1. Introduction

In this tutorial, we will update the metadata of one single DMS object and of multiple DMS objects in a batch request.

2. Requirements

Please work through the following tutorials to get prepared:

3. Java Libraries

Import the following Java libraries (if not already done).

Used Java Libraries
import okhttp3.*;
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.net.CookieManager;
import java.net.CookiePolicy;
import java.util.Base64;

4. Variables with Login and Content Types Configuration

Specify your access credentials and content type configurations (if not already done).

Specify the objectId variable.

Definition of Variables
public static final String username = "root";
public static final String userpassword = "changeme";
public static final String auth = "Basic "+ Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString((username+":"+userpassword).getBytes());
public static final String tenant = "myfirsttenant";
public static final String baseUrl = "http://123.456.78.9:30080";

public static final MediaType JSON = MediaType.parse("application/json; charset=utf-8");
public static final MediaType JPEG = MediaType.parse("image/jpeg; charset=utf-8");

5. Client

To send our requests, we again use the Java client.

Client with Cookie Handling
try {
    CookieJar cookieJar = new JavaNetCookieJar(new CookieManager(null, CookiePolicy.ACCEPT_ALL));
    OkHttpClient client = new OkHttpClient.Builder().cookieJar(cookieJar).build();

} catch (Exception e) {
    e.printStackTrace();

}

6. Initial Import

We will import an image file and create a very basic DMS document object with only system properties.

metadataRabbit.json
{
  "objects": [{
    "properties": {
      "objectTypeId": {
        "value": "system:document"
      }
    },
    "contentStreams": [{
      "fileName": "1080px-Deilenaar.jpeg",
      "cid": "cid0"
    }]
  }]
}
Import the Object and retrieve the 'system:objectId'
RequestBody singleImportRequestBody = new MultipartBody
        .Builder()
        .setType(MultipartBody.FORM)
        .addFormDataPart("data",
                "metadata.json",
                RequestBody.create(JSON,
                        new File("./src/main/resources/metadataRabbit.json")))
        .addFormDataPart("cid0",
                "1080px-Deilenaar.jpeg",
                RequestBody.create(JPEG,
                        new File("./src/main/resources/1080px-Deilenaar.jpeg")))
        .build();

Request singleImportRequest = new Request.Builder()
        .header("Authorization", auth)
        .header("X-ID-TENANT-NAME", tenant)
        .url(baseUrl + "/api/dms/objects")
        .post(singleImportRequestBody)
        .build();

Response response = client.newCall(singleImportRequest).execute();
String responseString = response.body().string();
System.out.println(responseString);

JSONObject jsonObject = new JSONObject(responseString);
String objectId = jsonObject.getJSONArray("objects")
        .getJSONObject(0)
        .getJSONObject("properties")
        .getJSONObject("system:objectId")
        .getString("value");
System.out.println(objectId);

Reuse the objectId variable and its value for the next section.

7. Patch Update Metadata

We now want to add custom properties to the object’s metadata. Therefore, we assign a secondary object type. This will enable the usage of all properties that are referenced in its definition in the schema.

metadataRabbitUpdate.json
{
  "objects": [{
    "properties": {
      "secondaryObjectTypeIds": {
        "value": ["appPetshop:pet"]
      },
      "appPetshop:breed": {
        "value": "Deilenaar"
      },
      "appPetshop:species": {
        "value": "rabbit"
      },
      "appPetshop:dateOfBirth": {
        "value": "2025-11-20T16:18:06.478Z"
      },
      "appPetshop:price": {
        "value": "30.50"
      }
    }
  }]
}

The endpoint (PATCH /api/dms/objects/{objectId}) can be used to update or add only those properties provided in the request body.

Patch Metadata
Request patchMetadataRequest = new Request.Builder()
                .header("Authorization", auth)
                .header("X-ID-TENANT-NAME", tenant)
                .url(baseUrl + "/api/dms/objects/" + objectId)
                .patch(RequestBody.create(JSON, new File("./src/main/resources/metadataRabbitUpdate.json")))
                .build();

8. Summary