Extended Metadata (XMD) Overview

Extended metadata (XMD) enables you to customize the formatting of dashboard elements in Wave Analytics.

If you modify the XMD for a dataset, every UI visualization that uses the dataset uses the new formatting. You can control the following:

The formatting of measures
Display labels for dimensions and measures
The grouping of dimensions of measures
Colors of specific fields
Default columns to be displayed for a values table
The hiding of dimensions and measures in the user interface
Custom menus that let users take advantage of actions on Salesforce objects and follow links to records in Salesforce and external websites
Mapping of Salesforce org IDs to their URLs so that a link to a Salesforce record from a multi-org dataset resolves to the correct org instance for that record

The XMD file is in JSON format. To access the XMD file, edit the corresponding dataset. You can download the existing XMD file from the Edit page.

Save XMD files in UTF-8 format to be sure that Wave visualizations display international characters.

Note

Refer to the XMD 2.0 section for information about XMD changes and updates.

Extended Metadata Example

The following example illustrates the format of the XMD file.

Every dimension and measure that’s referenced must be valid. Otherwise the reference is ignored.

Note

XMD 2.0

Some XMD elements have changed, as have some behaviors. In Salesforce development circles these changes are referred to as XMD 2.0, versus XMD 1.1.

Behind the scenes, a key change is that XMD is now stored in BPOs (Base Platform Objects) rather than in JSON files. The API works on these objects, so you can use the XMD API endpoints to manipulate your XMD directly.

From the user perspective, you still download and upload JSON files to effect your changes—the XMD is converted on-the-fly. However, there are some side effects of this change:

XMD is stored for each dataset version.
system XMD is generated when main.json is uploaded, or when a GET call is made via the API on an old-version dataflow.

As before, main type XMD is created by merging system and user. Modify the user XMD file to customize the formatting of many dashboard elements in Wave Analytics.

If dataset metadata is changed—like a particular column is deleted or renamed as a result of changes to the dataflow—the associated user XMD must also be updated, so it doesn’t continue to reference the changed column and cause validation to fail. Once the XMD has been updated, it must be reloaded (i.e. downloaded then uploaded) in order to pass validation. This must be done even if the changes to the dataflow are reverted.

Warning

What Does This Mean To Me?

This table describes changes to XMD elements. While most of these changes are new elements, several are existing elements that are renamed. Please update your XMD if you use these elements.

Element	Next-level element	Next-level element	Type	Note
dimensions	description		String	New. The description of the dimension.
	fullyQualifiedName		String	New. The fully qualified name of the dimension.
	origin		String	New. The origin of this dimension.
	dateFormat		String	New. Use to display an easily readable date.
	isMultiValue		Boolean	New. Indicates whether the dimension is multi-value.
	imageTemplate		String	New. The name of the image template.
	customActionsEnabled		Boolean	New. Indicates whether the dimension has custom actions enabled.
	customActions		List	New. Custom actions linked to this dimension.
		name	String	New. The name of the action.
		url	String	New. The Url for the action.
		icon	String	New. The icon for the action.
		tooltip	String	New. The tooltip for the action.
		target	String	New. The target for the action.
		method	String	New. The method for the action.
		enabled	Boolean	New. Indicates whether the action is enabled for a specific dimension.
	sfdcActions		List	Renamed to salesforceActions. The user interface still uses XMD 1.1, while the API uses XMD 2.0. Only use the renamed element name if using XMD 2.0. The new enabled flag in the salesforceActions list is a placeholder in XMD 2.0, reserved for future use. Note
	sfdcActionsEnabled		Boolean	Renamed to salesforceActionsEnabled. The user interface still uses XMD 1.1, while the API uses XMD 2.0. Only use the renamed element name if using XMD 2.0. Note
measures	description		String	New. The description of the measure.
	fullyQualifiedName		String	New. The fully qualified name of the measure.
	origin		String	New. The origin of the measure.
	dateFormat		String	New. The format used for a date that is a measure.
	format		List	Existing.
		prefix	String	New. The prefix placed before the field value.
		unit	String	New. The unit string for the measure. For example, 'cm'.
		suffix	String	New. The suffix placed after the field value.
		decimalDigits	Integer	New. The number of digits displayed after the decimal place.
		negativeParens	Boolean	New. Indicates whether to display negative numbers in parentheses, rather than with a minus sign.
		unitMultiplier	Double	New. The multiplier for the unit.
dates	label		String	New. Label of the Date column.
	compact		Boolean	New. Whether the Date is displayed as compact.
	description		String	New. Description of the Date column.
	showInExplorer		Boolean	New. Whether the Date is shown in the explorer.
	fiscalMonthOffset		Integer	New. Offset number of months for the fiscal year in relation to the calendar year.
	isYearEndFiscalYear		Boolean	New. Whether the Year End is the Fiscal year.
	firstDayOfWeek		Integer	New. What to use as the first day of the week.
dataset	connector		String	New. Connector source for the dataset.
	fullyQualifiedName		String	New. Fully qualified name of the dataset version.
	origin		String	New. Origin representing where this dataset version comes from.
	description		String	New. Description of the dataset.

Wave Analytics Extended Metadata (XMD) Reference

Extended Metadata (XMD) Overview

Extended Metadata Example

XMD 2.0