Is there a list of every possible metadata component?

Question

I'm looking for a list of all possible components which can be uploaded or deleted using the API. As far as I know, the top level is:

classes    ApexClass
components ApexComponents
objects    CustomObject
pages      ApexPage
triggers   ApexTriggers

and within CustomObject you have

fields
validationrules
recordtypes
weblinks
searchlayouts
listViews

but I don't know what other sorts of components there are, and I couldn't find an exhaustive list.

The idea is that I want to be able to download all the metadata from my developer and production org and list all the components so that I can work out what's been deleted in the developer org and automatically generate a destructiveChanges.xml file.

Answer 1

These are listed in the metadata API guide http://www.salesforce.com/us/developer/docs/api_meta/

AccountSettings
ActionOverride
ActivitiesSettings
AddressSettings
AnalyticSnapshot
ApexClass
ApexComponent
ApexPage
ApexTrigger
AppMenu
ApprovalProcess
ArticleType
AssignmentRules
AuthProvider
AutoResponseRules
BaseSharingRule
BusinessHoursSettings
BusinessProcess
CallCenter
CaseSettings
ChatterAnswersSettings
CompanySettings
Community (Zone)
CompactLayout
ConnectedApp
ContractSettings
CriteriaBasedSharingRule
CustomApplication
CustomApplicationComponent
CustomField
CustomLabels
CustomObject
CustomObjectTranslation
CustomPageWebLink
CustomSite
CustomTab
Dashboard
DataCategoryGroup
Document
EmailTemplate
EntitlementProcess
EntitlementSettings
EntitlementTemplate
ExternalDataSource
FieldSet
FlexiPage
Flow
Folder
FolderShare
ForecastingSettings
Group
HomePageComponent
HomePageLayout
IdeasSettings
InstalledPackage
KnowledgeSettings
Layout
Letterhead
ListView
LiveAgentSettings
LiveChatAgentConfig
LiveChatButton
LiveChatDeployment
Metadata
MetadataWithContent
MilestoneType
MobileSettings
NamedFilter
Network
OpportunitySettings
OrderSettings
OwnerSharingRule
Package
PermissionSet
Picklist (Including Dependent Picklist)
Portal
PostTemplate
ProductSettings
Profile
Queue
QuickAction
QuoteSettings
RecordType
RemoteSiteSetting
Report
ReportType
Role
SamlSsoConfig
Scontrol
SearchLayouts
SecuritySettings
SharingReason
SharingRecalculation
SharingRules
SharingSet
SiteDotCom
Skill
StaticResource
Territory
Translations
ValidationRule
Weblink
Workflow