File Content Extraction 26.3
Filter SDK Python Programming Guide

# Metadata Elements

This section explains how to process metadata elements.

## Standardized Elements

When File Content Extraction understands the meaning of a metadata field in a document, it outputs that data in a standardized element - a `MetadataElement` object where:

- the `standard_key` attribute contains the standard key, which indicates the meaning of the element. For a list of standard keys, refer to the `MetadataKey` enumeration or see Standardized Metadata Elements. The standard key will not be equal to `MetadataKey.Other`.

- the `key` attribute contains a string that is uniquely determined by the standard key. If you are handling the value of a standardized element based on its standard key, you can ignore this value. It is provided so that standardized elements can optionally be handled in the same way as non-standardized elements.

- the `has_standard_alternative` attribute is `false`.
- the `is_superseded` attribute specifies whether this element has been superseded, meaning that this element exists only to preserve backwards compatibility. An element can be superseded to fix issues with the key or value type. When this attribute is `true`, the same metadata is available through an improved `MetadataElement` returned by the same `Metadata` iterator.

Each standardized element is guaranteed to occur at most once in the metadata output. For example, a `Metadata` object will contain zero or one `MetadataElement` objects with the standard key `MetadataKey.Title`.

## Non-standardized Elements

Non-standard elements represent native metadata fields. Some non-standard elements might have been used to create a standardized element, and therefore have a standardized alternative. User-created metadata fields, and fields that are unique to one file format, are usually available only as non-standard elements. For a non-standard metadata element:

- the `standard_key` attribute is equal to `MetadataKey.Other`.
- the `key` attribute contains a string representation of a field's key. If a field key exists in the document, that value is returned. Otherwise, File Content Extraction generates a value.
- the `has_standard_alternative` attribute specifies whether the element has a standardized alternative. When this attribute is `true`, this element contains metadata that also exists in a standardized `MetadataElement` returned by the same `Metadata` iterator. The standardized element might present the metadata with different units.
- the `is_superseded` attribute specifies whether this element has been superseded, meaning that this element exists only to preserve backwards compatibility. An element can be superseded to fix issues with the key or value type. When this attribute is `true`, the same metadata is available through an improved `MetadataElement` returned by the same `Metadata` iterator.

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Version 26.3 | Last updated July 2026

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Product: File Content Extraction 26.3

Topic Title: Metadata Elements