Gets metadata (such as the methods, properties, and parameters of a component) associated with an object that is deployed on the ColdFusion server.

System Functions

createObject getComponentMetaData queryAddColumn queryNew

ColdFusion MX 7: Added support for getting query object metadata. ColdFusion MX: Added this function.

GetMetaData(object)

Structured metadata information: for ColdFusion components (CFCs) and user-defined functions (UDFs), a structure; for query objects, an array of structures.

This function provides information about application data, and lets applications dynamically determine the structure of an object and how to use it. This function is useful for CFCs and query objects. The metadata for a CFC includes information on the component and its functions, arguments, and properties. The getMetaData function also returns metadata for user-defined functions that are not part of CFCs. Use the GetComponentMetaData function to get information about ColdFusion interfaces, or about CFC definitions that you have not instantiated.
The following table lists the data returned by the function for supported object types:
Object
Field
Description
Component
A structure containing the following fields:

displayname
Value of the cfcomponent tag displayname attribute, if any.
extends
Metadata for the component’s ancestor component. Components that do not explicitly extend another component extend the WEB-INF.cftags.component.
fullname
The dot delimited path from the cf_webroot of the component.
functions
Array of metadata structures for the component’s functions.
hint
Value of the cfcomponent tag displayname attribute, if any.
implements
A structure containing the metadata of the interfaces that the component implements. The key of the structure is the interface name, and the value is a structure containing the interface metadata.
name
Component name, including the period-delimited path from a component search root such as the web root or a directory specified in the administrator Custom Tag Paths page.
output
Value of the cfcomponent tag output attribute, if any
path
Absolute path to the component.
properties
Array of structures containing metadata specified by the component’s cfproperty tags, if any.
type
Always, component.
userMetadata
User-specified attributes in the cfcomponent tag
Function
A structure containing the following fields.

access
Value of the cffunction tag access attribute, if any.
displayname
Value of the cffunction tag displayname attribute, if any.
hint
Value of the cffunction tag hint attribute, if any.
name
Function name.
output
Value of the cffunction tag output attribute, if any.
parameters
Array of structures containing metadata for the function parameters.
returnformat
The format in which to return values to a remote caller. This attribute has no effect on values returned to a local caller.
returntype
Value of the cffunction tag returntype attribute, if any.
roles
Value of the cffunction tag output attribute, if any.
userMetadata
User-specified attributes in the cffunction tag.
Parameter or Property
A structure containing the following fields:

default
Value of the cfargument or cfproperty tag default attribute, if any.
displayname
Value of the cfargument or cfproperty tag displayname attribute, if any.
hint
Value of the cfargument or cfproperty tag hint attribute, if any.
name
Function parameter or CFC property name.
required
Value of the cfargument or cfproperty tag required attribute, if any.
type
Value of the cfargument or cfproperty tag type attribute, if any.
userMetadata
User-specified attributes in the argument tag.
Query
An array of structures containing the following elements:

IsCaseSensitive
Boolean value indicating whether character data must be case correct.
Name
The column name.
TypeName
The SQL data type (Omitted if the query object is created with QueryNew without specifying types.)

Note: Use the This scope to access component metadata inside the CFC. The This scope is available at runtime in the component body and in the CFC methods. It is used to read and write variables that are present during the life of the component.
For more information, see Using introspection to get information about components in the Developing ColdFusion Applications.

The following example uses the cfdump tag to display metadata for the utilities CFC that is used by the ColdFusion component browser. It also displays the names and data types of the fields in the cfdocexamples database Employees table.

<!--- Create an instance of the Component Explorer utilities CFC.  
        and get its metadata ---> 
<cfscript> 
componentutils = createObject("component", "cfide.componentutils.utils"); 
utilmetadata = getMetaData(componentutils); 
</cfscript> 
 
<h4>Metadata for the CFC component utilities</h4> 
<cfdump var="#utilmetadata#"> 
 
<!--- use GetMetadata to get the names and data types of the fields in the  
            cfdocexamples Employees table ---> 
<cfquery name="getemployees" datasource="cfdocexamples"> 
SELECT * 
FROM Employees 
</cfquery> 
<cfset employeemeta=getMetaData(getemployees)> 
 
<h4>The Employees table has the following columns</h4> 
<cfloop index="i" from="1" to="#arrayLen(employeemeta)#"> 
    <cfoutput> 
        #employeemeta[i].name# #employeemeta[i].TypeName# #employeemeta[i].isCaseSensitive#<br> 
    </cfoutput> 
</cfloop>