How to add new custom metadata and update the same in Custom_meta table in Tridion Broker

Question

I have a Component that has Metadata which gets Published to the Custom_meta table of the Broker database.

Now I want to add a linked Component to the Metadata and have its information Published to the Custom_Meta table of the Broker database.

Using SDL Tridion 2011 SP1, please suggest how can this be done.

Answer 1

Custom Metadata is any metadata defined in your schema that gets set at the Component or Page level.

If the component's schema has metadata fields, and you put data in there, and you publish it - you get Custom Metadata on the delivery database.

Your question seems to suggest that you want to put Component B's data into Component A's Metadata. Out of the box, this is not possible. There are some creative people out there that wrote deployer extensions and such to add metadata to a component when it is published, but these are usually custom extensions that may or may not be supported - and may or may not be compatible with what you're trying to do.

Answer 2

There are two possible approaches as I see it.

1. Ensure that the linked component is also published: then its metadata will be published anyway. You could do this by creating a custom resolver.
2. Add the metadata of the linked component when publishing the master component. To do this, you can use Tridion.ContentManager.Publishing.Rendering.AddMetadata in your template. Use the engine to get the other component, read its metadata and add it with AddMetadata.