Extended Metadata (XMD) Overview
Use Extended Metadata (XMD) to customize the formatting of fields, field labels, member values, and colors in CRM Analytics dashboards and lenses. Available customizations vary depending on the data source—CRM Analytics datasets, Direct Data/Live Connectors, or Data 360 objects. If you modify the XMD, every UI visualization that uses the underlying data shows the modified format.
Data Source Types
XMD supports three primary data source types.
- CRM Analytics Datasets: Manages formatting via dataset-level XMD JSON files (EdgeMartMetadata).
- Direct Data/Live Connectors: Applies presentation formatting to live query sources, such as Snowflake Live Connectors.
- Data 360 Objects: Supports Data Model Objects (DMOs), Data Lake Objects (DLOs), and Calculated Insight Objects (CIOs). Manages metadata dynamically, without data flows or dataset duplication.
Customizations by Data Source
This table shows which XMD customizations are available for CRM Analytics datasets, Direct Data/Live Connectors, and Data 360 objects (DMOs, DLOs, and CIOs).
| Customization | Dataset | Direct Data/Live Connectors | Data 360 Object |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rename columns (change display labels for dimensions and measures) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rename field values | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Customize chart colors based on field values | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Format measures (decimal/grouping separators, prefixes, suffixes, multipliers) | Yes | Yes | No |
| Hide or show fields in lens and dashboard | Yes | Yes | No |
| Define the first day of the week for the calendar year | Yes | Yes | No |
| Add action menus to dimensions | Yes | Yes | No |
This is a partial list. For the complete list of dataset and Direct Data/Live Connector customizations, see Format Dataset Fields and Field Values with XMD.
Edit XMD
Almost all the XMD functionality is supported in the UI for editing datasets and lenses. Use the Edit Dataset page to customize dataset actions, and use the Lenses Dataset Fields section to customize other actions. To edit the underlying JSON file for a dataset directly, see Configure the XMD for a Dataset. For Data 360 objects, edit XMD directly from a dashboard widget. See Access Data 360 XMD in the UI.
XMD acts purely as a presentation layer. It doesn’t enforce or override Field-Level Security (FLS). FLS enforcement occurs at query execution time directly in Data Cloud.
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