# Phar::setMetadata

(PHP 5 >= 5.3.0, PHP 7, PECL phar >= 1.0.0)

Phar::setMetadata — Sets phar archive meta-data

### Description

public Phar::setMetadata ( mixed `$metadata` ) : void

> Note:

> This method requires the php.ini setting `phar.readonly` to be set to `0` in order to work for Phar objects. Otherwise, a PharException will be thrown.

Phar::setMetadata() should be used to store customized data that describes something about the phar archive as a complete entity. PharFileInfo::setMetadata() should be used for file-specific meta-data. Meta-data can slow down the performance of loading a phar archive if the data is large.

Some possible uses for meta-data include specifying which file within the archive should be used to bootstrap the archive, or the location of a file manifest like » PEAR's package.xml file. However, any useful data that describes the phar archive may be stored.

### Parameters

`metadata`

  Any PHP variable containing information to store that describes the phar archive

### Return Values

No value is returned.

### Examples

Example #1 A Phar::setMetadata() example

`<?php
// make sure it doesn't exist
@unlink('brandnewphar.phar');
try {
$p = new Phar(dirname(__FILE__) . '/brandnewphar.phar', 0, 'brandnewphar.phar');
$p['file.php'] = '<?php echo "hello"';
$p->setMetadata(array('bootstrap' => 'file.php'));
var_dump($p->getMetadata());
} catch (Exception $e) {
echo 'Could not create and/or modify phar:', $e;
}
?>`

The above example will output:

    array(1) {
      ["bootstrap"]=>
      string(8) "file.php"
    }

### See Also

- Phar::getMetadata() - Returns phar archive meta-data
- Phar::delMetadata() - Deletes the global metadata of the phar
- Phar::hasMetadata() - Returns whether phar has global meta-data