information, see Browsing Data Service Metadata on page 8-2.
- Browse metadata associated with data service functions. You can display function metadata. For more information, see Displaying Function Metadata on page 8-6.
- Search for metadata in an application or project. You can perform basic or advanced searches on metadata in an application or in a project folder. For more information, see Searching Metadata on page 8-8.

# Browsing Data Service Metadata

You can browse data service metadata including general information, read functions and return types, relationships, dependencies, and more using the Metadata tab in the Liquid Data Console.

To browse data service metadata:

1. Select a data service in the Navigation pane.

The Admin screen appears.

2. Click the Metadata tab.

The console displays the General metadata associated with the data service, as ill.ustrated in Figure 8-1.

Figure 8-1 Data Service Metadata

3. Click the corresponding tab to display general information, data service read functions, return type, relationships, properties, dependencies, and where used information.

Table 8-1 describes the metadata information accessible through the tabs.

Table 8-1 Metadata Information

Tab | Description
--- | ---
General | Provides general configuration information about the data service, including the following: Name. The name of the data service. Description. A user-supplied description. Owner. The owner of the service. Creation Date. The date when the data service was created. Last Modified Date. The date on which the data service was last changed. Return Type. The type returned by the data service. Data Service Type. Either physical or logical. For more information about data service types, see Understanding Data Service Metadata on page 8-5. Data Source Type. The type of the data source.
Read Functions | Displays a table of read functions. The table also lists the parameter names, if any, and return type (schema file name) for each function.
Return type | Displays the content of the schema associated with the return type of the data service.
Relationships | Displays a table of related read functions. The table also lists the parameter names, if any, and return type (schema file name) for each function.
Properties | Lists any user-defined properties assigned to the data service.
Dependencies | Displays a table of data services on which the current data service depends. The data services listed in this table contribute content to the current data service's return value. The table shows the following information: Name. The name of the data service. Path. The path identifying the data service. Type. Either physical or logical. For more information about data service types, see Understanding Data Service Metadata on page 8-5.
Where Used | Displays a table showing the data services where the currently selected data service is used. Each entry includes name, path, and type information.

## Understanding Data Service Metadata

There are two types of data services, differentiated as follows:

- Physical data services. These represent a single data source, typically a relational database table or stored procedure or a web service.
- Logical data services. These can be composed from multiple data sources and represent a view of data which typically is not available from any single table or web service.

The metadata that is available varies depending on whether a data service is physical or logical. Logical data sources always have dependencies. The Dependencies tab for the data service lists the composing data services. On the other hand, for a physical data service, the Where Used tab shows the logical data services that are at least partially based on it.

Figure 8-2 illustrates dependencies of a logical data service.

Figure 8-2 Dependencies of a Logical Data Service

As you would expect of a logical data service, the return type displays the schema of the data from multiple data sources, according to the design of the data service, as illustrated in Figure 8-3.

Figure 8-3 Return Type for a Logical Data Service

# Displaying Function Metadata

You can display metadata associated with a function.

To display function metadata:

1. Select a function in the Navigation pane.

The console displays the General metadata associated with the function.

2. Click the corresponding tab to display general information, function dependencies, where used information, properties, and the return type.

Figure 8-4 illustrates the function metadata displayed.

Figure 8-4 Function Metadata

Table 8-2 describes the function metadata available.

Table 8-2 Function Metadata

Function Metadata | Description
--- | ---
General | General metadata information for the function, including the following: Function name. The name of the function Data Service. The containing data service Description. A user-supplied description of the function Return Type. The type returned by the function
Dependencies | Displays a table of data services on which the current function depends. The data services listed in this table contribute content to the current function's return value. The table shows the following information: Name. The name of the data service Path. The path identifying the data service Type. Either physical or logical. For more information about data service types, see Understanding Data Service Metadata on page 8-5.
Where Used | Displays a table showing the data services where the currently selected function is used. Each entry includes name, path, and type information.
Properties | Displays any user-defined properties associated with the function.
Return type | Displays details about the return type of the function.

# Searching Metadata

The Metadata Browser provides both a basic and an advanced search facility. You can use the search capabilities to locate data services based on metadata associated with the services. You can then generate a report using the results from either of the search modes.

This section describes the following:

- Performing a Basic Metadata Search on page 8-8
- Performing an Advanced Metadata Search on page 8-9
- Exploring Metadata Search Results on page 8-11
- Generating Reports on page 8-13

## Performing a Basic Metadata Search

You can search for data services based on the data service name, description, function name, or return type.

To perform a basic search:

1. Right-click on a Liquid Data application or project node in the Navigation pane, and choose Search in the context-sensitive menu.

