| Contents: | Main | Chapter | See Also: | Getting Started Manual | Programmer Manual | |||
The META DATA DICTIONARY (#.9) file is a summary of all the VA FileMan files in a VistA installation. It is provided to enable future development to quickly identify where information is stored within files and fields throughout the VistA system.
For an introduction to the option that builds and refreshes this file from the menus, see the Meta Data Dictionary section in the "List File Attributes" chapter. For the APIs that build and update the file directly, see the Meta Data Dictionary APIs section that follows.
The fields in the META DATA DICTIONARY (#.9) file are:
| Field Name and Number | Description |
| NAME (#.01) | The NAME field contains the dictionary name followed by the field name with the underscore ("_") connecting the two. If the field is a Multiple, the Multiple name is included. |
| LOOKUP TERM (#.02) | The LOOKUP TERM is the final field name. |
| DATA DICTIONARY NUMBER (#.03) | The internal entry number (IEN) for the dictionary represented. |
| FIELD NUMBER (#.04) | The internal entry number (IEN) for the field represented. |
| DATA (#.05) | An indicator that the field contains data. |
| OBJECT NAME (#.06) | A CamelCase representation of the NAME field. |
| LAST UPDATED (#.07) | The last date/time this field was edited. |
| DESCRIPTION (#1) | The field description. |
| BUILD(S) (#9.6) | All the builds where this field was included. |
| TYPE (#25) | The field Data Type. |
A sample entry for the NAME (#.01) field of the NEW PERSON file (#200):
NUMBER: 21336 NAME: NEW PERSON_NAME
LOOKUP TERM: NAME DATA DICTIONARY NUMBER: 200
FIELD NUMBER: .01 OBJECT NAME: newPerson.name
LAST UPDATED: DEC 30,2015@08:02:19
DESCRIPTION: Answer must be 3-35 upper-case characters in length, and be in the
format Family(Last),Given(First) Middle Suffix. Enter '??' for more help.
Enter only data that is actually part of the person's name. Do not include extra
titles, identification, flags, local information, etc. Enter the person's name in
'LAST,FIRST MIDDLE SUFFIX' format. This value must be 3-35 characters in length
and may contain only uppercase alpha characters, spaces, apostrophes, hyphens and
one comma. All other characters and parenthetical text will be removed.
BUILD(S) (c): XU*8.0*120
: XU*8.0*135
: XU*8.0*134
: XU*8.0*551 TYPE (c): FREE TEXT
Reviewed/Updated: June 2026