Rich Data Types for Custom Metadata

Beyond Simple Text Fields

Competing products offer dropdowns. Nodinite offers a complete metadata ecosystem.

Custom Metadata supports rich data types that capture complete business context:

• Select (Dropdown) - Gold/Silver/Bronze SLA, Owner names, Environments
• Multi-Select - Multiple compliance tags (GDPR + HIPAA + PCI)
• Links - URLs to documentation, runbooks, approval emails
• Tables - Version history, configuration matrices, test results
• Checkboxes - Boolean flags (Approved, Production-Ready, GDPR-Compliant)
• File Attachments - Diagrams, runbooks, certificates, Excel files
• Image - Photos, logos, and architecture visuals from the centralized Image Library
• Mermaid Diagrams - Live visual workflows and data flows
• Dynamic/Calculated - Runtime values from web services or formulas

Rich Data Types Overview

Diagram: Rich data types (green) enable diverse use cases (gold). From simple dropdowns to live web service data, Custom Metadata captures complete business context.

Select Fields (Single Value Dropdown)

Use Cases

SLA Level:

• Gold (4-hour response, 99.9% uptime)
• Silver (8-hour response, 99% uptime)
• Bronze (24-hour response, 98% uptime)

Benefits:

• Consistent SLA definitions across all integrations
• Automated alert routing based on SLA selection
• Portfolio analytics: "Show all Gold SLA integrations"

Owner:

• Henrik (Finance integrations)
• Sarah (HR integrations)
• Ahmed (Supply Chain integrations)
• Michael (IT infrastructure)

Benefits:

• Standardized owner names (no typos, no variations)
• Automatic alert routing to owner's email/phone
• Ownership reports: "Show all integrations owned by Henrik"

Environment:

• Production
• Test
• Development
• Sandbox

Benefits:

• Clear environment classification
• Conditional mandatory fields (Production requires approval)
• Filter production-only integrations for compliance audits

Multi-Select Fields (Multiple Values)

Compliance Tags

Values: GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, SOX, ISO 27001, CCPA

Example usage:

• Integration "Payment-Processing": [GDPR, PCI DSS]
• Integration "Healthcare-Claims": [HIPAA, GDPR]
• Integration "Employee-Directory": [GDPR, SOX]
• Integration "Financial-Reporting": [SOX, ISO 27001]

Benefits:

• Single integration can have multiple compliance requirements
• Filter queries: "Show all integrations with GDPR AND PCI DSS"
• Compliance breach: Filter by tag → notify legal team instantly

Technology Stack

Values: .NET, Java, Python, BizTalk, MuleSoft, Boomi, Azure Logic Apps, AWS Lambda

Example usage:

• Service "Order-API": [.NET, Azure Logic Apps]
• Service "Payment-Gateway": [Java, AWS Lambda]
• Service "Data-Transformer": [Python, Azure Functions]

Benefits:

• Technical debt analysis: "Show all integrations using deprecated technology"
• Skill-based routing: "Java errors go to Java team"
• Migration planning: "Identify all BizTalk integrations for cloud migration"

Support Channels

Values: Email, Slack, PagerDuty, ServiceNow, Phone, SMS

Example usage:

• Integration "Customer-Onboarding": [Email, Slack]
• Integration "Payment-Processing": [PagerDuty, Phone, SMS]
• Integration "Reporting-Job": [Email]

Benefits:

• Multi-channel alerting configured via metadata
• Critical integrations get PagerDuty + Phone + SMS
• Non-critical integrations get Email only

Links (URLs)

Runbook Links

Example:

• Field: "Runbook URL"
• Value: https://docs.company.com/runbooks/payment-failover.pdf

Where it appears:

• In alerts: "Emergency Procedure: [View Runbook]"
• In Web Client: Clickable link next to integration name
• In webhooks: JSON payload includes URL for automation

Benefits:

• Instant access to recovery procedures during incidents
• No hunting for documentation during 3 AM emergencies
• Runbook always current (one source of truth)

Architecture Diagrams

Example:

• Field: "Architecture Diagram"
• Value: https://docs.company.com/architecture/order-to-cash.png

Benefits:

• Visual understanding of system dependencies
• New team members onboard faster
• Troubleshooting with full context

Approval Emails

Example:

• Field: "Approval Email"
• Value: https://outlook.office365.com/mail/inbox/id/AAMkADY...

Benefits:

• Audit trail for deployments
• Compliance: "Show proof of approval for all Production integrations"
• Dispute resolution: "Who approved this deployment?"

