OK, this then seems to be the category of meta-metadata that is not available    Since I will start in september on a project to move applications in Program Entries from mainframe to Windows, I will have ample opportunity to look at those catalogs! Although I still intend to see whether turning them into a web-based application using SCL-entries wouldn't be a more appealing option for the client.   Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this topic! ... View more

Hi Paul,   I wasn't exact enough in my question about the icons. Yes, for PublicTypes the icons are defined through the DefaultIcon attribute in the TypeDefinition object for that PublicType.   But 'model types' also have their own icons (in e.g. the Metabrowse window in a SAS Foundation session, and elsewhere).  I suppose (?) that these icons are also present in a jar-archive and I was more or less expecting to find those icons defined somewhere as well, but I cannot find that. That was what I was looking for. ... View more

Hi Paul,   Regarding creating new Public Types, that might be useful when one wants to store specific information in e.g. a TextStore or a TimeStamp object (e.g., last time accessed by my application). The objects containing that information then can be selected easily. I'd guess that where the PublicType is not taken into account, the SAS interfaces will show those objects like any other object of that model type. Where objects are shown on the basis of the PublicType they will be ignored, of course. (But this is just a sideline, out of curiosity. I don't have concrete plans in that direction.)   Regarding the icons, I can find them in that Jar repository. But there are lots of object types for which the DefaultIcon attribute is not set. The icon is there, but how do I know which icon to use? (Except by looking at the SAS interfaces, browsing through the icons, and creating a list by hand.)   Cheers,   Frank ... View more

Hi Paul, Thanks. And sorry for not reacting sooner.   I had looked at those links, but read them again and some things are a bit clearer now.  So, the descendants of the PrimaryType are the objects that can be instantiated independently. But not all of them are used in a PublicType definition. And if there is one, the metadata type is sometimes used without the PublicType attribute set (e.g., most Tree objects have the PublicType set to Folder, some to Folder.SecuredData, but I see also some without the PublicType attribute set).   And there are (at least) three places where metadata on the metadata can be found. You have meta-metadata in the form of metadata objects: the PublicType objects. But there is also meta-metadata that you can query but cannot be found as an object: the properties (attributes and associations) that can exist for an object. And there is meta-metadata in the documentation that cannot be retrieved programmatically, like the possible values of an attribute (e.g. SASColumnType for a Column object). That is, I do not know how to determine that through a query. And, although I do not know if that is ever been done, one could create ones own PublicTypes?    That triggers another question (a bit off-topic, but this is my own topic anyway ). For PublicTypes the DefaultIcon is defined. But in e.g. the Metabrowse screen of a SAS Foundation session, or in the Metacoda metadata explorer, also all other objects (primary and secondary) have their icons. Where are those icons defined? This in fact is, for now, a fourth category of meta-metadata: information I cannot find at all  .   ... View more

Thanks for the reaction. Yes, I know that I can create a tagset that changes this behaviour. But it seemed to me that this should not be needed. That was the background of my question.   And having an own tagset for this makes the whole governance of the application more complex. ... View more

@Patrick I think you are right that this is the closest I will get, for the more elaborate transformations.   For the User Generated Transformation you can find the Prototype in the metadata by selecting the one that, like step in your screenshot, has an assiocated Property with a Name attribute with the value Class, and the same value for the DefaultValue attribute. (There is no direct metadata association!)   But this keeps me wondering where in the metadata the Prototype (or whatever) object can be found that represents the original transformation. Because there is no Prototype object that has a Property associated with the DefaultValue in your screenshot.   But thanks for your efforts! ... View more

@Patrick Thanks for your reactions. But still this is not what I am looking for. The TransformRole attribute ususally points in the right direction, but: - the value is never the same as what you see as Node Type; - for some steps is does not add useful information. I do not think you can find it from the jobs and the steps, because it must be an attribute of the original transformation, not an attribute of the instance in the job (i.e., the step). And those two are not linked by a metadata association.   But for a part I now know the answer: for User Generated Transformations (including the ones SAS delivers with DI Studio, i.e. all transformations that have a  icon) it is the name of the Prototype object that represents that transformation. But the other transformations,(and those are the one mostly used) are not represented by a Prototype object, and I do not know where they reside in the metadata.   I haven't tried yet to find them by analyzing the .SPK files. But I think that will lead nowhere, because you cannot Extract them, so they are never in a package. ... View more

Sorry, but it is not that simple. What you see there is the name of the step in the job, i.e. name the instantation of a transformation. That can be set to whatever name the developers seems appropriate.   Under the Basic Properties you see that Name attribute as well, but you also get the Node Type. That remains the same and denotes the transformation used, whatever the name of the step is.   I would like to find that text.   ... View more