Metadata API Developer’s Guide

Getting Started
Understanding Metadata API
Quick Start
Prerequisites
Step 1: Generate or Obtain the Web Service WSDLs for Your Organization
Step 2: Import the WSDL Files Into Your Development Platform
Step 3: Walk through the Java Sample Code
Using Metadata API
Reference
Appendices
Glossary
PDF

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Prerequisites

Make sure you complete these prerequisites before you start using Metadata API.
  • Create a development environment.

    It is strongly recommended that you use a sandbox, which is an exact replica of your production organization. Enterprise, Unlimited, and Performance Editions come with a free developer sandbox. For more information, see http://www.salesforce.com/platform/cloud-infrastructure/sandbox.jsp.

    Alternatively, you can use a Developer Edition organization, which provides access to all of the features available with Enterprise Edition, but is limited by the number of users and the amount of storage space. A Developer Edition organization is not a copy of your production organization, but it provides an environment where you can build and test your solutions without affecting your organization’s data. Developer Edition accounts are available for free at http://developer.salesforce.com/signup.

  • Identify a user that has the “API Enabled” and “Modify All Data” permissions. These permissions are required to access Metadata API calls.
  • Install a SOAP client. Metadata API works with current SOAP development environments, including, but not limited to, Visual Studio® .NET and the Force.com Web Service Connector (WSC).

    In this document, we provide Java examples based on WSC and JDK 6 (Java Platform Standard Edition Development Kit 6). To run the samples, first download the latest force-wsc JAR file and its dependencies (dependencies are listed on the page when you select a version) from mvnrepository.com/artifact/com.force.api/force-wsc/.

    Development platforms vary in their SOAP implementations. Implementation differences in certain development platforms might prevent access to some or all of the features in Metadata API.

    Note