Custom attributes

Custom attributes are properties that you create to use with assets. You create custom attributes when the standard properties of assets, such as name and description, are insufficient or do not meet your business needs.

Each custom attribute has a name, a description, and asset types that the custom attribute can be applied to. The data type of the value of the custom attribute can be text, predefined values, date, number, or relationship. By default, a custom attribute contains a single value. Alternatively, you can choose to allow multiple values. The custom attribute values can be predefined for the user to select from.

Custom attributes can be applied to glossary assets, information assets, and collections. Custom attributes of glossary assets and of information assets can be imported, exported, edited, and deleted. You can edit the custom attribute values of an asset when you edit the asset.

Some information assets can have child assets. When you assign a custom attribute to such an asset, you can choose to apply the custom attribute to all of the child assets. For example, the hierarchy of the child assets of host is: database, schema, database table, column. If you assign a custom attribute to a database table, you can choose to display the custom attribute to all columns of that database table.

Custom attributes can be used to define a relationship between assets. As an example, you need to distinguish between business owners, data scientist owners, and security owners of catalog assets. The asset type steward does not differentiate between these types. You create a custom attribute of type Relationship. The custom attribute name is Has Security Owner. The custom attribute is applied to the asset type term, and to the asset type host and all of its child assets. The name of the custom attribute to define the reverse relationship is Is Security Owner Of. The custom attribute is applied to the asset type steward. In the Details page of a host asset, the custom attribute Has Security Owner is shown with the stewards that are security owners of the host asset. In the Details page of the steward, the custom attribute Is Security Owner Of is shown with the terms, hosts, database schemas, database tables, and database columns that the steward is the security owner of.