Metadata

The base class for all metadata types. You can’t edit this object. A component is an instance of a metadata type.

Metadata is analogous to sObject, which represents all standard objects. Metadata represents all components and fields in the Metadata API. Instead of identifying each component with an ID, each custom object or custom field has a unique fullName, which must be distinct from standard object names, as it must be when you create custom objects or custom fields in the Salesforce user interface.

Version

Metadata components are available in API version 10.0 and later.

Fields

Field Name	Field Type	Description
fullName	string	Required. The name of the component. For components with parent objects, such as fields and list views, the name must specify the name of the parent, for example `Account.FirstName`. The __c suffix must be appended to custom object names and custom field names when you’re setting the fullName. For example, a custom field in a custom object could have a fullName of `MyCustomObject__c.MyCustomField__c`. To reference a component in a package, prepend the package’s namespace prefix to the component name in the fullName field. Use the following syntax: `namespacePrefix__ComponentName`. For example, for the custom field component `MyCustomObject__c.MyCustomField__c` and the namespace `MyNS`, the full name is `MyNS__MyCustomObject__c.MyCustomField__c`. A namespace prefix is a 1-character to 15-character alphanumeric identifier that distinguishes your package and its contents from other publishers’ packages. For more information, see Create and Register Your Namespace for Second-Generation Managed Packages.

Field Name

Field Type

Description

fullName

string

Required. The name of the component. For components with parent objects, such as fields and list views, the name must specify the name of the parent, for example Account.FirstName. The __c suffix must be appended to custom object names and custom field names when you’re setting the fullName. For example, a custom field in a custom object could have a fullName of MyCustomObject__c.MyCustomField__c.

To reference a component in a package, prepend the package’s namespace prefix to the component name in the fullName field. Use the following syntax: namespacePrefix__ComponentName. For example, for the custom field component MyCustomObject__c.MyCustomField__c and the namespace MyNS, the full name is MyNS__MyCustomObject__c.MyCustomField__c.

A namespace prefix is a 1-character to 15-character alphanumeric identifier that distinguishes your package and its contents from other publishers’ packages. For more information, see Create and Register Your Namespace for Second-Generation Managed Packages.

Wildcard Support in the Manifest File

This metadata type doesn’t support the wildcard character * (asterisk) in the package.xml manifest file. For information about using the manifest file, see Deploying and Retrieving Metadata with the Zip File.

Metadata API Developer Guide

Metadata

Version

Fields

Wildcard Support in the Manifest File

See Also