Metadata Tutorial

The term metadata generally refers to information that describes the contents of
a
data file. In the context of ENVI® programming, it refers to the following:
User-defined metadata that provides extra information about a raster file. An

example would be a new "Vendor" field that lists the data provider for the
image. User-defined metadata are listed under the "Supplementary Metadata"
category in ENVI's Metadata Viewer.
Standard fields (or tags) that provide additional information about an image

(raster) file such as band names, percentage of cloud cover, and center
wavelengths in each band. See the "ENVIRasterMetadata" topic in ENVI Help for
a list of standard metadata fields. Standard fields are also listed in the Metadata
Viewer.
Standard and user-defined metadata are contained in a metadata object
associated
with a given raster object.
Other characteristics of a raster file that are required for ENVI to open the file
are
stored as properties of the raster object, rather than metadata. Examples
include
data type, number of bands, and acquisition time. See the "ENVIRaster" topic in
ENVI
Help for a list of these properties.