Meta-info establishes functional and operational
constraints whereas meta-data describes data that is
used to fulfil those constraints. For example we may
have a meta-info object that describes a component type together
some specific context requirements. A corresponding
meta-data object would describe how those requirement are
fulfilled. Generally speaking, meta-info is referred to
as a descriptor whereas meta-data is referred to as a
directive. One describes a constraint - the other fulfils
the constraint.
The meta-model presented here addresses the meta-info
aspects - itself crucial to the overall objective of establishing
a common component criteria definition. Within Avalon there are
several contains each using a container specific meta-data models.
The objective of an Avalon Meta-Data framework is to enable a
common XML schema and supporting API to represent the deployment
information. A common meta-data model has not been established
at this time - however, the benefits are obvious. More
significantly a common meta-data model will enable intelligent
automation of many component management aspects in a container
independent fashion. For additional information please post
questions to the
Avalon dev
mailing list
.
