Metadata Schemas metadata-schemas

CAUTION
AEM 6.4 has reached the end of extended support and this documentation is no longer updated. For further details, see our technical support periods. Find the supported versions here.

In Experience Manager Assets, a metadata schema defines the layout of the properties page and the metadata properties displayed for assets that use the particular schema. Metadata properties include title, description, MIME types, tags, and so on. You can use the Metadata Schema Forms editor to modify existing schemas or add custom metadata schemas.

To view and edit the properties page for an asset, follow these steps:

  1. Click or tap the View Properties from quick actions on the asset tile in Card view.

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    Alternatively, select an asset and then click or tap the Properties icon from the toolbar.

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  2. You can edit the various editable metadata properties under the available tabs. However, you cannot modify the asset Type in the Basic tab of properties page.

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    To modify the MIME type for an asset, use a custom metadata schema form or modify an existing form. See Editing Metadata Schema Forms for more information. If you modify the metadata schema for a certain MIME type, the properties page layout for assets with the current MIME type and all asset subtypes are modified. For example, modifying a jpeg schema under default/image only modifies the metadata layout (asset properties) for assets with MIME type IMAGE/JPEG. However, if you edit the default schema, your changes modify the metadata layout for all types of assets.

Metadata Schema Forms default-metadata-schema-forms

To view a list of forms/templates, in Experience Manager interface navigate to Tools > Assets > Metadata Schemas.

Experience Manager provides the following Metadata Schema Form templates:

Templates
Description
default
The base metadata schema form for assets.
The following child forms inherit the properties of the default form:
  • dm_video
Schema form for Dynamic Media videos.
  • image

Schema form for assets with the MIME type “image”, for example, image/jpeg, image/png, and so on.
The image form has the following child form templates:

  • jpeg: Schema form for assets with sub type jpeg.
  • tiff: Schema form for the assets with sub type tiff.
  • application
Schema form for assets with MIME type “application”, for example application/ pdf, application/ zip, and so on.
pdf: Schema form for assets with sub type pdf.
  • video
Schema form for assets with MIME type “video”, such as video/avi, video/mp4 and so on.
collection
Schema form for collections.
contentfragment
Schema form for content fragments.
forms
This schema form relates to Adobe Experience Manager Forms.
NOTE
To view the child forms of a schema form, click/tap the schema form name.

Add a metadata schema form adding-a-metadata-schema-form

  1. To add a custom template to the list, click Create from the toolbar.

    note note
    NOTE
    Unedited templates display a lock icon before them. If you customize any of the templates, the lock icon before the template disappears.
  2. In the dialog, enter the title of the schema form and click Create to complete the form creation process.

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Edit metadata schema forms editing-metadata-schema-forms

You can edit a newly-added or existing metadata schema form. The metadata schema form includes the following:

  • Tabs
  • Form items within tabs.

You can map/configure these form items to a field within a metadata node in the CRX repository.

You can add new tabs or form items to the metadata schema form. The tabs and form items derived from the parent are in the locked state. You cannot alter them at the child level.

  1. In the Schema Forms page, select the check box before a form and then click Edit on the toolbar.

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  2. In the Metadata Schema Editor page, customize the properties page of the asset by dragging one or more components from the list of component types in the Build Form tab to the Basic tab.

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  3. To configure a component, select it and modify its properties in the Settings tab.

Components within the Build Form tab components-within-the-build-form-tab

The Build Form tab lists form items that you use in your schema form. The Settings tab provides the attributes of each item that you select in the Build Form tab. The following table lists the form items available in the Build Form tab:

Component Name
Description
Section Header
Add a section heading for a list of common components.
Single Line Text
Add a single line text property. It is stored as a string.
Multi Value Text
Add a multi value text property. It is stored as a string array.
Number
Add a number component.
Date
Add a date component.
Dropdown
Add a dropdown list.
Standard Tags
Add a tag.
Smart Tags
Add to augment search capabilities by automatically adding metadata tags.
Hidden Field
Add a hidden field. It is sent as a POST parameter when the asset is saved.
Asset Referenced By
Add this component to view list of assets referenced by the asset.
Asset Referencing
Add to display a list of assets that reference the asset.
Products References
Add to show the list of products linked with the asset.
Asset Rating
Add to display options for rating the asset.
Contextual Metadata
Add to control the display of other metadata tabs in the properties page of assets.

