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Create and manage data asset attributes

Data asset attributes are a type of custom metadata in Microsoft Purview Unified Catalog that you can create and apply to your organization's data assets. These user-defined attributes provide a business or organization level context to an asset, helping data consumers understand the role an asset plays in the organization.

Prerequisites

To create a data asset attribute, a user must hold the Data Curator role in the Data Map.

Manage attributes on the Custom metadata (preview) page

Note

Data asset attributes were previously called "managed attributes" and were located under Catalog management > Classic types.

The Custom metadata (preview) area under Unified Catalog > Catalog management is where you create and manage two types of attributes:

  1. Data asset attributes
  2. Business concept attributes

The Data asset attributes tab is where you find all of your data asset attributes nested within each attribute group.

The Business concept attributes tab lists all of your attributes nested within each attribute group. Learn how to work with business concept attributes.

Know before you start

Before you start creating attributes, we recommend reviewing these sections:

Understand attributes and groups

  • Data asset attributes: A set of user-defined attributes that provide a business or organization level context to a data asset. Each attribute has a name and a value; for example, "Department" is an attribute name and "Finance" is its value.

  • Attribute group: A grouping of data asset attributes that allows for easier organization and consumption.

Attribute field types

Data asset attributes can include several types of values, such as text-based descriptions, numerical identifiers, or date-based identifiers.

During the attribute creation process, the field type options are:

  • Text
  • Single choice: When you select this type, a Choices field appears, where you enter a name for the choice and can add more choices.
  • Multiple choice: When you select this type, a Choices field appears, where you enter a name for the choice and can add more choices.
  • Date
  • Boolean
  • Byte
  • Double
  • Float
  • Integer
  • Long
  • Short

Create and edit attribute groups

All data asset attributes must be connected to an attribute group. You might want to develop a grouping strategy ahead of time, then create one or more attribute groups before creating the attributes you'll assign to the groups. Alternatively, you can create an attribute group at the point in the attribute creation process where you assign a group to the attribute.

As you develop a grouping strategy, consider which attributes in a group you want to mark as required. You can only set attributes to be required when you create an attribute group first, and then add assets while you're in the process of creating the group.

Create an attribute group

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Purview portal > Solutions > Unified Catalog.

  2. Under Catalog management, select Custom metadata.

  3. On the Data asset attributes tab, select New, then select New attribute group.

  4. On the New attribute group flyout pane, enter an Attribute group name and an optional description. You can't change a group name after you create the group.

  5. You can create a new data asset attribute at this stage by selecting New attribute. This is the only stage at which you can mark an attribute as required.

  6. When done, select Create.

The group is now listed on the Data asset attributes tab of the Custom metadata (preview) page.

View and edit an attribute group

Find the name of an attribute group on the Data asset attributes tab, hover over its row and select the Edit pencil icon. A flyout pane appears, which contains all the details of the attribute group, including a list of all attributes in the group.

Add a new attribute to the group by selecting New attribute.

You can't edit an attribute group name after the group has been created.

Mark an attribute as required

When you create a data asset attribute as part of a data asset attribute group, you can make it required by selecting Mark as required. Marking as required means that a value must be provided for this attribute. When a data asset is edited, the required attribute must be filled out before you can close the editor.

Important

  • You can only select Mark as required when you create an attribute during the process of creating an attribute group. You can't mark the attribute required when creating just an attribute on its own.
  • If an existing attribute isn't marked as required, you can't mark it as required during the editing process.
  • Once you select Mark as required and create the attribute, you can't unselect it during the editing process.

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Purview portal > Solutions > Unified Catalog.

  2. Under Catalog management, select Custom metadata.

  3. On the Data asset attributes tab, select New, then select New attribute group.

  4. Select New and select New attribute.

  5. Fill out your attribute details, and select Mark as required.

  6. Select Apply and finish adding other attributes to complete your attribute group.

Create data asset attributes

  1. In the Microsoft Purview portal, under Solutions, select Unified Catalog.

  2. Under Catalog management, select Custom metadata, then select the Data asset attributes tab.

  3. Select New, then select either New attribute.

  4. On the New attribute flyout pane, enter an Attribute name and an optional description.

    Note

    You can create more than one attribute with the same name and link them to different attribute groups. Providing a detailed description for identically named attributes can help avoid confusion or the misapplication of attributes.

  5. Select Mark as required if you want to require a value be provided for the attribute. This option is only available when creating an attribute during the process of creating an attribute group (learn more).

  6. At Attribute group, select a group name from the dropdown list.

    • You can create a new attribute group at this step by selecting New, then follow the steps to create an attribute group.
    • If you're creating the attribute at the same time as you're creating the group, the Attribute group selector doesn't show; the attribute will automatically be associated to the group you're creating.

  7. At Field type, select an attribute field type.

  8. At Applicable asset types, select one or more data asset types that the attribute can be applied to. For example, if you select "Azure SQL Table" for an attribute, it will be applied to Azure SQL Table assets, but not Azure Synapse Dedicated Table assets. When done, select Apply.

  9. Select Create.

These attributes will be automatically applied to the specified resources without a value. You'll need to apply a value for each asset.

Edit a data asset attribute

After you create a data asset attribute, you can't change its name, the attribute group it belongs to, or the field type. To edit other details, such as the description or to mark as expired, follow these steps:

  • On the Data asset attributes tab of the Custom metadata (preview) page, hover over the attribute name and select the Edit pencil icon.
  • Make your edits, then select Update.

Add a value to a data asset attribute

Once a data asset attribute is created, you'll need to add a value for each of your assets. To add values to your assets by:

  1. Search for your data asset.
  2. On the Overview tab of the asset's details page, see the Data asset attributes section with all attributes that have values. (You can see attributes without values by using the Show attributes without a value toggle.)
  3. Select Edit.
  4. Under Data asset attributes, add values for each of your attributes.
  5. If any attributes are Required, you won't be able to save until you've added a value for that attribute.

Expire a data asset attribute or attribute group

A data asset attribute can't be deleted, and a data asset attribute group can't be deleted. They can only be expired. When an attribute or attribute group is expired, you can't apply them to other data assets, and they can't be reactivated.

  • When you expire an attribute: Any data assets that had the attribute applied will continue to show that attribute.

  • When you expire an attribute group: All the attributes within the group are also expired. Any data assets that had an attribute within this group applied to it will continue to show that attribute.

To expire an attribute or attribute group:

  1. On the Data assets attributes tab of the Custom metadata (preview) page, find the attribute or attribute group you want to expire and select the Edit pencil icon.
  2. On the Edit attribute or Edit attribute group pane, select the Mark as expired checkbox.
  3. Select Update.

Create data asset attributes using APIs

Data asset attributes can be programmatically created and applied using the business metadata APIs in Apache Atlas 2.2. For more information, see the Use Atlas 2.2 APIs tutorial.

Best practices for using data asset attributes

Use data asset attributes to extend the fields available for an asset in the Microsoft Purview Unified Catalog. Data asset attributes are key-value pairs that add structured metadata to your catalog. When Microsoft Purview scans data, it adds technical information about the data, such as data type and classification. If you want to add more fields, you’ll need to define data asset attributes.

As an example: A data asset attribute lets a user tag tables with the department that publishes them. Data asset attributes are used because a user wants to make sure assets are always tagged in exactly the same way with this information. The user also wants to filter by the publisher field when they search for data.

The data asset attribute in this example helps users quickly find all data published by a team, but doesn't help someone understand the definition of a publisher or what it means if the team is the publisher of the data. For any information that needs a business explanation, use glossary terms.