GlobalItem Class
Represents the base item class for all the Entity Data Model (EDM) types and the entity containers.
Assembly: System.Data.Entity (in System.Data.Entity.dll)
For more information, see Metadata Type Hierarchy Overview.
The following code sample demonstrates how to get a metadata workspace from the connection and then use that metadata workspace to browse the metadata type hierarchy. Note that the metadata workspace is a runtime service component that provides support for retrieving metadata.
The code sample uses a CSpace and a SSpace to specify the model. The CSpace represents the default name for the conceptual model. The SSpace represents the default name for the storage model. The code sample uses the AdventureWorks model that is provided in the Adventure Works Model (EDM) topic. For an example of the application config file, see Adventure Works Object Model in Applications (EDM).
Imports System Imports System.Collections.ObjectModel Imports System.Data Imports System.Data.EntityClient Imports System.Data.Metadata.Edm Class BrowseTypes Public Shared Sub Main() Try ' Establish a connection to the underlying data provider by ' using the connection string specified in the config file. Using connection As EntityConnection = _ New EntityConnection("Name=AdventureWorksEntities") ' Open the conection. connection.Open() ' Access the metadata workspace. Dim workspace As MetadataWorkspace = _ connection.GetMetadataWorkspace ' Browse the metadata type hierarchy in the conceptual model. BrowseTypesExample(workspace, DataSpace.CSpace) ' Browse the metadata type hierarchy in the storage model. BrowseTypesExample(workspace, DataSpace.SSpace) End Using Catch exceptionMetadata As MetadataException Console.WriteLine("MetadataException: {0}", _ exceptionMetadata.Message) Catch exceptionMapping As MappingException Console.WriteLine("MappingException: {0}", _ exceptionMapping.Message) End Try End Sub Public Shared Sub BrowseTypesExample( _ ByVal workspace As MetadataWorkspace, _ ByVal model As DataSpace) ' Get a collection of the GlobalItems. ' An GlobalItem class is the base class for ' the entity data model types and entity containers. Dim items As ReadOnlyCollection(Of GlobalItem) = _ workspace.GetItems(Of GlobalItem)(model) ' Iterate through the collection to get each item. Dim item As GlobalItem For Each item In items Dim entityContainer As EntityContainer = _ TryCast(item, EntityContainer) If (Not entityContainer Is Nothing) Then Console.WriteLine("EntityContainer Name: {0}", _ entityContainer.Name) Continue For End If Dim entityType As EntityType = TryCast(item, EntityType) If (Not entityType Is Nothing) Then Console.WriteLine("EntityType Name: {0}, Namespace: {1}", _ entityType.Name, entityType.NamespaceName) Continue For End If Dim associationType As AssociationType = _ TryCast(item, AssociationType) If (Not associationType Is Nothing) Then Console.WriteLine("AssociationType Name: {0}, Namespace: {1}", _ associationType.Name, associationType.NamespaceName) Continue For End If Dim primType As PrimitiveType = TryCast(item, PrimitiveType) If (Not primType Is Nothing) Then Console.WriteLine("PrimitiveType Name: {0}, Namespace: {1}", _ primType.Name, primType.NamespaceName) Continue For End If Dim functionEdm As EdmFunction = TryCast(item, EdmFunction) If (Not functionEdm Is Nothing) Then Console.WriteLine("EdmFunction Name: {0}, Namespace: {1}", _ functionEdm.Name, functionEdm.NamespaceName) Continue For End If Next End Sub End Class
System.Data.Metadata.Edm.MetadataItem
System.Data.Metadata.Edm.GlobalItem
System.Data.Metadata.Edm.EdmType
System.Data.Metadata.Edm.EntityContainer
Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003
The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.