Metadata for Dynamics 365 Finance and Operation in JSON format using OData and Metadata for single Entity

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Hi Everyone

I am trying to get the Metadata from D365 FnO in JSON format using the Odata protocol but problem is, it giving an error. Self referencing loop detected for property 'Container' with type 'Microsoft.OData.Edm.Library.EdmEntityContainer'. Path 'EntityContainer.Elements[0]'. - This is the error message I get when trying to use this URL : InstanceURL/data/$metadata?$format=application/json.

I read on OData documentation that application/json and json are both recognized as valid argument for format query and format query has precedence over request Headers.

If I try to get metadata of a single Entity using the URLs that Odata sends in data response, something like : "@odata.context" :"InstanceURL/data/$metadata#[EntityName]". Entity name is not honored in such a case.

so my question is : 1. Is there a way to get JSON format metadata from D365 FnO since XML format is way to big in size and takes a lot of time.

2. Is there a different syntax for getting metadata of a single entity.

Let me know if any other information is needed.

All is appreciated.

Thanks!

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WillWU 22,363 on at

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Hi A.D.I.T.Y.A. ,

As far as I know, this isn't supported by the specification. The $metadata document is in the CSDL format, which is only available in XML format, not JSON.

You have to parse XML by yourself. You could use some of the third-party libraries to do this.

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Community Member on at

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Hi Will

Thanks for the response. If this helps the error type is -> Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializationException under innererror response.

Is this not supported by the MS D365 FnO? I am asking this question because other application that use Odata can send metadata in JSON format for a single Entity. I am receiving this specific error response and type when specifying format in URL or application/json in headers.

Is there any workaround for this? Metadata document in XML is taking forever to load. It is around 25 MB in size :D.

I am not that familiar with MS FnO but is there any system level change or something that I can do in FnO instance to get around this error.

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