Where does Tridion store Metadata values?

Question

When we define custom metadata for the components, it is my understanding that this user-given metadata is stored in SQL server. And it is not visible in the component xml. Can anyone explain how exactly a metadata linked to a component will actually get stored?

Answer 1

A Component definition in Tridion has two types of fields: Content fields and Metadata fields. Both field types are stored in the Content Manager database (either SQL Server or Oracle). And both field types are retrieved whenever you read the Component back from Tridion through any of its APIs (TOM, TOM.NET or Core Service).

Only the Content fields are shown in the Source tab of a Component edit window, but the Metadata fields are visible on the Metadata tab of that same window.

If you want to have a single view of the XML of both Metadata and Content fields (as well as many other properties of you Component in Tridion), consider installing the PowerTools or the Item XML extension.

Answer 2

I think you may be confusing things a bit.

The Metadata is always stored as part of the component - under tcm:Metadata. When you publish this component, then the metadata fields will also be available for querying on the Content Delivery Data Store.

Whether these fields get displayed as part of the component presentation depends on your templates. There's nothing stopping you from including these values in the output of your template (typical use case for SEO, for instance).

In summary:

• In the CM, the Metadata is stored together with the Component
• In the CD, the Metadata is stored as part of the "CUSTOM_META" associated with this component.