A technique for serializing both logical and physical meta-model information in a single file is disclosed. In an embodiment, the logical meta-model information is serialized in an Extensible Marking Language (XML) schema compliant format, and the physical meta-model information is inserted into the logical meta-model in suitable locations such that the mappings between the logical and physical meta-models are preserved. In an embodiment, an XML “appInfo” annotation is used to carry physical meta-model information used by multiple applications and suitably placed in a nested configuration with its corresponding logical meta-model information.