```
@UML(identifier="MD_Metadata",
     specification=ISO_19115)
public interface Metadata
```
Root entity which defines metadata about a resource or resources.
Conditional properties:
Following properties have default methods but shall nevertheless be implemented if the corresponding condition is met:
- Locale and character set: mandatory if not defined by encoding and UTF-8 not used.
- Parent metadata: mandatory if there is an upper object.
Since:

2.0

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method	Description
`default Collection<? extends AcquisitionInformation>`	`getAcquisitionInformation()`	Information about the acquisition of the data.
`default Collection<? extends Citation>`	`getAlternativeMetadataReferences()`	Reference(s) to alternative metadata or metadata in a non-ISO standard for the same resource.
`default Collection<? extends ApplicationSchemaInformation>`	`getApplicationSchemaInfo()`	Information about the conceptual schema of a dataset.
`default CharacterSet`	`getCharacterSet()`	Deprecated. As of GeoAPI 3.1, replaced by `getLocalesAndCharsets().values()`.
`Collection<? extends ResponsibleParty>`	`getContacts()`	Parties responsible for the metadata information.
`default Collection<? extends ContentInformation>`	`getContentInfo()`	Information about the feature and coverage characteristics.
`default Collection<? extends DataQuality>`	`getDataQualityInfo()`	Overall assessment of quality of a resource(s).
`default String`	`getDataSetUri()`	Deprecated. As of ISO 19115:2014, replaced by `getIdentificationInfo()` followed by `Identification.getCitation()` followed by `Citation.getOnlineResources()` followed by `OnlineResource.getLinkage()`.
`Collection<? extends CitationDate>`	`getDateInfo()`	Date(s) associated with the metadata.
`default Date`	`getDateStamp()`	Deprecated. As of ISO 19115:2014, replaced by `getDateInfo()`.
`default Distribution`	`getDistributionInfo()`	Information about the distributor of and options for obtaining the resource(s).
`default String`	`getFileIdentifier()`	Deprecated. As of ISO 19115:2014, replaced by `getMetadataIdentifier()` in order to include the codespace attribute.
`default Collection<String>`	`getHierarchyLevelNames()`	Deprecated. As of ISO 19115:2014, replaced by `getMetadataScopes()` followed by `MetadataScope.getName()`.
`default Collection<ScopeCode>`	`getHierarchyLevels()`	Deprecated. As of ISO 19115:2014, replaced by `getMetadataScopes()` followed by `MetadataScope.getResourceScope()`.
`Collection<? extends Identification>`	`getIdentificationInfo()`	Basic information about the resource(s) to which the metadata applies.
`default Locale`	`getLanguage()`	Deprecated. As of GeoAPI 3.1, replaced by `getLocalesAndCharsets()`.
`default Collection<Locale>`	`getLocales()`	Deprecated. As of GeoAPI 3.1, replaced by `getLocalesAndCharsets()`.
`default Map<Locale,Charset>`	`getLocalesAndCharsets()`	Language(s) and character set(s) used for documenting metadata.
`default Collection<? extends Constraints>`	`getMetadataConstraints()`	Restrictions on the access and use of metadata.
`default Collection<? extends MetadataExtensionInformation>`	`getMetadataExtensionInfo()`	Information describing metadata extensions.
`default Identifier`	`getMetadataIdentifier()`	Unique identifier for this metadata record.
`default Collection<? extends OnlineResource>`	`getMetadataLinkages()`	Online location(s) where the metadata is available.
`default MaintenanceInformation`	`getMetadataMaintenance()`	Information about the frequency of metadata updates, and the scope of those updates.
`default Collection<? extends Citation>`	`getMetadataProfiles()`	Citation(s) for the profile(s) of the metadata standard to which the metadata conform.
`Collection<? extends MetadataScope>`	`getMetadataScopes()`	The scope or type of resource for which metadata is provided.
`default String`	`getMetadataStandardName()`	Deprecated. As of ISO 19115:2014, replaced by `getMetadataStandards()` followed by `Citation.getTitle()`.
`default Collection<? extends Citation>`	`getMetadataStandards()`	Citation(s) for the standard(s) to which the metadata conform.
`default String`	`getMetadataStandardVersion()`	Deprecated. As of ISO 19115:2014, replaced by `getMetadataStandards()` followed by `Citation.getEdition()`.
`default String`	`getParentIdentifier()`	Deprecated. As of ISO 19115:2014, replaced by `getParentMetadata()`.
`default Citation`	`getParentMetadata()`	Identification of the parent metadata record.
`default Collection<? extends PortrayalCatalogueReference>`	`getPortrayalCatalogueInfo()`	Information about the catalogue of rules defined for the portrayal of a resource(s).
`default Collection<? extends ReferenceSystem>`	`getReferenceSystemInfo()`	Description of the spatial and temporal reference systems used in the dataset.
`default Collection<? extends Lineage>`	`getResourceLineages()`	Information about the provenance, sources and/or the production processes applied to the resource.
`default Collection<? extends SpatialRepresentation>`	`getSpatialRepresentationInfo()`	Digital representation of spatial information in the dataset.

