Metadata

A model may be further described by the use of metadata constituting an optional set of elements that can be used to describe the model itself. The use of metadata to further describe a model can be useful to assert such information as publisher, rights and usage, copyright, and licensing.

The exchange file format provides for the inclusion of more than one metadata schema and instance, to allow for alternative metadata descriptions of the model. If one metadata schema is used, it is recommended that it is the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set.

The Dublin Core Metadata Element Set consists of 15 metadata elements; see Table 1.

Table 1. The Dublin Core Metadata Element Set
XML tag	Description
title	A name given to the resource
creator	An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
subject	The topic of the resource
description	An account of the resource
publisher	An entity responsible for making the resource available
contributor	An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
date	A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
type	The nature or genre of the resource
format	The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
identifier	An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
source	A related resource from which the described resource is derived
language	A language of the resource
relation	A related resource
coverage	The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
rights	Information about rights held in and over the resource

Each Dublin Core element is optional and may be repeated. For further information, see [3].

XML Example

The <metadata> tag is declared in the root element, as in this example:

<metadata> (1)
    <schema>Dublin Core</schema> (2)
    <schemaversion>1.1</schemaversion> (3)
    <dc:title>The Open Group Interoperability Test Snippet 10</dc:title> (4)
    <dc:creator>The Open Group</dc:creator>
    <dc:subject>The Open Group Interoperabillity testing</dc:subject>
    <dc:description>A supporting model for the ArchiMate Exchange File Format</dc:description>
    <dc:publisher>The Open Group</dc:publisher>
    <dc:contributor>The Open Group</dc:contributor>
    <dc:date>November 2019</dc:date>
    <dc:format>The Open Group ArchiMate Exchange File Format V3.1</dc:format>
    <dc:identifier>3.1-2019-11-15</dc:identifier>
    <dc:rights>Copyright The Open Group. See Copyright notice for permissions.</dc:rights>
</metadata>

1	The root tag. This can appear a maximum of once.
2	The name of the schema, in this case “Dublin Core”.
3	The schema version, “1.1”.
4	The metadata elements as described above. Each element tag is prefixed with `dc:` to associate it with the correct Namespace.