The basic search screen appears, as illustrated in Figure 8-5.

Figure 8-5 Basic Metadata Browser Search Facility

2. Choose the search criteria in the drop-down list.

You can choose to search based on the data service name, description, function name, and return type.

3. Enter the search item in the text box, and click Search.

The search results appear in the Contents pane. For more information about the search results, see Exploring Metadata Search Results on page 8-11.

4. Click Create Report in the Content pane to generate a report from the search results.

For more information about generating reports, see Generating Reports on page 8-13.

5. Click Return to Explorer to exit the search facility and return to the main interface.

Clicking Advanced Search enables you to specify additional criteria when performing a search. For more information, see Performing an Advanced Metadata Search on page 8-9.

## Performing an Advanced Metadata Search

You can use the advanced search facility to narrow your search criteria in cases when a basic search produces a large number of results. Using the advanced search option, you can specify criteria such as creation date, last modified data, owner, comments, and user-defined properties.

To perform an advanced search:

1. Right-click on a Liquid Data application or project node in the Navigation pane, and choose Search in the context-sensitive menu.

The basic search screen appears. The advanced search tool is available as a link below the basic search interface. For more information about the Liquid Data Console user interface, see Introducing the Liquid Data Console on page 4-1.

2. Click Advanced Search.

The advanced search pane appears, as illustrated in Figure 8-6.

Figure 8-6 Metadata Browser Advanced Search

3. Enter the search criteria, as appropriate, and click Search.

Table 8-3 describes the criteria you can specify using the advanced search facility.

Table 8-3 Advanced Search Criteria

Search Criteria | Description
--- | ---
Data Service Name | The name of the data service.
Data Service Description | The user-supplied description of the data service.
Function Name | The name of the function appearing as part of the data service.
Return Type | The return type of the data service.
Creation Date | The date the data service was created. You can select a relational operator when specifying the date from among the following: = (On this date). Matches the date specified. < (Earlier than). Matches dates earlier than the specified date. <= (On this date or earlier). Matches the specified date or earlier dates. >= (On this date or later). Matches the specified date or later dates. > (Later than). Matches dates later than the specified date.
Last Modified Date | The date the data service was last modified. You can select a relational operator when specifying the date.
Owner | The owner of the data service.
Comment | The comment associated with the data service.
Name | The name of a user-defined property.
Value | The value associated with a user-defined property.

The search results appear in the Contents pane. For more information about the search results, see Exploring Metadata Search Results on page 8-11.

4. Click Create Report in the Content pane to generate a report from the search results.

For more information about generating reports, see Generating Reports on page 8-13.

5. Click Return to Explorer to exit the search facility and return to the main interface.

## Exploring Metadata Search Results

The Metadata Browser displays basic and advanced search results in the Contents pane. The information displayed is the same for both types of searches. Figure 8-7 illustrates the search results page.

Figure 8-7 Metadata Search Results

Table 8-4 describes the information displayed as search results.

Table 8-4 Search Results Information

Search Result | Description
--- | ---
Name | The name of the data service.
Path | The path identifying the data service.
Type | Either physical or logical. For more information about data service types, see Understanding Data Service Metadata on page 8-5.

## Generating Reports

You can generate an HTML report based on the results of a basic or advanced search. In preparing the report, you specify the information to include such as read functions, return type, relationships, and more.

To generate a report:

1. Right-click on a Liquid Data application or project node in the Navigation pane, and choose Search in the context-sensitive menu.

The basic search screen appears. The advanced search tool is available as a link below the basic search interface.

2. Specify the criteria for either a basic or advanced search, and click Search.

The search results appear in the Contents pane.

3. Click Create Report in the Content pane to generate a report from the search results.

The Generate Report page appears, as illustrated in Figure 8-8, enabling you to specify the information to include in the generated report.

Figure 8-8 Generating Reports

4. Select the information you want to include in the report, and click Generate Report.

The generated report appears in the Contents pane. Alternative, you can click Clear to reset the Generate Report page, or click Back to Result to return to the search results.

5. Click Return to Explorer to exit the search facility and return to the main interface.

Table 8-5 describes the options you can select to defined the information included in the generated report.

Table 8-5 Report Information

Information | Description
--- | ---
Read Function | Includes read functions in the report. You can choose to include standard or summary information for each function.
Return Type | Includes the return type of the data service in the report.
Relationships | Includes related data services in the report.
Properties | Includes user-defined properties associated with the data service as part of the report.
Dependencies | Includes the data services on which the resulting data service depends. The data services listed in this table contribute content to the current function's return value.
Where Used | Includes the data services where the resulting data service is used.