IBM-delivered data handlers are meta-data-driven. Meta-data is data about the business object that is stored in business object definitions. Meta-data in a business object definition provides information describing the data in an instance of the business object. In general, business object meta-data includes the structure of the business object, the settings of its attribute properties, and the content of its application-specific information. It also provides instructions on how to process the data.
Connectors are typically designed to use business object meta-data when processing business objects. Similarly, data handlers are designed to use business object meta-data. For example:
A meta-data-driven data handler handles each business object that it supports based on meta-data encoded in the business object definition rather than on information hard-coded in the data handler. Therefore, a data handler can handle new or modified business objects without requiring modifications to the data handler code.