What is feature-level metadata?

Feature-level metadata is attributes on a feature and is used to store metadata about the feature. Feature-level metadata can include information such as the following:

• Source material used to collect the feature
• Date last modified and by whom
• Horizontal and vertical accuracy of the feature
• The security clearance level of the feature

Feature-level metadata is configured using Field Configuration Manager, which allows you to choose what fields contain metadata attributes. You can also specify whether the fields will be automatically populated with the date and time when a feature is edited or the user name of the person who performed the edit. You might determine that certain attributes should only be populated when a feature is created or when it is modified. For example, a field that stores information about how the feature was created should not be changed when a feature is modified. When you configure feature-level metadata, you can also specify if the field is populated when features are created, modified, or both.

The definition of which fields are feature-level metadata fields is stored in your product library, which means the configuration can be set once and all users with the same schema can point to the product library.