--- loncom/lonnet/perl/lonnet.pm	2001/08/07 09:47:53	1.140
+++ loncom/lonnet/perl/lonnet.pm	2001/08/07 14:33:53	1.141
@@ -1879,7 +1879,10 @@ sub metadata {
                       }
                       my $unikey='parameter'.$keyroot.'_'.$name;
                       $metathesekeys{$unikey}=1;
-                      $metacache{$uri.':'.$unikey.'.'.$subp}=$value;
+                      unless 
+                       (defined($metacache{$uri.':'.$unikey.'.'.$subp})) {
+                         $metacache{$uri.':'.$unikey.'.'.$subp}=$value;
+		      }
                   }
               } keys %packagetab;
              } else {