There is an ESRI sample that does this. If you are running Java, you'll find the example in your ArcGIS Project wizzard.here is a code fragment from that sample:
/**
* Connect to ArcSDE and initiate printing meta-data for feature classes and sde tables.
*/
private static void connectToSDE(){
try {
// Create a propertySet that contains the connection information to ArcSDE
IPropertySet propertySet = new PropertySet();
propertySet.setProperty("SERVER", "server name");
propertySet.setProperty("INSTANCE", "instance name");
propertySet.setProperty("DATABASE", "database name");
propertySet.setProperty("USER", "user name");
propertySet.setProperty("PASSWORD", "user password");
propertySet.setProperty("VERSION", "sde.DEFAULT");
// Create a SdeWorkspaceFactory and open it
IWorkspaceFactory sdeworkspaceFactory = new SdeWorkspaceFactory();
IWorkspace workspace = new Workspace(sdeworkspaceFactory.open(propertySet, 0));
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Iterate over all feature classes : esriDTFeatureClass
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Get the collection of featureclass data set names in the database and display their names.
IEnumDatasetName dsFeatureClassNames = workspace.getDatasetNames(esriDatasetType.esriDTFeatureClass);
// Add the data set names to an ArrayList that we will sort as a Collection
ArrayList<String> featureclassDatasetNames = new ArrayList<String>();
IDatasetName fcName = dsFeatureClassNames.next();
while (fcName != null){
featureclassDatasetNames.add(fcName.getName());
fcName = dsFeatureClassNames.next();
}
// Sort the ArrayList
Collections.sort(featureclassDatasetNames);
// Iterate over the set and call the displayFeatureClassMetadata method
for(Object y : featureclassDatasetNames){
writer.append(y.toString());
writer.append("\r\n");
writer.append("--------------------");
writer.append("\r\n");
displayFeatureClassMetadata(workspace, y.toString());
}
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Iterate over all tables : esriDTTable
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Get the collection of Table data set names in the database and display their names.
IEnumDatasetName dsTableNames = workspace.getDatasetNames(esriDatasetType.esriDTTable);
// Add the data set names to an ArrayList that we will sort as a Collection
ArrayList<String> tableDatasetNames = new ArrayList<String>();
IDatasetName name = dsTableNames.next();
while (name != null){
tableDatasetNames.add(name.getName());
name = dsTableNames.next();
}
// Sort the ArrayList
Collections.sort(tableDatasetNames);
// Iterate over the set and call the displayTableMetadata method
for(Object y : tableDatasetNames){
writer.append(y.toString());
writer.append("\r\n");
writer.append("--------------------");
writer.append("\r\n");
displayTableMetadata(workspace, y.toString());
}
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
} catch (AutomationException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
