Overview
Metadata is the information that describes an item. Metadata can be included for all items in a portal including web maps, web scenes, and web apps. Once enabled in the organization, metadata can be added to an item by uploading an xml file using add item operation. Existing metadata can be updated using update (item) operation.
Example URL for metadata:
https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/content/items/[itemId]/info/metadata/metadata.xmlEnable metadata for the organization
In lieu of using the front-end interface, administrators can also enable or disable metadata for the organization using update (org) operation in the Sharing API.
https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/portals/[portalID]/updateIf metadataEditable=true, all members of the organization can view the metadata. Only item owners and administrators can update metadata.
If metadataEditable=false, no one in the organization can access the metadata.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| metadataEditable | Indicates if the organization has metadata enabled. Values: true | false |
Metadata styles
To add or edit metadata style for an organization, use the following URL:
https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/portals/[portalID]/update| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| metadataFormats | Metadata style used for organization. Default is iso19139. Values: fgdc | inspire | iso19139 | iso19139-3.2 | iso19115 Example: metadataFormats : iso19139-3.2 |
The full name of each metadata style is shown here:
| Style | Description |
|---|---|
| fgdc | FGDC CSDGM Metadata |
| inspire | INSPIRE Metadata Directive |
| iso19139 | ISO 19139 Metadata Implementation Specification |
| iso19139-3.2 | ISO 19139 Metadata Implementation Specification GML3.2 |
| iso19115 | North American Profile of ISO19115 2003 |
See Metadata in ArcGIS Online help for more information about each metadata style.
Add or update metadata
In lieu of using the front-end interface, a user can also add metadata using add item operation to go along with the new item. A metadata file in .xml format must be uploaded.
A user can also update existing metadata of an item using update operation. A metadata file in .xml format must be provided here also.
Note:
A user cannot update individual fields in the metadata. An xml needs to be uploaded as a file every time a change must be made to an item metadata.
View metadata
Once metadata is added to an item, the metadata can be viewed using the following URL:https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/content/items/<itemId>/info/metadata/metadata.xml
A user can also view metadata in different formats and outputs.
Example URL to view metadata in the format that was setup in the organization:
https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/content/items/<itemId>/info/metadata/metadata.xml?format=defaultExample URL to view metadata in FGDC format:
https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/content/items/<itemId>/info/metadata/metadata.xml?format=fgdcA user can also specify how to render the chosen metadata format. For example, a user can specify metadata of an item to be shown in FGDC format but to be displayed as html output.
Example URL:
https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/content/items/<itemId>/info/metadata/metadata.xml?format=fgdc&output=htmlField mapping
An itemInfo.xml is generated for each item once the user adds values like title, tags, description etc. A user can also upload an itemInfo.xml. Please see itemInfo for more information.
The following table show the field mapping between itemInfo.xml and metadata.xml files. The data is synchronized bi-directionally.
| itemInfo.xml | metadata.xml |
|---|---|
Type | distInfo> distFormat>formatName If ISO format: distInfo>distributor>distorFormat>formatName If FGDC format: idinfo>natvform (FGDC format) |
Thumbnail | Binary>Thumbnail>Data (or) Binary>Thumbnail>Data>img>@src |
Tags | dataIdInfo>searchKeys>keyword If ISO format: dataIdInfo>descKey>keyword If FGDC format: Idinfo>keywords>theme>themekey |
Snippet/Summary/Purpose | dataIdInfo>idPurp If FGDC format: Idinfo>descript>purpose |
Description/Abstract | dataIdInfo>idAbs If FGDC format: Idinfo>descript>abstract |
Scale | dataIdInfo>dataScale>equScale>rfDenom If ISO format: dqInfo>dataLineage>dataSource>srcScale>rfDenom If FGDC format: dataqual>lineage>srcinfo>srcscale |
Credit | dataIdInfo>idCredit |
Constraints | resConst/Consts/useLimit (or) dataIdInfo>resConst>Consts>useLimit |