In the IDE

When you complete the steps for creating the metadata for your declarative component, the visual editor displays the declarative component definition file as a blank page in the visual editor. In the Structure window, you should see something like this, if the af:componentDef node is expanded

The entire declarative component definition is contained within the af:componentDef element, which is divided into two parts: the af:xmlContent element, and components outside of af:xmlContent. At this point there are no components outside of af:xmlContent.

The af:xmlContent element contains the metadata that describes the declarative component's name, facet, attribute, associated method signature, and tag library details. Any components you insert outside of af:xmlContent (but still within af:componentDef) will constitute the layout of the composite declarative component. You will define the declarative component's layout in the next cue card.

You can modify the metadata of the declarative component at any time, including adding facets, attributes, and methods. In the Structure window, select af:componentDef or any element within af:xmlContent. Then use the Property Inspector to edit the metadata. Note that you cannot modify tag library details such as the name and prefix in the Property Inspector.

In the Application Navigator, the declarativecomp-metadata.xml file is a special file created by JDeveloper to keep track of all the declarative components you create in the definition project:

The declarativecomp-metadata.xml file contains the names and paths to the .jspx files that contain the declarative component definitions, and the information for the tag libraries that will contain the declarative components.

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