- Method Detail
  - getMetadataIdentifier
```
@Profile(level=CORE)
@UML(identifier="metadataIdentifier",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115)
default Identifier getMetadataIdentifier()
```
    Unique identifier for this metadata record.
    Note: OGC 07-045 (Catalog Service Specification — ISO metadata application profile) recommends usage of a UUID (Universal Unique Identifier) as specified by IETF to ensure identifier’s uniqueness.
    
    Returns:
    
    unique identifier for this metadata record, or null.
  - getFileIdentifier
```
@Deprecated
@UML(identifier="fileIdentifier",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115,
     version=2003)
default String getFileIdentifier()
```
    Deprecated.
    As of ISO 19115:2014, replaced by getMetadataIdentifier() in order to include the codespace attribute.
    
    Unique identifier for this metadata file, or null if none.
    Note: OGC 07-045 (Catalog Service Specification — ISO metadata application profile) recommends usage of a UUID (Universal Unique Identifier) as specified by IETF to ensure identifier’s uniqueness.
    
    Returns:
    
    unique identifier for this metadata file, or null in none.
  - getLocalesAndCharsets
```
@Profile(level=CORE)
@UML(identifier="defaultLocale+otherLocale",
     obligation=CONDITIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115)
default Map<Locale,Charset> getLocalesAndCharsets()
```
    Language(s) and character set(s) used for documenting metadata. The first entry in iteration order shall be the default language and its character set. All other entries, if any, are alternate language(s) and character set(s) used within the resource.
    Relationship with ISO 19115
    Each (Locale, Charset) entry is equivalent to an instance of ISO PT_Locale class. The language code and the character set are mandatory elements in ISO 19115 standard; consequently this map should not contain null key or null values, but implementations are encouraged to be tolerant for historical reasons (languages and character sets were defined as separated attributes in legacy ISO 19115:2003 standard). The same character set may be associated to many languages. ISO 19115-1:2014 identifies those character sets by references to the IANA Character Set register, which is represented in Java by Charset. Instances can be obtained by a call to Charset.forName(String).
    Examples: UCS-2, UCS-4, UTF-7, UTF-8, UTF-16, ISO-8859-1 (a.k.a. ISO-LATIN-1), ISO-8859-2, ISO-8859-3, ISO-8859-4, ISO-8859-5, ISO-8859-6, ISO-8859-7, ISO-8859-8, ISO-8859-9, ISO-8859-10, ISO-8859-11, ISO-8859-12, ISO-8859-13, ISO-8859-14, ISO-8859-15, ISO-8859-16, JIS_X0201, Shift_JIS, EUC-JP, US-ASCII, EBCDIC, EUC-KR, Big5, GB2312.
    
    XML representation
    XML documents shall format languages using the ISO 639-2 language code as returned by Locale.getISO3Language().
    
    Returns:
    
    language(s) and character set(s) used for documenting metadata.
    
    Since:
    
    3.1
    
    See Also:
    
    DataIdentification.getLocalesAndCharsets(), FeatureCatalogueDescription.getLocalesAndCharsets()
    
    Departure from OGC/ISO specification:
    GeoAPI replaces ISO 19115-1:2014 LanguageCode, CountryCode and MD_CharacterSetCode code lists by equivalent objects from the standard Java library. The PT_Locale class, which is a container for above code-lists, is replaced by Map entries in order to avoid to introduce a new class and because the character set information is not as relevant in Java than in XML documents. For example the character encoding information is irrelevant to InternationalString because the Java language fixes the encoding of all String instances to UTF-16.
    In addition ISO 19115:2014 defines defaultLocale and otherLocale(s) as separated attributes, but GeoAPI groups them in a single collection for compatibility with standard Java methods like Locale.lookup(…, Collection<Locale>)Locale#lookup(List, Collection). This API design makes easy to provide the collection of Locale objects with getLocalesAndCharsets().keySet()Map#keySet().
    
