Add custom metadata

You can make your channels, users, and the relationships between them more descriptive by storing additional information about them.

There are three items you can assign metadata to: users, channels, and memberships. Unlike setting dynamic states, metadata properties are stored in PubNub and you can get their values anytime. Let's look at each of them.

Users have four predefined metadata properties, name, email, profileURL, and externalId. There is also a custom property that allows your to store any attribute.

The code below adds a name, an e-mail, and a custom nickname properties to provide more information about a user.

User ID / UUID

User ID is also referred to as UUID/uuid in some APIs and server responses but holds the value of the userId parameter you set during initialization.

JavaScript

pubnub.objects.setUUIDMetadata({
    data: {
        name: "Thomas Anderson",
        email: "t.anderson@pubnub.com",
        custom: {
            "nickname": "The One"
        }
    }
});

Swift

let userMetadata = PubNubUserMetadataBase(
  metadataId: "uuid",
  name: "Thomas Anderson",
  email: "t.anderson@pubnub.com",
  custom: [ "nickname": "The One" ]
)

pubnub.setUserMetadata(userMetadata) { result in
  switch result {
  case let .success(metadata):
    print("The metadata for `\(metadata.metadataId)`: \(metadata)")
  case let .failure(error):
    print("Request failed with error: \(error.localizedDescription)")
  }
}

Objective-C

self.client.objects().setUUIDMetadata()
    .uuid(@"uuid")
    .name(@"Thomas Anderson")
    .custom(@{ @"nickname": @("The One") })
    .email(@"t.anderson@pubnub.com")
    .includeFields(PNUUIDCustomField)
    .performWithCompletion(^(PNSetUUIDMetadataStatus *status) {
        if (!status.isError) {
            /**
             * UUID metadata successfully has been set.
             * UUID metadata information available here: status.data.metadata
             */
        } else {
            /**
             * Handle UUID metadata set error. Check 'category' property to find out possible issue

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Android

Map<String, Object> custom = new HashMap<>();
custom.put("nickname", "The One");
pubnub.setUUIDMetadata()
    .name("Thomas Anderson")
    .email("t.anderson@pubnub.com")
    .custom(custom)
    .includeCustom(true)
    .async(result -> { /* check result */ });

C#

PNResult<PNSetUuidMetadataResult> setUuidMetadataResponse = await pubnub.SetUuidMetadata()
        .Uuid(config.Uuid)
        .Name("Thomas Anderson")
        .Email("t.anderson@pubnub.com")
        .Custom(new Dictionary<string, object>() { { "nickname", "The One" } })
        .ExecuteAsync();
PNSetUuidMetadataResult setUuidMetadataResult = setUuidMetadataResponse.Result;
PNStatus status = setUuidMetadataResponse.Status;

Python

pubnub.set_uuid_metadata().uuid(this_uuid) \
    .set_name("Thomas Anderson") \
    .email("t.anderson@pubnub.com") \
    .custom({"nickname": "The One"}) \
    .include_custom(True) \
    .sync()

Dart

var uuidMetadataInput = UuidMetadataInput(
      name: 'Thomas Anderson',
      email: 't.anderson@pubnub.com',
      custom: {'nickname': 'The One'});
  var result = await pubnub.objects.setUUIDMetadata(uuidMetadataInput);

Kotlin

pubnub.setUUIDMetadata(
    uuid = "unique uuid",
    includeCustom = true,
    name = "Thomas Anderson",
    email = "t.anderson@pubnub.com",
    custom = "nickname = The One",
).async { result, status ->
            if (status.error) {
                //handle error
            } else if (result != null) {
                //handle result
            }
        }

Channels have two predefined metadata properties, name and description, and a custom property that allows your to store any attribute.

The code below adds all three properties to provide more information about a channel. This way you're keeping all channel information in one place and can easily present additional data in your app's user interface.

JavaScript

pubnub.objects.setChannelMetadata({
    channel: "chats_guilds.mages_guild",
    data: {
      name: "Mages guild",
      description: "Mages guild official chatroom.",
      custom: { "administrator": "thomas_anderson" }
    }
});

Swift

let channelMetadata = PubNubChannelMetadataBase(
  metadataId: "chats_guilds.mages_guild",
  name: "Mages guild",
  channelDescription: "Mages guild official chatroom.",
  custom: [ "administrator": "thomas_anderson" ]
)


pubnub.set(channel: channelMetadata) { result in
  switch result {
  case let .success(metadata):
    print("The metadata for `\(metadata.metadataId)`: \(metadata)")
  case let .failure(error):
    print("Request failed with error: \(error.localizedDescription)")
  }

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Objective-C

self.client.objects().setChannelMetadata(@"chats_guilds.mages_guild")
    .name(@"Mages guild")
    .information(@"Mages guild official chatroom.")
    .custom(@{ @"administrator": @"thomas_anderson" })
    .includeFields(PNChannelCustomField)
    .performWithCompletion(^(PNSetChannelMetadataStatus *status) {
      if (!status.isError) {
          /**
           * Channel metadata successfully has been set.
           * Channel metadata information available here: status.data.metadata
           */
      } else {
          /**
           * Handle channel metadata update error. Check 'category' property to find out possible
           * issue because of which request did fail.

