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Setting up Metadata

Metadata represent the attributes of documents and are assigned to content types. Metadata must be created before content types. Document Central supports various types of metadata, including Text, Integer, Boolean, DateTime, Number, and GUID. The type defines the input options for the metadata values.

Create and publish metadata

Metadata need to be defined for all repository types and are used to store relevant properties about a document in the repository. When creating metadata for SharePoint, it is necessary to publish the metadata. For Azure Blob Storage or Database, publishing is not required, and the publish action will not be visible.

To create and publish metadata, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate through the Document Central - Administrator role center.
  2. Click on Repository in the ribbon bar and execute the action Metadata.
  3. Specify the name of the metadata by entering a meaningful name in the Display Name field.
  4. Select the Type of the metadata.
  5. Execute the action Publish to Repository in the ribbon bar.
  6. The metadata is transferred to the repository.
  7. The metadata is marked as Published when it has been transferred successfully.

Warning

Please ensure that the correct type of metadata is selected. Note that publishing the metadata is not required for Azure Blob Storage and Database repository types.

Reset publish state

The publishing status indicates whether metadata has already been published to the repository. Publishing metadata is only necessary for the SharePoint repository. In Document Central, the Published status can be reset, allowing the metadata to be published again. If the metadata already exists in the repository, it will be skipped.

To reset the publish state for a metadata, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate through the Document Central - Administrator role center.
  2. Click on Repository in the ribbon bar and execute the action Metadata.
  3. Mark the metadata that should be resetet.
  4. Execute the action Reset Status in the ribbon bar.
  5. The Published checkbox will be resetet.

Info

The metadata in the repository is not deleted when the status is reset. The clean-up needs to be done manually in SharePoint if a SharePoint repository is used.

Update metadata from repository

If the SharePoint repository is used and metadata has already been created there, it can be loaded into Document Central. This may be necessary, for example, if you want to load an existing structure from SharePoint.

To sync the existing metadata from repository, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate through the Document Central - Administrator role center.
  2. Click on Repository in the ribbon bar and execute the action Metadata.
  3. Execute the action Update Repository in the ribbon bar.
  4. The metadata is automatically loaded from the repository and added to the metadata list.

Warning

Only metadata added to a category Document Central in the SharePoint columns will be loaded.

Indexing Metadata

Document Central provides the option to index metadata. Indexed metadata is stored directly on the document entry in addition to being stored in the separate metadata table. This results in significant performance improvements for metadata searches and also allows metadata columns to be displayed directly in the page view.

Important

Only indexed metadata will be displayed in the datagrid, document search, and page view.

Info

Up to 25 metadata fields can be indexed:
- 2 Date metadata fields
- 2 DateTime metadata fields
- 21 other metadata fields of any type

How to Index a Metadata Field

To index a metadata field, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Document Central – Administrator role center.
  2. In the ribbon, click Repository and then execute the Metadata action.
  3. Select the metadata field you want to index and click Prepare for Indexing in the Indexing section.
  4. Once the status changes to Waiting for Start, use the Start Indexing action to begin indexing.

Info

Once indexing has started, you can view its progress by clicking the Show/Hide Status action.
You can also select multiple metadata fields for indexing at once.
However, stopping the indexing process will stop indexing for all Metadata that was started in an Selection.

Clearing Indexed Metadata

When clearing indexed metadata, three options are available:

  • Clear Full Index
    Removes the indexed fields from document entries and deletes the index from the metadata configuration.

  • Clear Index and Retain Configuration in Metadata
    Removes the indexed fields from document entries but keeps the index configuration in the metadata.
    The indexing status will simply be reset.

  • Retain Index on Document Entries
    Resets the indexing status in the metadata but keeps the index on the document entries.
    This option is recommended if you plan to re-run the indexing.

To clear an indexed metadata field, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Document Central – Administrator role center.
  2. In the ribbon, click Repository and then execute the Metadata action.
  3. Select the metadata field you want to clear and click Clear Indexes in the Indexing section.