> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://bxorm.ortusbooks.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://bxorm.ortusbooks.com/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entitygetmetadata.md).

# EntityGetMetadata

The mapping metadata of an entity, as a struct

The mapping metadata of an entity, as a struct. Built once per entity and cached for the life of the ORM application; each call returns a copy you may change.

## Method Signature

```
EntityGetMetadata(entity=[Any])
```

### Arguments

| Argument | Type  | Required | Description                                                             | Default |
| -------- | ----- | -------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- |
| `entity` | `Any` | `true`   | An entity instance (loaded, new or a lazy reference) or an entity name. |         |

### Returned keys

| Key                              | Description                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| -------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `entityName`                     | The entity name.                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| `className`                      | The BoxLang class path.                                                                                                                                                                            |
| `datasource`                     | The datasource name.                                                                                                                                                                               |
| `tableName`, `schema`, `catalog` | Where the entity is stored.                                                                                                                                                                        |
| `parent`                         | The parent entity name for inheritance, or empty.                                                                                                                                                  |
| `readOnly`                       | True for an immutable entity.                                                                                                                                                                      |
| `discriminator`                  | `{ column, value }` for single-table inheritance.                                                                                                                                                  |
| `idProperties`                   | The id property names (more than one for a composite id).                                                                                                                                          |
| `idType`                         | The id ormtype, or `composite`.                                                                                                                                                                    |
| `version`                        | The version property name, or empty.                                                                                                                                                               |
| `properties`                     | One struct per column-backed property: `name`, `column` (empty for a formula), `ormtype`, `fieldtype`, `nullable`, `unique`, `length`, `precision`, `scale`, `formula`, `insertable`, `updatable`. |
| `associations`                   | One struct per association: `name`, `kind` (`many-to-one`, `one-to-many`, ...), `target` (entity name), `cascade`, `lazy`, `inverse`, `fkcolumn`, `mappedBy`, `linkTable`, `orderBy`.              |
| `propertyNames`                  | Every non-id property name.                                                                                                                                                                        |

## Examples

```java
meta = entityGetMetadata( "User" );
meta.tableName;                              // "users"
meta.idProperties;                           // [ "id" ]
meta.associations.map( a => a.name );        // [ "role", "orders" ]
meta.properties.filter( p => !p.nullable );  // required columns
```

## Related

* [EntityCriteria](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entitycriteria.md)
* [EntityDelete](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entitydelete.md)
* [EntityEvict](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entityevict.md)
* [EntityGetDatasource](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entitygetdatasource.md)
* [EntityGetDirtyProperties](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entitygetdirtyproperties.md)
* [EntityGetId](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entitygetid.md)
* [EntityGetName](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entitygetname.md)
* [EntityGetReference](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entitygetreference.md)
* [EntityIsAttached](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entityisattached.md)
* [EntityIsDirty](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entityisdirty.md)
* [EntityLoad](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entityload.md)
* [EntityLoadAsStruct](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entityloadasstruct.md)
* [EntityLoadByExample](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entityloadbyexample.md)
* [EntityLoadByPK](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entityloadbypk.md)
* [EntityLoadByPKOrFail](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entityloadbypkorfail.md)
* [EntityLoadOrFail](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entityloadorfail.md)
* [EntityLoadOrNew](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entityloadornew.md)
* [EntityLoadOrSave](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entityloadorsave.md)
* [EntityLoadReadOnly](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entityloadreadonly.md)
* [EntityLock](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entitylock.md)
* [EntityMerge](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entitymerge.md)
* [EntityNameArray](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entitynamearray.md)
* [EntityNameList](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entitynamelist.md)
* [EntityNew](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entitynew.md)
* [EntityReload](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entityreload.md)
* [EntitySave](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entitysave.md)
* [EntityToQuery](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entitytoquery.md)
* [EntityToStruct](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/entitytostruct.md)
* [ORMClearSession](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/ormclearsession.md)
* [ORMCloseAllSessions](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/ormcloseallsessions.md)
* [ORMCloseSession](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/ormclosesession.md)
* [ORMDiagnostics](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/ormdiagnostics.md)
* [ORMEvictCollection](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/ormevictcollection.md)
* [ORMEvictEntity](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/ormevictentity.md)
* [ORMEvictQueries](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/ormevictqueries.md)
* [ORMExecuteQuery](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/ormexecutequery.md)
* [ORMFlush](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/ormflush.md)
* [ORMFlushAll](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/ormflushall.md)
* [ORMGetHibernateVersion](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/ormgethibernateversion.md)
* [ORMGetSQLFunctions](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/ormgetsqlfunctions.md)
* [ORMGetSession](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/ormgetsession.md)
* [ORMGetSessionFactory](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/ormgetsessionfactory.md)
* [ORMGetSessionStatistics](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/ormgetsessionstatistics.md)
* [ORMIsSessionDirty](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/ormissessiondirty.md)
* [ORMReadOnly](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/ormreadonly.md)
* [ORMReload](/bxorm-2.x/reference/built-in-functions/ormreload.md)


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