Exporting and importing business objects based on metadata

A metadata file can be automatically generated based on a database instance and a user defined maximum depth. The relationships between data objects that constitute a business object may be visualized in a tree. The maximum depth limits the number of levels in the tree to traverse. A metadata file describes the structure of a business object and relationships between sets of data objects that constitute the business object. The structure defined in the metadata file can be used to export instances of the business object from the database. The exported business object instances can be imported to another database.