    Condition:
    
    Mandatory if not defined by encoding and UTF-8 not used.
  - getLanguage
```
@Deprecated
@UML(identifier="language",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115,
     version=2003)
default Locale getLanguage()
```
    Deprecated.
    As of GeoAPI 3.1, replaced by getLocalesAndCharsets().
    
    Language used for documenting metadata.
    
    Returns:
    
    language used for documenting metadata, or null.
  - getLocales
```
@Deprecated
@UML(identifier="locale",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115,
     version=2003)
default Collection<Locale> getLocales()
```
    Deprecated.
    As of GeoAPI 3.1, replaced by getLocalesAndCharsets().
    
    Provides information about an alternatively used localized character string for a linguistic extension.
    
    Returns:
    
    alternatively used localized character string for a linguistic extension.
  - getCharacterSet
```
@Deprecated
@UML(identifier="characterSet",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115,
     version=2003)
default CharacterSet getCharacterSet()
```
    Deprecated.
    As of GeoAPI 3.1, replaced by getLocalesAndCharsets().values().
    
    The character coding standard used for the metadata set.
    
    Returns:
    
    character coding standard used for the metadata, or null.
  - getParentMetadata
```
@UML(identifier="parentMetadata",
     obligation=CONDITIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115)
default Citation getParentMetadata()
```
    Identification of the parent metadata record. This is non-null if this metadata is a subset (child) of another metadata that is described elsewhere.
    
    Returns:
    
    identification of the parent metadata record, or null if none.
    
    Since:
    
    3.1
    
    Condition:
    
    Mandatory if there is an upper object.
  - getParentIdentifier
```
@Deprecated
@UML(identifier="parentIdentifier",
     obligation=CONDITIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115,
     version=2003)
default String getParentIdentifier()
```
    Deprecated.
    As of ISO 19115:2014, replaced by getParentMetadata().
    
    File identifier of the metadata to which this metadata is a subset (child).
    Note: OGC 07-045 (Catalog Service Specification — ISO metadata application profile) recommends usage of a UUID (Universal Unique Identifier) as specified by IETF to ensure identifier’s uniqueness.
    
    Returns:
    
    identifier of the metadata to which this metadata is a subset, or null.
    
    Condition:
    
    Hierarchy level is not equal to ScopeCode.DATASET.
  - getMetadataScopes
```
@UML(identifier="metadataScope",
     obligation=CONDITIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115)
Collection<? extends MetadataScope> getMetadataScopes()
```
    The scope or type of resource for which metadata is provided.
    
    Returns:
    
    scope or type of resource for which metadata is provided.
    
    Since:
    
    3.1
    
    Condition:
    
    Mandatory if the metadata is about a resource other than a dataset.
  - getHierarchyLevels
```
@Deprecated
@UML(identifier="hierarchyLevel",
     obligation=CONDITIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115,
     version=2003)
default Collection<ScopeCode> getHierarchyLevels()
```
    Deprecated.
    As of ISO 19115:2014, replaced by getMetadataScopes() followed by MetadataScope.getResourceScope().
    
    Scope to which the metadata applies. Metadata for which no hierarchy is listed are interpreted to be "dataset" metadata by default.
    
    Returns:
    
    scope to which the metadata applies.
    
    Condition:
    
    Mandatory if the metadata is about a resource other than a dataset.
  - getHierarchyLevelNames
```
@Deprecated
@UML(identifier="hierarchyLevelName",
     obligation=CONDITIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115,
     version=2003)
default Collection<String> getHierarchyLevelNames()
```
    Deprecated.
    As of ISO 19115:2014, replaced by getMetadataScopes() followed by MetadataScope.getName().
    
    Name of the hierarchy levels for which the metadata is provided.
    
    Returns:
    
    hierarchy levels for which the metadata is provided.
    
    Condition:
    
    Hierarchy level is not equal to ScopeCode.DATASET.
  - getContacts
```
@Profile(level=CORE)
@UML(identifier="contact",
     obligation=MANDATORY,
     specification=ISO_19115,
     version=2003)
Collection<? extends ResponsibleParty> getContacts()
```
    Parties responsible for the metadata information.
    Upcoming API change — generalization
    As of ISO 19115:2014, ResponsibleParty is replaced by the Responsibility parent interface. This change may be applied in GeoAPI 4.0.
    
    Returns:
    
    parties responsible for the metadata information.
    
