Entity Metadata

Using the entity metadata, you can describe an Entity and access its properties, such as entity labels, settings and their fields. Using the "Describe" method, you can also access field details such as picklist values and more.

Accessing Metadata

To access Entity metadata, use one of the following methods:

// DiscribeEntity<T> where T is the name of the Entity, e.g:
var metadata = dbObject.DescribeEntity<Account>();

// You can also ask the system to describe an Entity dynamically
var metadata = dbObject.DescribeEntity("Account");

The above sample describes an entity using the current user's permission. Therefore, it would not return fields that the user does not have access to view. If you wish to retrieve the entity details in system mode (where end-user's permissions are ignored), you use the following methods:

// DiscribeEntity<T> where T is the name of the Entity, e.g:
var metadata = dbObject.DescribeEntity<Account>(true);

// You can also ask the system to describe an Entity dynamically
var metadata = dbObject.DescribeEntity("Account", true);

Entity Metadata Properties

Entity Field Metadata Properties

Picklist Entry Properties

Accessing Record Type Metadata

You can request metadata to load additional information related to Record Types.
This data is not loaded by default due to performance considerations and should only be requested when needed.

var metadata = dbObject.DescribeEntity<Account>(true);

// Loads the additional Record Type metadata for this entity.
metadata.LoadRecordTypeMetadata();

Record Types Metadata Properties

Record Type Picklist Settings Metadata Properties

Accessing Dependent Picklist Metadata

You may optionally request metadata for Dependent Picklist values for advanced component development or other specialized requirements. This metadata is not always included when calling the Describe method and must be explicitly requested.

var metadata = dbObject.DescribeEntity<Account>(true);

// Load dependent picklist values
metadata.LoadDepedentPicklistValues();

The Entity Field Metadata property IsDependentPicklist indicates whether a picklist depends on a controlling field, such as a checkbox or another picklist. The ControllerName property identifies the controlling field.

When dependent picklist metadata is loaded, a new object called DependentPicklists is added to the field metadata for fields where IsDependentPicklist is set to true. This object maps each parent (controlling) picklist value to the list of valid child picklist values.

Below is an example showing that when the controlling value is “Type value 1”, only “Open” and “In Progress” are valid child values:

{
    "Id": "7NX0000000007MQ0000",
    "Name": "Status",
    "Label": "Status",
    "FieldType": "Picklist",
    "IsDependentPicklist": true,
    "ControllerName": "Type"
    ...
    "DependentPicklists": {
       "Type value 1": [
          {
              "Id": "7O0000000000hIA0000",
              "Label": "Open (New)",
              "Value": "Open",
              ...
          },
          {
             "Id": "7O0000000000hIA0000",
             "Label": "In Progress",
             "Value": "In Progress",
             ...
          }
       ]
    }
}

Dependent Picklists Properties