Tables (Structured Data)

Version History

Benefits:

• Complete deployment history embedded in metadata
• Audit trail for compliance
• Rollback planning: "When was last stable version deployed?"

Test Results

Benefits:

• Quality assurance embedded in operational systems
• Compliance evidence: "Show me test results for all Production integrations"

Configuration Matrix

Benefits:

• Environment-specific configuration documented
• Troubleshooting: "Which database does Test use?"

Checkboxes (Boolean Flags)

Common Use Cases

Approved for Production:

• ☑ Yes (integration can deploy to Production)
• ☐ No (integration blocked from Production)

GDPR Compliant:

• ☑ Yes (integration reviewed and compliant)
• ☐ No (requires GDPR assessment)

24/7 Support Required:

• ☑ Yes (on-call team assigned)
• ☐ No (business hours support only)

Encryption Enabled:

• ☑ Yes (data encrypted in transit and at rest)
• ☐ No (encryption not required)

Benefits:

• Simple yes/no decisions with clear semantics
• Portfolio queries: "Show all integrations without 24/7 support"
• Compliance filters: "Show all GDPR integrations not yet compliant"

File Attachments

Architecture Diagram Uploads

Upload: PNG, PDF, Visio files

Benefits:

• Visual documentation embedded in operational system
• No external SharePoint/Confluence dependency
• Diagrams displayed in Web Client
• Linked in alerts: "Architecture: [View Diagram]"

Runbooks

Upload: PDF, Word, Excel files

Benefits:

• Emergency procedures always accessible
• Version controlled (upload new version, keep history)
• Included in alert emails (not embedded, linked to save bandwidth)

Certificates

Upload: PEM, CER, PFX files

Benefits:

• Security certificates documented with integration
• Expiration tracking: "Show integrations with certificates expiring in 30 days"

Test Data

Upload: Excel, CSV, JSON files

Benefits:

• Sample data sets for testing
• QA team has instant access to test scenarios

Image Fields (Library Reference)

The Image field type (introduced in Nodinite 7.5.0) references an image stored in the centralized Image Library rather than embedding a binary file copy per metadata value. The same image can be referenced by multiple entities without duplication, and updating the image in the library automatically updates every entity that references it.

How It Differs from File Attachments

Use Cases

System Logo

• Field: "System Logo"
• Value: Image from library (e.g., sap-logo)
• Displayed: Thumbnail on the System entity form and in Mapify node popups

Benefits:

• Every SAP system entity shows the official logo without uploading it repeatedly
• Logo update takes one re-upload to the Image Library — all system entities reflect it instantly

Architecture Diagram

• Field: "Architecture Diagram"
• Value: Image from library (e.g., order-to-cash-architecture)
• Displayed: Medium-size image on the Integration entity form

Benefits:

• Visual dependency map embedded directly on the Integration
• Screenshot updates propagate automatically to all referencing entities

Team Photo

• Field: "Team Photo"
• Value: Image from library (e.g., integration-team-2026)
• Displayed: Small thumbnail beside the owner metadata on entity forms

Configuring the Image Field

When defining an Image custom metadata field, you can set a default display size that applies wherever the field is rendered. The size can be overridden per insertion in articles but is fixed at the field-definition level for entity forms.

Rendered Output

In entity forms, the Image field renders as:

<img src="/api/ImageAssets/name/sap-logo/File"
     alt="SAP ERP logo"
     class="ndi-s"
     style="max-width: 256px; height: auto;">

The image is served from the Image Library using a stable, name-based URL that works identically across Test and Production environments.

Where Image Fields Appear

Custom Metadata Image fields render in every context where Custom Metadata is displayed:

• Repository entity forms (Integrations, Systems, Services, Endpoints, Message Types, and more)
• C4 Diagram inspector panel (right-hand properties panel when a node is selected)
• C4 Diagram node popups
• Mapify entity cards

Mermaid Diagrams (Live Visual Workflows)

Approval Chain Diagram

graph LR
    Dev[Developer] -->|Submits| TechLead[Tech Lead]
    TechLead -->|Approves| Architect[Architect]
    Architect -->|Approves| VP[VP Operations]
    VP -->|Deploys| Production[Production]

Benefits:

• Visual approval workflow embedded in metadata
• Business users understand governance process
• Updated dynamically when process changes

