2021.2

Table Of Contents
Metadata Attributes and Fields
Each Metadata node (i.e. Job, Group, Document, etc.) is described with a series of elements,
that is, system-defined attributes or user-defined fields holding static or dynamic information
about the node they are attached to. Each element has a name and a value. Here is a definition
of these 2 types of elements:
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Attribute: A read-only, system-defined element which holds certain information about a
certain node in the Metadata structure. This information can be static (e.g. the size of a
physical page) or evaluated on-the-fly (e.g. the number of documents in a group).
Attributes are non-repetitive (i.e. name is unique) and do not persist through Metadata
recreation. (See also: "Metadata Attributes reference" on page83.)
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Field: A read-write, user-defined element which holds custom information about a certain
node in the Metadata structure. Fields are repetitive (i.e. the same field may appear
multiple times) and persist through Metadata recreation.
When the Metadata file is viewed through the Data Selector in Workflow, attributes are listed
under Production information; fields are listed under User defined information (see
"Metadata tab" on page858).
In addition to attributes and fields, each Metadata node has a number of properties and
methods. The Boolean property selected indicates whether or not to produce the pages under
that node. By default, this property is set to true for all nodes. This property is not visible in the
Metadata file, but it can be used in a Run Script task via the Metadata API.
Metadata Tools in PlanetPress Design
PlanetPress Suite includes a complete set of Metadata-related functionality, which can be
referred to as Metadata Tools. These tools can be used to generate Metadata, retrieve or define
Metadata elements, and build the Metadata structure of a PlanetPress Design document. For
information about these tools see the Design user guide: PlanetPress Design 7.6 User Guide.
Working with Metadata
A set of special Workflow plugins allows to edit the Metadata during a Workflow process (see
"Metadata" on page75 and "Metadata tasks" on page560). This topic describes what you have
to know about Metadata in order to be able to use these plugins effectively.
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