code: def getTableMetadata(self):
          
          coltypes = {}
          for (colname, column) in self.columns.iteritems():
              sortable = column.sortAttribute() is not None
              coltype = column.getType()
              if coltype is not None:
                  coltype = unicode(coltype, 'ascii')
              coltypes[colname] = (coltype, sortable)
  
          if self.currentSortColumn:
              csc = unicode(self.currentSortColumn.sortAttribute().attrname, 'ascii')
          else:
              csc = None
  
          return [self.columnNames, coltypes, self.requestCurrentSize(),
                  csc, self.isAscending]
docs: Retrieve a description of the various properties of this scrolltable.
  
          @return: A sequence containing 5 elements.  They are, in order, a
          list of the names of the columns present, a mapping of column names
          to two-tuples of their type and a boolean indicating their
          sortability, the total number of rows in the scrolltable, the name
          of the default sort column, and a boolean indicating whether or not
          the current sort order is ascending.