The OpenMetadata Framework (OMF) is a collection of Java based libraries and tools Intended for software developers to facilitate the management of identifiable entities around data or metadata. The framework has been primarily designed for building solutions around the DDI and SMDX specifications but can be used for several other purposes. The OMF is organized in three projects:
- OMF Beans: for the representation and modeling of identifiable objects and their serialization/deserializing across different formats or versions
- OMF Store: for the persistence of objects and implementation of storage management systems
- OMF AppBuilder: for the implementation of desktop based applications for viewing, editing, and managing the bean based information
As the core OMF Java classes and methods are based on well defined interfaces, the components are highly isolated from each other’s implementation which provides flexibility and extensibility.
OMF is currently being used for the implementation of tools in the context of the following projects:
- CRDCN Metadata Project: ongoing efforts by the Canadian Research Data Center Network toward the establishment of a DDI driven environment for the documentation, management, access, and analysis of Statistics Canada microdata collection across the secure research data centers. This work si supported by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation.
- ICH DMP: a project lead by the Institute for Child Health in the UK aiming at the development of tools for the development, maintenance, and publication of data management plan aligned on the DMPOnline recommendations
- IMDB-DDI: an internal effort within Statistics to implement a DDI based web services around the IMDB database, the institutional reference metadata store
- OM Study Manager: a tool for the capture the capture of DDI metadata around survey datasets
The core components of OMF are open source and extends themselves in several other popular open source projects like Spring Framework, the Apache XMLBeans, the Eclipse Rich Client Platform.
While powerful and flexible, OMF is not particularly trivial to use or adopt. It requires a comprehensive understanding of the underlying technologies, standards and development techniques. While most of these will be familiar to skilled and experience developers, training and support services will become available shortly through Metadata Technology, who is also offering custom development services around the framework.
Access to OMF libraries and source code will become available of the second half of this year. While making OMF available to the community, our primary focus is on the deliver of products and solution to the agencies supporting its implementation.
Contact us for more information or availability.