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Java

Map<String, Object> custom = new HashMap<>();
custom.put("administrator", "thomas_anderson");
pubnub.setChannelMetadata()
    .channel("chats_guilds.mages_guild")
    .name("Mages guild")
    .description("Mages guild official chatroom.")
    .custom(custom)
    .includeCustom(true)
    .async(result -> { /* check result */ });

C#

PNResult<PNSetChannelMetadataResult> setChannelMetadataResponse = await pubnub.SetChannelMetadata()
    .Channel("chats_guilds.mages_guild")
    .Name("Mages guild")
    .Description("Mages guild official chatroom.")
    .Custom(new Dictionary<string, object>() { { "administrator", "thomas_anderson" } })
    .IncludeCustom(true)
    .ExecuteAsync();
PNSetChannelMetadataResult setChannelMetadataResult = setChannelMetadataResponse.Result;
PNStatus status = setChannelMetadataResponse.Status;

Python

pubnub.set_channel_metadata().channel("chats_guilds.mages_guild") \
    .set_name("Mages guild") \
    .description("Mages guild official chatroom.") \
    .custom({"administrator": "thomas_anderson" }) \
    .include_custom(True) \
    .sync()

Dart

var channelMetadataInput = ChannelMetadataInput(
    name: 'chats_guilds.mages_guild', description: 'Mages guild official chatroom.', custom: { 'administrator': 'thomas_anderson'});

var result = await pubnub.objects
    .setChannelMetadata('my_channel', channelMetadataInput);

Kotlin

pubnub.setChannelMetadata(
    channel = "chats_guilds.mages_guild",
    includeCustom = true,
    description = "Mages guild official chatroom",
    custom = "administrator thomas_anderson"
).async { result, status ->
            if (status.error) {
                //handle error
            } else if (result != null) {
                //handle result
            }
        }

Memberships are relations between users and channels. You can use membership metadata to, for example, display channel memberships lists for a user or give them the possibility to join or leave channels at their discretion.

Memberships have no predefined metadata properties, as the membership relation is metadata in itself.

The code below adds the current user to the chats_guilds.mages_guild and chats_inbox.user_1905 channels and adds the friendlist metadata to the newly created chats_inbox.user_1905 membership.

JavaScript

pubnub.objects.setMemberships({
    channels: [
        "chats_guilds.mages_guild",
    {id: "chats_inbox.user_1905", custom: {friendlist: true}
    }]
});

Swift

let channels = [
  PubNubMembershipMetadataBase(userMetadataId: "uuid", channelMetadataId: "chats_guilds.mages_guild"),
  PubNubMembershipMetadataBase(userMetadataId: "uuid", channelMetadataId: "chats_inbox.user_1905", custom: [ "friendlist": true ]),
]

pubnub.setMemberships(uuid: "uuid", channels: channels) { result in
  switch result {
  case let .success((memberships, _)):
    print("Memberships: \(metadata)")
  case let .failure(error):
    print("Request failed with error: \(error.localizedDescription)")
  }
}

Objective-C

NSArray<NSDictionary *> *channels = @[
  @{ @"channel": @"chats_guilds.mages_guild" },
  @{ @"channel": @"chats_inbox.user_1905", @"custom": @{ @"friendlist": @YES } }
];

self.client.objects().setMemberships()
    .uuid(@"uuid")
    .channels(channels)
    .includeCount(YES)
    .limit(40)
    .includeFields(NMembershipCustomField | PNMembershipChannelField)
    .performWithCompletion(^(PNManageMembershipsStatus *status) {
        if (!status.isError) {
            /**
             * UUID's memberships successfully set.

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Android

Map<String, Object> custom = new HashMap<>();
custom.put("friendlist", true);
pubnub.setMemberships()
    .channelMemberships(Arrays.asList(PNChannelMembership.channel("chats_guilds.mages_guild"), PNChannelMembership.channelWithCustom("chats_inbox.user_1905", custom)))
    .async(result -> { /* check result */ });

C#

List<PNMembership> setMembershipChannelMetadataIdList = new List<PNMembership>();
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(seMembershipChannelMetaId))
{
    setMembershipChannelMetadataIdList.Add(new PNMembership() { Channel = "chats_guilds.mages_guild" });
    setMembershipChannelMetadataIdList.Add(new PNMembership() { Channel = "chats_inbox.user_1905", Custom = new Dictionary<string, object>() { { "friendlist", true } } });
}

PNResult<PNMembershipsResult> setMembershipsResponse = await pubnub.SetMemberships()
    .Uuid("my-uuid")
    .Channels(setMembershipChannelMetadataIdList)
    .Include(new PNMembershipField[] { PNMembershipField.CUSTOM, PNMembershipField.CHANNEL, PNMembershipField.CHANNEL_CUSTOM })
    .IncludeCount(true)
    .ExecuteAsync();
PNMembershipsResult setMembershipsResult = setMembershipsResponse.Result;
PNStatus status = setMembershipsResponse.Status;

Python

pubnub.set_memberships().uuid(this_uuid).channel_memberships([
        PNChannelMembership.channel("chats_guilds.mages_guild"),
        PNChannelMembership.channel_with_custom("chats_inbox.user_1905", {"friendlist": True})
    ])
    .include_custom(True)
    .sync()

Dart

var setMetadata = [
  MembershipMetadataInput('chats_inbox.user_1905', custom: {'friendlist': 'true'}),
  MembershipMetadataInput('chats_guilds.mages_guild ')
];

var result = await pubnub.objects
    .setMemberships(setMetadata, includeChannelFields: true);

Kotlin

val custom: MutableMap<String, Any> = HashMap()
custom["friendlist"] = true

pubnub.setMemberships(listOf(
    PNChannelWithCustom(channel = "chats_guilds.mages_guild"),
    PNChannelWithCustom(channel = "chats_inbox.user_1905", custom = custom))
).async { result, status ->
        if (status.error) {
            //handle error
        } else if (result != null) {
            //handle result
        }
    }

Sometimes you have to limit or grant additional privileges to certain users. This is where our access manager comes in handy.