This documentation describes concepts and techniques necessary for a technical professional to get started with the MetaEd IDE.

Creating your First Extension

The MetaEd IDE makes it easy for implementers to create their own Ed-Fi Extensions. The basic steps to do that are fairly simple, and so are a great place to get started with the IDE. The steps can be summarized as follows:

Detail on each step follows.

Step 1. Create New Extension Project

Step 1a. Create New Extension Project

In the MetaEd menu, click Create New Extension Project.

Step 1b. Create a Folder for the Extension Project

Navigate to the root project folder and click New folder.

Create a folder for the extension project, select the new folder, and click Select Folder.

Step 1c. Extension Project Created

The new extension project appears in the tree view below the core model.

 Note that a package.json project file (shown below) is automatically created for you when you create a new project. This file allows you to provide a custom Project Name for your project, as well as a Project Version.

Step 2. Use Templates to Add MetaEd Files

Step 2a. Add a folder for the new MetaEd files

Note that MetaEd files are required to be organized into subfolders. The core ed-fi-model project provides examples of subfolder naming.

Right-click on the extension project folder and click New Folder.

Name the folder according to the type of MetaEd file to be added and press Enter.

Step 2b. Add MetaEd File

Right-click on the new folder, choose Add MetaEd File, and click the appropriate type of MetaEd file. 

Step 2c. Provide Resource Details

In this example, a domain entity was added. Note the new file appears in the tree view to the left. Double-click on the file in the tree view to open it. The opened file provides a short sample of the appropriate syntax for a domain entity. 

Replace the template text with the resource details. Note that the blue dot on the tab for the open file indicates the file has been changed but the changes have not been saved.

Step 2d. Save the File

To save the file, press Ctrl+S (or select File > Save). Note the blue dot disappears.

Step 2e. Rename the File

To rename the file, right-click on the name of the file in the tree view to the left or on the tab at the top of the opened file. Enter the appropriate name, preserving the path and file extension, and press Enter.

Step 3. Build

Step 3a. Build the Project

Once the project is complete, select MetaEd > Build to generate artifacts.

Artifacts build successfully.

Step 3b. View MetaEd Output

Expand the project in the tree view and click MetaEdOutput to explore generated artifacts.