Data Flow Diagram

graph TD
    Customer[Customer Portal] -->|Order| API[Order API]
    API -->|Validate| PaymentGW[Payment Gateway]
    PaymentGW -->|Charge| Bank[Bank System]
    Bank -->|Confirm| Warehouse[Warehouse System]
    Warehouse -->|Ship| Customer

Benefits:

• Visual system dependencies
• Troubleshooting: "Where did the order fail?"
• New team members understand flow instantly

State Transitions

stateDiagram-v2
    [*] --> Development
    Development --> Testing
    Testing --> Approval
    Approval --> Production
    Production --> Maintenance
    Maintenance --> Production
    Production --> [*]

Benefits:

• Integration lifecycle visualization
• Governance: "What approvals required to reach Production?"

Dynamic/Calculated Fields

Web Service Calls

Example: Current Exchange Rate

• Field: "USD to EUR Exchange Rate"
• Source: Web service call to currency API
• Value: Live exchange rate (e.g., "0.92")
• Update: Every 15 minutes

Benefits:

• Real-time operational context
• No manual updates required
• Accurate business calculations

Database Queries

Example: Transaction Count Today

• Field: "Transactions Processed Today"
• Source: SQL query to operational database
• Value: Live count (e.g., "12,543")
• Update: Every 5 minutes

Benefits:

• Business metrics embedded in integration metadata
• Dashboard widgets without custom development

Formulas

Example: Days Until Compliance Audit

• Field: "Days Until Next Audit"
• Formula: Audit Date - Today
• Value: Calculated (e.g., "23 days")
• Update: Daily

Benefits:

• Proactive reminders without manual tracking
• Filter: "Show integrations with audit in <30 days"

Plugin-Based (Custom Logic)

Example: Owner On Vacation Status

• Field: "Owner Currently On Vacation"
• Source: Custom plugin checking calendar system
• Value: Boolean (Yes/No)
• Update: Hourly

Benefits:

• Alert routing: If owner on vacation → escalate to backup
• Operational intelligence without manual intervention

Configuration Guide

Step 1: Define Rich Data Type Fields

Navigate to Administration → Repository → Add or manage Custom Metadata

For Select field:

1. Click "Add Custom Metadata"
2. Name: "SLA Level"
3. Type: "Select"
4. Options: Gold, Silver, Bronze
5. Save

For Multi-Select field:

1. Name: "Compliance Tags"
2. Type: "Multi-Select"
3. Options: GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, SOX, ISO 27001
4. Save

For Link field:

1. Name: "Runbook URL"
2. Type: "Link"
3. Validation: Must be valid URL format
4. Save

For File Attachment field:

1. Name: "Architecture Diagram"
2. Type: "File Attachment"
3. Allowed types: PNG, PDF, Visio
4. Max size: 10MB
5. Save

For Image field:

1. Name: "System Logo"
2. Type: "Image"
3. Default size: s (256 px) — suitable for entity form thumbnails
4. Save
5. On each entity, click Choose from Image Library to select the image for that entity

Step 2: Assign Values to Integrations

Navigate to Repository → Add or manage Integration

Assign values:

• SLA Level: Gold (select from dropdown)
• Compliance Tags: GDPR, PCI DSS (check multiple boxes)
• Runbook URL: https://docs.company.com/runbooks/payment-failover.pdf
• Architecture Diagram: Upload file (payment-architecture.png)

Step 3: Use in Alerts and Filters

In alerts:

• Email includes: "SLA: Gold, Compliance: GDPR + PCI DSS"
• HTTP Webhook JSON includes: "slaLevel": "Gold", "complianceTags": ["GDPR", "PCI DSS"]

In filters:

• "Show all Gold SLA integrations"
• "Show all integrations with GDPR compliance"
• "Show all integrations without runbook URL"

Next Step

Add or manage Custom Metadata – Create rich data type fields

Add or manage Integration – Assign values to integrations

Alert Enrichment – See how rich data types appear in alerts

Image Library – Upload and manage images for use in Image fields and Articles

Related Topics

Foundation:

• Custom Metadata Overview - Hub page for all Custom Metadata features
• Entity Coverage - Where Custom Metadata applies

Use Cases:

• Alert Enrichment - Rich data types in email and webhook alerts
• Mandatory Fields - Make rich data type fields required
• Portfolio Filtering - Query by Select and Multi-Select values
• Image Library - Centralized image management for Image fields

Scenarios:

• Governance Enforcement - Use Select fields for approval workflow
• Compliance Automation - Use Multi-Select for compliance tags