sfdx-plugin-package-xml

DISCLAIMER: This is a beta version with only a few features.

Please submit issues with your feedback about errors, usability and feature requests.

sfdx plugin for generating a package.xml manifest

Installation

sfdx plugins:install sfdx-plugin-package-xml@beta

Usage

Commands

sfdx force:mdapi:listallmetadata -h
sfdx package.xml:generate -h

Use Cases

Backup all Metadata from org named acme-dev

sfdx force:mdapi:listallmetadata -f /tmp/fileproperties.json -u acme-dev
sfdx package.xml:generate -j /tmp/fileproperties.json -f package.xml
sfdx force:source:retrieve -x package.xml -u acme-dev

Explore Metadata in org named acme-dev

sfdx force:mdapi:listallmetadata --names -u acme-dev
# include child Metadata such as CustomField and filter for CustomFields on Account
sfdx force:mdapi:listallmetadata --children --names -u acme-dev | grep "CustomField:Account."

Concept and Implementation

Component Names

Component Names are used throughout this plugin, e.g. in the

• output of sfdx force:mdapi:listallmetadata --names
• ignore rules sfdx force:mdapi:listallmetadata --ignore and sfdx package.xml:generate --ignore

format: <type>:<fullName>

example: CustomField:Account.Industry

Listing Metadata

General Approach:

• call describeMetadata() to retrieve a list of Metadata Types
• call listMetadata() for all Metadata Types (in chunks of max. 3 queries to adhere to the limits)
• list all folders and folder-based Metadata
• optionally list all child Metadata Types (e.g. CustomField of CustomObject)

Workarounds:

There are a bunch of issues with listMetadata. The following repositories provide Minimum Working Examples and Workarounds we use:

• https://github.com/mdapi-issues/listmetadata-recordtype-personaccount
• https://github.com/mdapi-issues/listmetadata-standardvalueset
• https://github.com/mdapi-issues/listmetadata-standardvaluesettranslation-type

Package.xml

The package.xml file follows a certain format (indentation, sort order). You can discover this when using an unformatted package.xml to retrieve Metadata. The returned zip file contains a well formatted package.xml. We try to stick to this format to make working with version control systems more easy.