Metadata Controlling
In general, there are three levels of metadata specification: none, minimal, and full. The default metadata level is minimal, so the service removes metadata information from the payload wherever possible.
Taking into account your need for the application, you can request the needed amount of metadata information included in the payload.
If you want to specify the amount of included metadata information in the response, use theformat query option of an OData request as a part of the URL with the specified odata.metadata parameter. For example, to specify the none level, which means no metadata at all, the URL should look like the following:
The example shows that the $format option should also include the expected content type of the response (in this case application/json).
none
If you do not need metadata information, use odata.metadata=none. It means that the service omits metadata information other than odata.nextLink and odata.count. The following example shows the request/response for the case based on the Inventory module:
Request Example
(for example, <HOSTNAME> = api-demo.envi.net)
https://<HOSTNAME>/odata/Inventory(4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78)?$format=application/json;odata.metadata=none
Response Example
{
"inventoryId": "4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78",
"organizationId": "05e36af1-0676-4216-aa3f-aa1ba787aaec",
"organizationName": " Test Org",
"inventoryGroupId": "88212fc1-7698-40b3-8642-edd4ff793fcd",
"inventoryNo": "152439785",
"inventoryGroupName": "Item Master",
"inventoryDescription": "Inventory Description",
"inventoryDescription2": "Inventory Description 2",
"stockUOM": "EA",
"arBillingCode": "225-749-325",
"hcpcsCode": null,
"notes": "Some notes",
"dateAdded": "2015-01-13T16:52:57.233-06:00",
"addedId": "185393e0-9113-4343-8d70-921bd4bed453",
"addedByName": "employee@domain.com",
"lastUpdated": "2017-11-16T18:10:39.723-06:00",
"lastUpdatedBy": "74d636e2-2dc5-402e-a12e-2722f5286adc",
"lastUpdatedByName": "employee2@domain.com",
"activeStatus": true,
"unspsc": null,
"isLatex": false,
"classificationId": "b01be311-d138-4abd-a4b4-05740ce5cbcf",
"classificationName": "gloves",
"classification2Id": "7f97e363-5e33-4448-93bd-b7decdf093ac",
"classification2Name": "classification2",
"defaultExpenseLedgerNo": "5243",
"defaultAssetLedgerNo": "85469",
"periopCategoryId": "31c05c5e-6d2c-4763-bc40-e5078440b33e",
"periopCategory": "Equipment",
"itemType": null,
"billable": false,
"systemTypeId": 1,
"systemType": "Standard"
}
minimal
If you want to save on network bandwidth size but still need some metadata for correct response processing, the format query option should contain odata.metadata=minimal. It means that the service removes metadata information from the payload wherever possible. This is a default value for the odata.metadata parameter and will be assumed if no other values are specified. The response contains the following common annotation:
Request Example
OR
(for example, <HOSTNAME> = api-demo.envi.net)
https://<HOSTNAME>/odata/Inventory(4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78)?$format=application/json;odata.metadata=minimal
Response Example
{
"@odata.context": "https:///odata/$metadata#Inventory/$entity",
"inventoryId": "4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78",
"organizationId": "05e36af1-0676-4216-aa3f-aa1ba787aaec",
"organizationName": " Test Org",
"inventoryGroupId": "88212fc1-7698-40b3-8642-edd4ff793fcd",
"inventoryNo": "152439785",
"inventoryGroupName": "Item Master",
"inventoryDescription": "Inventory Description",
"inventoryDescription2": "Inventory Description 2",
"stockUOM": "EA",
"arBillingCode": "225-749-325",
"hcpcsCode": null,
"notes": "Some notes",
"dateAdded": "2015-01-13T16:52:57.233-06:00",
"addedId": "185393e0-9113-4343-8d70-921bd4bed453",
"addedByName": "employee@domain.com",
"lastUpdated": "2017-11-16T18:10:39.723-06:00",
"lastUpdatedBy": "74d636e2-2dc5-402e-a12e-2722f5286adc",
"lastUpdatedByName": "employee2@domain.com",
"activeStatus": true,
"unspsc": null,
"isLatex": false,
"classificationId": "b01be311-d138-4abd-a4b4-05740ce5cbcf",
"classificationName": "gloves",
"classification2Id": "7f97e363-5e33-4448-93bd-b7decdf093ac",
"classification2Name": "classification2",
"defaultExpenseLedgerNo": "5243",
"defaultAssetLedgerNo": "85469",
"periopCategoryId": "31c05c5e-6d2c-4763-bc40-e5078440b33e",
"periopCategory": "Equipment",
"itemType": null,
"billable": false,
"systemTypeId": 1,
"systemType": "Standard"
}
full
If you need full metadata information, you should use odata.metadata=full. It directs the service to inline the metadata information that normally would be computed from metadata expressions in the payload. The response contains a lot of additional annotation, including information about fields type and related navigation links:
