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Configuring Templates for the Data Catalog

Configuring Templates for the Data Catalog

Owned by Elias Helgren Dahl
Last updated: Mar 12, 2025
3 min read

Organizing your Data Catalog is vital when it comes to easily navigating and understanding your data. This is also important for making sure uploading metadata to the Data Catalog goes without issues.

On this page you will find information about:

Create and Edit Units and Fields

Data Catalog Templates Menu.png

The information pages for the data catalog in Engrafo consists of units which contain fields as to organize the information. This is all configured in the section: “Data Catalog Templates“.

Here you will see options to create and edit units and fields in databases, schemas, tables and columns respectively.

Although it is important to first understand what a unit and a field is.

Below is an illustration explaining the template structure. In short it can be defined as Template → Units → Fields

Data Catalog Template Structure.png
Schema “Sales” containing one unit with two fields

  • The Template is the overall documentation structure for a given area. It can be “ETL jobs in SAS”, “Finance analytics”, “Finance analytics in Python”, “Power Bi VA in Norway”. Pretty much anything where a specific unique structure is needed.

  • Units are the building blocks of your templates. You can have one or several units, that is up to you and your needs.

  • Fields are the specific entities within a unit. This is where the actual information is stored. This could be descriptions or update dates as seen above, but can also be many more items depending on exactly what you need. See: Types of Fields and Properties for Fields For all available field types.

Although this can very easily be changed at a later date, it is highly advisable to do a workshop with hands on stakeholders, to make sure the needs of everyone is met AND that you for starters follow the golden principal “less is more”

To add or configure a unit or field for a database, schema, table or column, first navigate to the element you want to configure and click “create new”. For units simply give a name and a placement and click create. For new fields also provide field type, an explanation if wanted, the right properties and viola… you now have a new metadata attribute to either be imported or manually edited by the people in the business with the right knowledge.

Data Catalog new field creation.png

Types of Fields and Properties for Fields

Below is a pretty boring, but important list of the types of fields you can make as metadata attributes for the Data Catalog, as well as the properties you can give them for plugging in the right data.

Field Types

  • Checkbox: Adds a simple checkbox with the name of the field

  • Date: Adds a date - dd/mm/yyyy

  • Datetime: Adds date and time - dd/mm/yyy

  • Image: Upload an image and optional image text

  • Link: Link to a URL with optional display text

  • Link in Modal View: Link to a URL with target website opening in a frame inside Engrafo

  • Text: Simple text display

  • Textarea: Larger area for simple text

  • Rich-text editor: Allows for rich-text editing (i.e. text size, font and other properties)

  • Sample Space(Column Only):

Properties

Note that some field types cannot have all properties.

  • Mandatory: Makes the field require information represented with a “*”

  • Hide: Makes the field hidden in the Data Catalog

  • Read Only: The field becomes non-editable

  • Multiple: Allows for multiple of the same field under one unit

  • Attribute: Makes the field show as an attribute for the given item in the Data Catalog??

  • Show at search: Makes this field included in overview search results. Read more about the Engrafo search function here: Search and Browse Engrafo

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