System.Shell.Item.metadata Method

Article
03/12/2010

Retrieves the metadata value for a canonical property name key of the System.Shell.Item.

Syntax

oDetails = System.Shell.Item.metadata(
  sMetadata
)

Parameters

sMetadata [in]
BSTR Sets String that specifies the metadata key.
oDetails [out]
Object Sets The metadata value.

Return Value

HRESULT

If the method succeeds, it returns S_OK. Otherwise, it returns an HRESULT error code.

Remarks

Metadata keys can be obtained from the Details tab of the Properties dialog for an item.

Note The following are examples of metadata that can be retrieved for particular file types. Graphics: Width, Height, Resolution, Bit depth, etc. Video: Bit rate, Frame rate, Sample size, etc. Audio/Music: Artist, Album, Year, Track, Genre, Lyrics, Duration, etc. Documents: Author, Title, Subject, Owner, etc.

Examples

The following example demonstrates how to retrieve the "Owner" of an object dropped on a gadget.

// --------------------------------------------------------------------
// Display the names of objects dropped on the gadget.
// --------------------------------------------------------------------
function GetItemFromDrop()
{    
    spFeedback.innerHTML = "Item(s) dropped.<br/>";
    var intIndex = 0;
    var oItem;
    var sItem;
    while(oItem = System.Shell.itemFromFileDrop(event.dataTransfer, intIndex))
    {
        // Display object properties and increment the index.
        sItem = "Other: ";
        if (oItem.isFileSystem == true)
        {
            sItem = "File: ";
        }
        if (oItem.isFolder == true)
        {
            sItem = "Folder: ";
        }
        if (oItem.isLink == true)
        {
            oLinkItem = oItem.link;
            sItem = "Link (" + oLinkItem.path + "): ";
        }
        spFeedback.innerHTML += sItem;
        spFeedback.innerHTML += oItem.name + "<br/>"; 
        spFeedback.innerHTML += "metadata: " + oItem.metadata("Owner") + "<br/>";
        
        intIndex++;
    }
}

Requirements

Minimum supported client	Windows Vista
Minimum supported server	Windows Server 2008
DLL	Sidebar.Exe version 1.00 or later