Defining metadata

The adapter for Lotus Domino is metadata-driven. In the WebSphere business integration system, metadata is defined as application-specific information exported by Lotus Domino that describes its data structures. The metadata is used to construct business object definitions which the connector uses at run time to build business objects.

A metadata-driven adapter handles each business object that it supports according to the metadata encoded in the business object definition. This enables the adapter to handle new or modified business object definitions without requiring modifications to the code.

Application-specific metadata includes the structure of the business object and the settings of its attribute properties. Actual data values for each business object are conveyed in message objects at run time.

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