Metadata Files

Types of custom metadata files

Custom metadata files can be configured at 3 levels, as described in the following table. These levels are in the order of precedence. Note that the higher level takes precedence over the lower.

Exceptions to these rules are:

• C++ engine reads from same folders as C (that is, <tech> for C++ is “c”)
• Objective-C engine reads from both “objective C” and “c” folders

For details about metadata definition see: https://www.kiuwan.com/docs/display/K5/Custom+Neutralizations

Create a new metadata file

On clicking "New", the file location dialog appears as illustrated below.

Fig. 1. New file location and related details dialog

You can

• create custom metadata files in the appropriate location
• name the new file using the correct nomenclature for example,
  metadata_custom_<framework-name | library_name>.xml

Table. 1.      New file location and related details – actions

Note: If no content is added, the metadata file will not be saved. See also  Common options.

Add an element

Clicking "Add" in the edit dialog displays the add-element dialog as illustrated below.

Fig. 2.  Specify an Element for adding to the metadata file

Table. 2.      Adding an element

Note that a new element cannot be added without prerequisite mandatory attributes. In such situations an error alert is displayed. Make sure that the mandatory attributes are added before you can save the file with the new element.

Metadata items must be predefined in an .xsd file before you can add them to the xml metadata files. This includes

• mandatory elements, attributes, examples and any checks or validations that are necessary
• “source”, “propagate”, “neutralization”, “sink” and “retaint”

Correct metadata entry errors

The metadata editor helps you by providing schema definition rule-based help in case of errors in the meta data entry.

Fig. 3. Meta data entry Error 

Note that the error in the example is because the schema definition rule has been ignored during metadata entry.  In this example adding the item "Library" is invalid because it needs the mandatory attributes

• "Name"
•  "Technology"

Specify correct value to the mandatory attribute

Fig. 4. Correcting the error by specifying values to attributes

Note that the highlighted attributes (bold) are mandatory.

Continue to add elements to your metadata file in sync with the data definition rules and the definitions in the .xsd files and save the file.

Save the new file

Fig. 5. Save file

Fig. 6. Confirm Save – file

Other options in this dialog allow you to perform the actions described in the table below.

Table. 3.      Other options in the file dialog

Tree view and XML view of the new file

The new file is displayed by default in the tree view as illustrated below.

Fig. 7. Default Tree view of the file

You can click "Raw XML" to see the metadata added to the file as illustrated below.

Fig. 8. XML view of the data added to the file

Add another element

Clicking "Add" in the add and edit dialog displays the add-element dialog as illustrated in Fig. 5 and Table. 9. 

Table. 4.      Add element

Fig. 9. Elements available for adding to a metadata file.

Table. 5.      Selecting element for adding to the file

The tree view now appears as illustrated below.

Fig. 10.  Adding the selected element

Table. 6.      Adding an element

Copy element

Elements can also be copied from default/read-only files and pasted to custom metadata files.

Step1. Open the source file and copy as described in the table below.

Fig. 11.  Copying element

Table. 7.      Copy element

Step 2. Open the target file and paste as described below.

Fig. 12.  Paste into the target file

Fig. 13.  Target file (left) with the copied element

Edit a metadata file

 Custom metadata files can be edited by

• adding new items
• editing/correcting existing items  

Edited custom metadata files are saved in XML format in the selected location/path.

You can

• Filter files by language/framework, 
• Open default metadata files to view (read only) and other available metadata files to both view and edit them.

On clicking "Edit", in the "Customize Metadata tab" the dialog appears as illustrated below.

Fig. 14.  Specify file and related details for viewing/editing dialog

Table. 8.       Edit file and related details options

Metadata items predefined in an .xsd file for adding to metadata files include:

• mandatory elements, attributes, examples and any checks or validations that are necessary
• “source”, “propagate”, “neutralization”, “sink” and “retaint”

Edit the error in the file

Fig. 15.  Error in the metadata file

Errors in metadata added to files are flagged by the popup message as well as the alert icon.

Table. 9.      Alerts – data errors

Fig. 16.  Corrected data

Save the edited file.

You can continue to:

• Add elements - see "Add another element".
• Copy and paste elements - see "Copy element".

Other options in the "Edit File" dialog work in the same as in the "New File" dialog.
See "Other options in the file dialog".   See also  Common options.

 Manage collisions in metadata files

Working with multiple schema descriptor files where many of the types are common to the predefined XSD files, can lead to multiple namespace collisions. Such instances are displayed instantly while working with the metadata files.

Fig. 17.  Collisions in the Tree view of the metadata tokens in the file selected for edit.

Table. 10.  Metadata Collisions

Fig. 18.  Override indicated for the selected collision dialog

Table. 11.  Override indicated for the selected collision

Fig. 19.  View the over-writing details for the collision

Table. 12.  Overwriting details  

Search

This feature update facilitates search at multiple levels to locate specific data (strings), errors and overrides:

• In the Main menu
• In the search output dialog
• In the file view dialog

Fig. 20.    Search option – in the main dialog

Fig. 21.  Tree view of the files containing the search string

Table. 13.  Search options

Fig. 22.   Options to navigate the search output tree-view - up/down or left/right  

Table. 14.  Search options

If the search output contains only one occurrence of a specific data, that file is displayed in the search dialog and you can open that file directly for editing, as illustrated in the following page.

Fig. 23.   Single instance of a search data

Once elements are added to files, edited, and saved, click "Analyze" in the KLA main dialog  
see Fig. 1, to get the collisions and correct the attributes/values remove duplicates, get a list of code-vulnerabilities and debug as you find appropriate.