Edit the metadata component editing-the-metadata-component

To edit the properties of a metadata component on the form, click the component and edit all or a subset of the following properties in the Settings tab.

Field Label: The name of the metadata property that is displayed on the properties page for the asset.

Map to Property: This property specifies the relative path/name to the asset node where it is saved in the CRX repository. It starts with ./ because indicating that the path is under the asset’s node.

The following are the valid values for this property:

  • ./jcr:content/metadata/dc:title: Stores the value at the asset’s metadata node as the property dc:title.

  • ./jcr:created: Displays the JCR property at the asset’s node. If you configure these properties on view properties, we recommend that you mark them as Disable Edit, because they are protected. Otherwise, the error Asset(s) failed to modify results when you save the asset’s properties.

To ensure that the component is displayed properly in the metadata schema form, the property path should not include any spaces.

Placeholder: Use this property to specify relevant placeholder text regarding the metadata property.

Required: Use this property to mark a metadata property as mandatory on the properties page.

Disable Edit: Use this property to make a metadata property uneditable on the properties page.

Show Empty Field In Read Only: Mark this property to display a metadata property on the properties page even if it has no value. By default, when a metadata property has no value, it is not be listed on the properties page.

Show list ordered: Use this property to display an ordered list of choices

Choices: Use this property to specify choices in a list

Description : Use this property to add a short description for the metadata component.

Class: Object class the property is associated with.

Delete icon Click this icon to delete a component from the schema form.

NOTE
The Hidden Field component does not include these attributes. Instead, it includes properties, such as attributes Name, Value, Field Label, and Description. The values for the Hidden Field component are sent as a POST parameter whenever the asset is saved. It is not be saved as metadata for the asset.

If you select the Required option, you can search for assets missing mandatory metadata. From the Filters panel, expand the Metadata Validation predicate and select the Invalid option. The search results display assets missing mandatory metadata that you configured through the schema form.

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If you add the Contextual Metadata component to any tab of any schema form, the component appears as a list in the properties page of assets to which the particular schema is applied. The list includes all other tabs except the tab to which you applied the Contextual Metadata component. Currently, this feature provides basic functionality to control the display of metadata based on the context.

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To include any tab in the properties page in addition to the tab where the Contextual Metadata component is applied, select the tab from the list. The tab is added to the properties page.

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Specify properties in JSON file specifying-properties-in-json-file

Instead of specifying properties for the options in the Settings tab, you can define the options in a JSON file by specifying corresponding key-value pairs. Specify the path of the JSON file in the JSON Path field.

Add or delete a tab in the schema form adding-deleting-a-tab-in-the-schema-form

The schema editor lets you add or delete a tab. The default schema form includes the Basic, Advanced, IPTC, and IPTC Extension tabs, by default.

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Click + to add a new tab on a schema form. By default, the new tab has the name Unnamed-1. You can modify the name from the Settings tab. Click X to delete a tab.

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Delete metadata schema forms deleting-metadata-schema-forms

Experience Manager lets you delete custom schema forms only. It does not let you delete the default schema forms/templates. However, you can delete any custom changes in these forms.

To delete a form, select a form and click the Delete icon.

NOTE
After you delete custom changes to a default form, the lock icon reappears on the Metadata Schema interface to indicate that the form reverted to its default state.
NOTE
You cannot delete the out of the box metadata schema forms in Experience Manager Assets.

Schema forms for MIME types schema-forms-for-mime-types

Experience Manager Assets provides default forms for various MIME types out of the box. However, you can add custom forms for assets of various MIME types.

Add new forms for MIME types adding-new-forms-for-mime-types

Create a new form under the appropriate form type. For example, to add a new template for the image/png subtype, create the form under the image forms. The title for the schema form is the subtype name. In this case, the title is png.

Use an existing schema template for various MIME types using-an-existing-schema-template-for-various-mime-types

You can use an existing template for a different MIME type. For example, use the image/jpeg form for assets of MIME type image/png.