    See Also:
    
    Identification.getPointOfContacts()
  - getDateInfo
```
@Profile(level=CORE)
@UML(identifier="dateInfo",
     obligation=MANDATORY,
     specification=ISO_19115)
Collection<? extends CitationDate> getDateInfo()
```
    Date(s) associated with the metadata. The collection shall contains at least an element for DateType.CREATION.
    
    Returns:
    
    date(s) associated with the metadata.
    
    Since:
    
    3.1
    
    See Also:
    
    Citation.getDates()
  - getDateStamp
```
@Deprecated
@UML(identifier="dateStamp",
     obligation=MANDATORY,
     specification=ISO_19115,
     version=2003)
default Date getDateStamp()
```
    Deprecated.
    As of ISO 19115:2014, replaced by getDateInfo().
    
    Date that the metadata was created.
    
    Returns:
    
    date that the metadata was created.
  - getMetadataStandardName
```
@Deprecated
@UML(identifier="metadataStandardName",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115,
     version=2003)
default String getMetadataStandardName()
```
    Deprecated.
    As of ISO 19115:2014, replaced by getMetadataStandards() followed by Citation.getTitle().
    
    Name of the metadata standard (including profile name) used.
    
    Returns:
    
    name of the metadata standard used, or null.
  - getMetadataStandardVersion
```
@Deprecated
@Profile(level=CORE)
@UML(identifier="metadataStandardVersion",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115,
     version=2003)
default String getMetadataStandardVersion()
```
    Deprecated.
    As of ISO 19115:2014, replaced by getMetadataStandards() followed by Citation.getEdition().
    
    Version (profile) of the metadata standard used.
    
    Returns:
    
    version of the metadata standard used, or null.
  - getMetadataStandards
```
@Profile(level=CORE)
@UML(identifier="metadataStandard",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115)
default Collection<? extends Citation> getMetadataStandards()
```
    Citation(s) for the standard(s) to which the metadata conform. Metadata standard citations should include an identifier.
    
    Returns:
    
    the standard(s) to which the metadata conform.
    
    Since:
    
    3.1
    
    See Also:
    
    getMetadataProfiles()
  - getMetadataProfiles
```
@UML(identifier="metadataProfile",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115)
default Collection<? extends Citation> getMetadataProfiles()
```
    Citation(s) for the profile(s) of the metadata standard to which the metadata conform. Metadata profile standard citations should include an identifier.
    
    Returns:
    
    the profile(s) to which the metadata conform.
    
    Since:
    
    3.1
    
    See Also:
    
    getMetadataStandards(), getMetadataExtensionInfo()
  - getAlternativeMetadataReferences
```
@UML(identifier="alternativeMetadataReference",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115)
default Collection<? extends Citation> getAlternativeMetadataReferences()
```
    Reference(s) to alternative metadata or metadata in a non-ISO standard for the same resource.
    
    Returns:
    
    reference(s) to alternative metadata (e.g. Dublin core, FGDC).
    
    Since:
    
    3.1
  - getMetadataLinkages
```
@UML(identifier="metadataLinkage",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115)
default Collection<? extends OnlineResource> getMetadataLinkages()
```
    Online location(s) where the metadata is available.
    
    Returns:
    
    online location(s) where the metadata is available.
    
    Since:
    
    3.1
  - getDataSetUri
```
@Deprecated
@UML(identifier="dataSetURI",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115,
     version=2003)
default String getDataSetUri()
```
    Deprecated.
    As of ISO 19115:2014, replaced by getIdentificationInfo() followed by Identification.getCitation() followed by Citation.getOnlineResources() followed by OnlineResource.getLinkage().
    
    Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) of the dataset to which the metadata applies.
    
    Returns:
    
    Uniform Resource Identifier of the dataset, or null.
  - getSpatialRepresentationInfo
```
@UML(identifier="spatialRepresentationInfo",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115)
default Collection<? extends SpatialRepresentation> getSpatialRepresentationInfo()
```
    Digital representation of spatial information in the dataset.
    
    Returns:
    
    digital representation of spatial information in the dataset.
  - getReferenceSystemInfo
```
@Profile(level=CORE)
@UML(identifier="referenceSystemInfo",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115)
default Collection<? extends ReferenceSystem> getReferenceSystemInfo()
```
    Description of the spatial and temporal reference systems used in the dataset.
    
    Returns:
    
    spatial and temporal reference systems used in the dataset.
  - getMetadataExtensionInfo
```
@UML(identifier="metadataExtensionInfo",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115)
default Collection<? extends MetadataExtensionInformation> getMetadataExtensionInfo()
```
    Information describing metadata extensions.
    
