Headerfeldern

HeaderFeldern is a term used in information management to describe a standardized collection of header fields attached to a data record, document, or message. The concept treats header information as a separate metadata layer that travels with the payload, enabling consistent routing, indexing, and interpretation across systems.

Although not a formal, universal standard, HeaderFeldern is often encountered in German-speaking software projects and in discussions about metadata schemas. The name blends the German term for header fields (Headerfelder) with the compound form used in programming to denote a set or collection.

A HeaderFeldern instance consists of named fields, each with a type and a value. Common fields include Title, Author, Date, Version, Content-Type, Content-Language, and Content-Length, along with domain-specific fields such as X-Department or X-Confidentiality. Fields may be mandatory or optional depending on the domain, and custom fields are typically prefixed (for example, X-*) to avoid clashes with standard metadata.

Data models for HeaderFeldern are typically key-value maps, and may be serialized in JSON, YAML, or XML. Validation is often performed against a schema to enforce required fields, allowed types, and value formats. In practice, HeaderFeldern is used to support content discovery, access control, routing decisions, and version tracking in content management systems, API responses, and messaging formats with header-like metadata.

Relations to existing standards are strong but indirect: many HeaderFeldern deployments borrow ideas from HTTP header conventions, MIME metadata, and email headers. The term emphasizes structure and interoperability rather than prescribing a single protocol.

See also: HTTP header fields, email header fields, metadata, content management systems.