Metabase Settings

Article
08/28/2006

The settings for Windows Mobile–based device system resources, such as registry keys and APIs, are contained in a database referred to as the metabase. The metabase maintains security permissions and UI representation information for every setting on the device. Each metabase entry corresponds to a setting and is associated with an access role that indicates which security roles are required to configure the setting.

Security Note The Metabase Configuration Service Provider is set to the Manager role by default. Changing this role could elevate privileges, making the metabase less secure.

Note The UI representation shown in this section is for Smartphone.

You can create or change the metabase settings by modifying the provisioning XML document.

Note Microsoft recommends that you use a three-digit number in the name of your .provxml files in ROM, such as mxip_opr_100, mxip_opr_200, mxip_opr_300, so that there is an adequate number of ordinals to identify successive versions of the file.

Note Mobile Operators should avoid using provxml files to override (shadow) entries in Microsoft-owned provxml files

Note Mxip_*_*.provxml is imported only at cold boot when the device is initially configured. In effect, mxip_*_*.provxml and mxipcold_*_*.provxml are handled the same.

Note Mxipupdate_*_*.provxml files are imported after cold boot and when the package containing them is updated.

The following table shows the Unicode characters used in the .provxml file.

Unicode character	Description
0xF000	Represented as a semi-colon when used within the value attribute of a parameter, as shown in the following sample code. The escape sequence for the semicolon (;) is &#xF000.
0xF001	Represented as an equal sign when used within the value attribute of a parameter, as shown in the following sample code. The escape sequence for the equal sign (=) is &#xF001.

For more information about this encoding, see parm Element.

The following sample .provxml file adds a single entry to the metabase.

Note In this sample, the equal sign and the semicolon are placeholders for Unicode characters. You must replace the equal signs and semicolons with the correct Unicode character to use the code.

<wap-provisioningdoc>
   <characteristic type="Metabase">
      <characteristic type="Registry\HKLM\Software\Microsoft\TestKey3">
         <parm name="datatype" value="integer"/>
         <parm name="maxvalue" value="30"/>
         <parm name="minvalue" value="0"/>
         <parm name="access-role" value="190"/>
         <parm name="rw-access" value="3"/>
         <characteristic type="label">
             <parm name="0409" value="Test Key"/>
             <parm name="0407" value="Test-Taste"/>
             <parm name="040c" value="Clé D'Essai"/>
         </characteristic>
         <characteristic type="options">
             <parm name="0409" value="Red=1;Green=2;Blue=3"/>
             <parm name="0407" value="Rot=1;Grün=2;Blau=3"/>
             <parm name="040c" value="Rouge=1;Vert=2;Bleu=3"/>
         </characteristic>
      </characteristic>
   </characteristic>
<wap-provisioningdoc>

The <characteristic type="Metabase"> directs the configuration engine to process the sub-characteristics using the Metabase Configuration Service Provider. The general structure of a metabase entry specifies the location of the setting within the Configuration Service Providers. For example, in the preceding sample .provxml file, the metabase entry specified is in the Registry Configuration Service Provider, under the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\TestKey3 registry key.

When the setting has been specified, the UI and security information is provided. In the above example, the registry entry is an integer, has a maximum value of 30 and a minimum value of 0. The access-role parameter determines who can access the setting. The rw-access parameter determines what can be done with the setting once access has been granted.

The stored UI information consists of a localized text label and specific options that should be presented to the user. In the previous example, the setting would be displayed to the user as a spin box.

For information about user interface elements that are supported by the metabase, see Metabase and the User Interface.

To see the supported values, such as access-role and rw-access, see Metabase Configuration Service Provider.

Security Note Configuration Service Providers that handle sensitive data should help protect that data from untrusted applications by encrypting the data and storing it in a protected region of the registry.

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Metabase Settings

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