Request Example
(for example, <HOSTNAME> = api-demo.envi.net)
https://<HOSTNAME>/odata/Inventory(4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78)?$format=application/json;odata.metadata=full
Response Example
{
"@odata.context": "https://api-demo.envi.net/odata/$metadata#Inventory/$entity",
"@odata.type": "#Api.Common.Entities.Inventory.DTO.Inventory",
"@odata.id": "https://api-demo.envi.net/odata/Inventory(4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78)",
"@odata.editLink": "https://api-demo.envi.net/odata/Inventory(4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78)",
"inventoryId@odata.type": "#Guid",
"inventoryId": "4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78",
"organizationId@odata.type": "#Guid",
"organizationId": "05e36af1-0676-4216-aa3f-aa1ba787aaec",
"organizationName": "Test Org",
"inventoryGroupId@odata.type": "#Guid",
"inventoryGroupId": "88212fc1-7698-40b3-8642-edd4ff793fcd",
"inventoryNo": "152439785",
"inventoryGroupName": "Item Master",
"inventoryDescription": "Inventory Description",
"inventoryDescription2": "Inventory Description 2",
"stockUOM": "EA",
"arBillingCode": "225-749-325",
"hcpcsCode": null,
"notes": "Some notes",
"dateAdded@odata.type": "#DateTimeOffset",
"dateAdded": "2015-01-13T16:52:57.233-06:00",
"addedId@odata.type": "#Guid",
"addedId": "185393e0-9113-4343-8d70-921bd4bed453",
"addedByName": "employee@domain.com",
"lastUpdated@odata.type": "#DateTimeOffset",
"lastUpdated": "2017-11-16T18:10:39.723-06:00",
"lastUpdatedBy@odata.type": "#Guid",
"lastUpdatedBy": "74d636e2-2dc5-402e-a12e-2722f5286adc",
"lastUpdatedByName": "employee2@domain.com",
"activeStatus": true,
"unspsc": null,
"isLatex": false,
"classificationId@odata.type": "#Guid",
"classificationId": "b01be311-d138-4abd-a4b4-05740ce5cbcf",
"classificationName": "gloves",
"classification2Id@odata.type": "#Guid",
"classification2Id": "7f97e363-5e33-4448-93bd-b7decdf093ac",
"classification2Name": "classification2",
"defaultExpenseLedgerNo": "5243",
"defaultAssetLedgerNo": "85469",
"periopCategoryId@odata.type": "#Guid",
"periopCategoryId": "31c05c5e-6d2c-4763-bc40-e5078440b33e",
"periopCategory": "Equipment",
"itemType": null,
"billable": false,
"systemTypeId@odata.type": "#Byte",
"systemTypeId": 1,
"systemType": "Standard",
"poHistoryItems@odata.associationLink": "https://api-demo.envi.net/odata/Inventory(4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78)/poHistoryItems/$ref",
"poHistoryItems@odata.navigationLink": "https://api-demo.envi.net/odata/Inventory(4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78)/poHistoryItems",
"futurePricing@odata.associationLink": "https://api-demo.envi.net/odata/Inventory(4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78)/futurePricing/$ref",
"futurePricing@odata.navigationLink": "https://api-demo.envi.net/odata/Inventory(4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78)/futurePricing",
"inventoryLocations@odata.associationLink": "https://api-demo.envi.net/odata/Inventory(4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78)/inventoryLocations/$ref",
"inventoryLocations@odata.navigationLink": "https://api-demo.envi.net/odata/Inventory(4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78)/inventoryLocations",
"inventoryUOMs@odata.associationLink": "https://api-demo.envi.net/odata/Inventory(4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78)/inventoryUOMs/$ref",
"inventoryUOMs@odata.navigationLink": "https://api-demo.envi.net/odata/Inventory(4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78)/inventoryUOMs",
"inventoryVendors@odata.associationLink": "https://api-demo.envi.net/odata/Inventory(4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78)/inventoryVendors/$ref",
"inventoryVendors@odata.navigationLink": "https://api-demo.envi.net/odata/Inventory(4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78)/inventoryVendors",
"inventoryTrackings@odata.associationLink": "https://api-demo.envi.net/odata/Inventory(4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78)/inventoryTrackings/$ref",
"inventoryTrackings@odata.navigationLink": "https://api-demo.envi.net/odata/Inventory(4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78)/inventoryTrackings",
"#Default.ManagePurchasing": {
"title": "ManagePurchasing",
"target": "https://api-demo.envi.net.com/odata/Inventory(4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78)/Default.ManagePurchasing"
},
"#Default.inventoryTrackingValues": {
"title": "inventoryTrackingValues",
"target": "https://api-demo.envi.net/odata/Inventory(4311192f-c46f-4655-8d51-fc2f49aabf78)/Default.inventoryTrackingValues(facilityId=@facilityId,trackingType=@trackingType)"
}
}