    Returns:
    
    metadata extensions.
    
    See Also:
    
    getMetadataProfiles()
  - getIdentificationInfo
```
@Profile(level=CORE)
@UML(identifier="identificationInfo",
     obligation=MANDATORY,
     specification=ISO_19115)
Collection<? extends Identification> getIdentificationInfo()
```
    Basic information about the resource(s) to which the metadata applies.
    
    Returns:
    
    the resource(s) to which the metadata applies.
  - getContentInfo
```
@UML(identifier="contentInfo",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115)
default Collection<? extends ContentInformation> getContentInfo()
```
    Information about the feature and coverage characteristics.
    
    Returns:
    
    information about the feature and coverage characteristics.
  - getDistributionInfo
```
@Profile(level=CORE)
@UML(identifier="distributionInfo",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115,
     version=2003)
default Distribution getDistributionInfo()
```
    Information about the distributor of and options for obtaining the resource(s).
    Upcoming API change — multiplicity
    As of ISO 19115:2014, this singleton has been replaced by a collection. This change may be applied in GeoAPI 4.0.
    
    Returns:
    
    the distributor of and options for obtaining the resource(s), or null.
  - getDataQualityInfo
```
@Profile(level=CORE)
@UML(identifier="dataQualityInfo",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115)
default Collection<? extends DataQuality> getDataQualityInfo()
```
    Overall assessment of quality of a resource(s).
    
    Returns:
    
    overall assessment of quality of a resource(s).
  - getPortrayalCatalogueInfo
```
@UML(identifier="portrayalCatalogueInfo",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115)
default Collection<? extends PortrayalCatalogueReference> getPortrayalCatalogueInfo()
```
    Information about the catalogue of rules defined for the portrayal of a resource(s).
    
    Returns:
    
    the catalogue of rules defined for the portrayal of a resource(s).
  - getMetadataConstraints
```
@UML(identifier="metadataConstraints",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115)
default Collection<? extends Constraints> getMetadataConstraints()
```
    Restrictions on the access and use of metadata.
    
    Returns:
    
    restrictions on the access and use of metadata.
    
    See Also:
    
    Identification.getResourceConstraints()
  - getApplicationSchemaInfo
```
@UML(identifier="applicationSchemaInfo",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115)
default Collection<? extends ApplicationSchemaInformation> getApplicationSchemaInfo()
```
    Information about the conceptual schema of a dataset.
    
    Returns:
    
    the conceptual schema of a dataset.
  - getAcquisitionInformation
```
@UML(identifier="acquisitionInformation",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115_2)
default Collection<? extends AcquisitionInformation> getAcquisitionInformation()
```
    Information about the acquisition of the data.
    
    Returns:
    
    the acquisition of data.
  - getMetadataMaintenance
```
@UML(identifier="metadataMaintenance",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115)
default MaintenanceInformation getMetadataMaintenance()
```
    Information about the frequency of metadata updates, and the scope of those updates.
    
    Returns:
    
    the frequency of metadata updates and their scope, or null.
    
    See Also:
    
    Identification.getResourceMaintenances()
  - getResourceLineages
```
@UML(identifier="resourceLineage",
     obligation=OPTIONAL,
     specification=ISO_19115)
default Collection<? extends Lineage> getResourceLineages()
```
    Information about the provenance, sources and/or the production processes applied to the resource.
    
    Returns:
    
    the provenance, sources and/or the production processes.
    
    Since:
    
    3.1

Interface Metadata

Method Summary

Method Detail

getMetadataIdentifier

getFileIdentifier

getLocalesAndCharsets

Relationship with ISO 19115

XML representation

getLanguage

getLocales

getCharacterSet

getParentMetadata

getParentIdentifier

getMetadataScopes

getHierarchyLevels

getHierarchyLevelNames

getContacts

getDateInfo

getDateStamp

getMetadataStandardName

getMetadataStandardVersion

getMetadataStandards

getMetadataProfiles

getAlternativeMetadataReferences

getMetadataLinkages

getDataSetUri

getSpatialRepresentationInfo

getReferenceSystemInfo

getMetadataExtensionInfo

getIdentificationInfo

getContentInfo

getDistributionInfo

getDataQualityInfo

getPortrayalCatalogueInfo

getMetadataConstraints

getApplicationSchemaInfo

getAcquisitionInformation

getMetadataMaintenance

getResourceLineages