In this case, create a new node at /etc/dam/metadataeditor/mimetypemappings in the CRX repository. Specify a name for the node and define the following properties:

Name
Description
Type
Value
exposedmimetype
Name of the existing form to be mapped
String
image/jpeg
mimetypes
List of MIME types that use the form defined in the exposedmimetype attribute
String
image/png

Experience Manager Assets maps the following MIME types and schema forms:

Schema Form
MIME types
image/jpeg
image/pjpeg
image/tiff
image/x-tiff
application/pdf
application/postscript
application/x-ImageSet
Multipart/Related; type=application/x-ImageSet
application/x-SpinSet
Multipart/Related; type=application/x-SpinSet
application/x-MixedMediaSet
Multipart/Related; type=application/x-MixedMediaSet
video/quicktime
video/x-quicktime
video/mpeg4
video/mp4
video/avi
video/avi, video/msvideo, video/x-msvideo
video/wmv
video/x-ms-wmv
video/flv
video/x-flv

Grant access to metadata schemas granting-access-to-metadata-schemas

The metadata schema feature is available to administrators only. However, administrators can provide access to non-administrator users by providing Create, Modify, and Delete permissions on the /conf folder.

Apply folder-specific metadata applying-folder-specific-metadata

Experience Manager Assets lets you define a variant of a metadata schema and apply it to a specific folder.

For example, you can define a variant of the default metadata schema and apply it to a folder. When you apply the modified schema, it overrides the original default metadata schema that is applied to assets within the folder.

Only assets uploaded to the folder to which this schema is applied will conform to the modified metadata defined in the variant metadata schema.

Assets in other folders where the original schema is applied continue to conform to metadata defined in the original schema.

Metadata inheritance by assets is based on the schema that is applied to the first-level folder in the hierarchy. In other words, if a folder does not contain subfolders, the assets within the folder inherit the metadata from the schema applied to the folder.

If the folder has a subfolder, the assets within the subfolder inherit the metadata from the schema applied at the subfolder level if a different schema is applied at the subfolder level. If, however, no schema or the same schema is applied at the subfolder level, the subfolder assets inherit the metadata from the schema applied at the parent folder level.

  1. Click the Experience Manager logo and then navigate to Tools > Assets > Metadata Schemas. The Metadata Schema Forms page is displayed.

  2. Select the check box before a form, for example the default metadata form, and click or tap the Copy icon and save it as a custom form. Specify a custom name for the form, for example my_default. Alternatively, you can create a custom form.

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  3. In the Metadata Schema Forms page, select the my_default form, and then click Edit.

  4. In the Metadata Schema Editor page, add a text field to the schema form. For example add a field with the label Category.

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  5. Click Save. The modified form is listed in the Metadata Schema Forms page.

  6. Click/tap Apply to Folder(s) from the toolbar to apply the custom metadata to a folder.

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  7. Select the folder on which to apply the modified schema and then click/tap Apply.

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  8. If the folder has the other metadata schema applied, a message appears warning that you are about to overwrite the existing metadata schema. Click Overwrite.

  9. Click OK to close the success message.

  10. Navigate to the folder to which you applied the modified metadata schema.

Define mandatory metadata defining-mandatory-metadata

You can define mandatory fields at a folder level, which is enforced on assets that are uploaded to the folder. If you upload assets with missing metadata for the mandatory fields defined earlier, a visual indication for missing metadata appears on the assets in the Card view.

NOTE
A metadata field can be defined as mandatory based on the value of another field. In the Cards view, Experience Manager does not display the warning message about missing metadata for such mandatory metadata fields.
  1. Click the Experience Manager logo and then navigate to Tools > Assets > Metadata Schemas. The Metadata Schema Forms page is displayed.

  2. Save the default metadata form as a custom form. For example, save it as my_default.

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  3. Edit the custom form. Add a mandatory field. For example, add a Category field and make the field mandatory.

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  4. Click Save. The modified form is listed in the Metadata Schema Forms page. To apply the custom metadata to a folder, select the form and click/tap Apply to Folder(s) from the toolbar.

  5. Navigate to the folder and upload some assets with missing metadata for the mandatory field you added to the custom form. The Card view for the assets display a message for the missing metadata for the mandatory field.

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  6. (Optional) Access http://[server]:[port]/system/console/components/. Configure and enable com.day.cq.dam.core.impl.MissingMetadataNotificationJob component that is disabled by default. Set a frequency at which Experience Manager checks for the validity of metadata on the assets.
    This configuration adds a property hasValidMetadata to jcr:content of assets. Using this property, Experience Manager can filter results in a search.

NOTE
If an asset is added after the scheduled check, the asset is not flagged with hasValidMetadata until the next scheduled check. The assets do not appear in intermediate search results.
CAUTION
The metadata validation checks are resource intensive and may impact the performance of your system. Schedule the checks accordingly. If the Experience Manager deployment has performance issues, try disabling this job.
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