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Integrating External Resource Properties

Add custom metadata properties to resources stored in JCloud-based storage. These properties are stored as metadata in the cloud storage and are automatically indexed into GeoNetwork's catalog.

Quick Start

1. Configure GeoNetwork

Add this property or environment variable to your GeoNetwork configuration to specify which metadata fields from cloud storage should be included in the catalog index:

jcloud.additional.indexed.properties=field1,field2,field3

export JCLOUD_ADDITIONAL_INDEXED_PROPERTIES=field1,field2,field3

Property Explanation:

  • jcloud.additional.indexed.properties - Comma-separated list of metadata field names to copy from cloud storage into the catalog index
  • Each field name must correspond to a metadata property that you store with your resources in cloud storage
  • Example: jcloud.additional.indexed.properties=department,owner,budget,status
  • Environment variable: JCLOUD_ADDITIONAL_INDEXED_PROPERTIES
  • Properties are optional - if not configured, only standard resource metadata is indexed

2. Store Metadata with Your Resources

When uploading resources to cloud storage, attach metadata properties with the names you specified in the configuration:

Example using blob metadata: 

Blob Name: documents/report.pdf

Metadata Properties:
  - department: "Planning"
  - owner: "John Doe"
  - budget: "$50,000"
  - status: "Active"

Metadata Requirements: - Property names must match exactly those configured in jcloud.additional.indexed.properties - Property values should be simple types (strings, numbers, booleans) - Properties are optional - resources without configured properties will simply not include those fields

3. Verify in Catalog

After indexing, resources will contain the custom properties in the additionalProperties field of the metadataResourceExternalManagementProperties object:

{
  "lastModification": "2025-10-28T15:43:03.000+00:00",
  "metadataResourceExternalManagementProperties": {
    "id": "resource-001",
    "url": "http://example.com/resource/resource-001",
    "validationStatus": "INCOMPLETE",
    "additionalProperties": {
      "department": "Planning",
      "owner": "John Doe",
      "budget": "$50,000",
      "status": "Active"
    }
  },
  "size": 112339,
  "url": "http://localhost:8084/catalogue/srv/api/records/37aecae5-7783-4274-b595-df02aa003ac3/attachments/Sample1.pdf",
  "version": "1",
  "visibility": "PUBLIC"
}

How It Works

  1. When resources are retrieved for indexing, GeoNetwork reads the metadata properties stored with each blob in cloud storage
  2. For any properties that match the configured jcloud.additional.indexed.properties names, the values are extracted
  3. These properties are stored in the additionalProperties map within the MetadataResourceExternalManagementProperties object
  4. The enriched resource data is indexed and becomes searchable in the catalog

Properties are extracted automatically during metadata indexing - no additional setup required once configured and metadata is stored with your resources.