Explore the Compound Layout Lineage View¶
Alation Cloud Service Applies to Alation Cloud Service instances of Alation
Customer Managed Applies to customer-managed instances of Alation
Important
You are viewing documentation for Classic Alation.
The Compound Layout lineage view is a lineage visualization that clusters related lineage nodes by data source, allowing users to navigate complex data relationships and focus on specific areas of interest. The Compound Layout view is available on the Lineage tab of catalog pages for tables, views, BI, and file system objects.
To switch to the Compound Layout view, activate the Use Compound Layout View toggle on top of the lineage chart area.
You can explore the compound layout view using these capabilities:
Highlight Nodes and Lineage Paths¶
When you initially open the Lineage tab for a catalog object, this main object is highlighted in blue. You can click any node or dataflow object on the chart: this will shift the blue highlighting to the element you click to indicate that it’s selected and currently in the focus. The lineage paths to and from the object will also become highlighted, allowing you to visually trace the data flow.
You can view information about the selected object in the object preview area under the chart.
View Node Object Details¶
The lineage chart is divided into two sections: the chart area and the object preview pane under the chart.
Note
If an object doesn’t exist in the data catalog, the preview pane will tell you that there’s no data associated with this object. This is the case for temporary and external objects:
If the object doesn’t exist but its type is supported by Alation, the object will be marked with the TMP (temporary) badge.
If the object doesn’t exist and its type isn’t supported by Alation, then the object is marked with the EXT (external) badge.
When you select a node on the lineage chart, a preview of the corresponding catalog page loads into the preview area. To go to the catalog page of the selected node, click on the “Go to” button next to the object name.
The screenshot below shows the chart and preview areas:
The chart area: 1
The object preview area: 2
Navigation to the catalog page of the selected object: 3
View Dataflow Content¶
The Compound Layout View doesn’t display dataflow objects to save space. Transformations are represented by expansion icons on lineage paths. Click on an expansion icon to view the dataflow object information in the object preview area below the chart.
Move the Chart Within the Chart Area¶
You can focus on specific parts of the chart by dragging the chart around within the chart area.
To move the chart, place the cursor on the chart area, press and hold, and then drag the chart.
Enter Full-Screen Mode¶
You can view the chart in full-screen mode.
Click the Fullscreen button to open the full-screen mode of the chart.
Full-screen mode has the same features as normal mode. Additionally, you can dock the object details area on the bottom or on the right.
Dock the object preview at the bottom—4
Dock the object preview on the right side—5
You can exit from the full-screen view any time by clicking the Close button on the top right of the fullscreen window.
Use the Chart Control Panel¶
You can interact with the lineage chart using a number of view controls in a panel in the bottom right corner.
Use the plus icon to zoom in—1
Use the minus icon to zoom out—2
Use the Center icon to center the main node on the chart area. The main node is the object that you’re viewing the catalog page for—3
Open the Chart Minimap—4
Open the Chart Legend—5
Chart Minimap¶
Alation Cloud Service on the cloud-native architecture
You can move around lineage charts using the minimap navigational feature:
Click the Minimap icon to open the minimap. A gray rectangular segment on the map tracks the section of the lineage chart that you are currently viewing.
Position the cursor over the gray segment, press and hold, then drag it across the map. The lineage chart will update to display the corresponding area of lineage.
To close the minimap, click the the Minimap icon again.
Chart Legend¶
Alation Cloud Service on the cloud-native architecture
You can bring up the chart legend that explains all the icons currently displayed on the chart:
Click the Legend icon to open the legend.
To list through the icon types (icons, logos, labels), use the list on the right.
To close the legend, click the the Legend icon again.
Trace Column Lineage¶
By default, lineage charts show lineage at the table level, but you can also trace column-level lineage for each column:
Expand a lineage node by clicking the arrow icon. A list of the columns appears.
Hover over a column name. A Trace Lineage button appears beside the column.
Click the Trace Lineage button. As the column-level view is being loaded, a message appears on bottom right of the screen:
When the view is ready, the View Lineage button becomes available for the corresponding column. Click View Lineage to enter the Column Trace View, which shows the lineage for this column.
You can switch between the Column Trace View and the Full Lineage view by clicking their respective tabs at the top of the lineage chart.
Apply Filters¶
You have the ability to show or hide temporary nodes from lineage charts and to select whether to display technical names of nodes or their business titles.
Filter Out Temporary Objects¶
Alation creates temporary nodes when the corresponding objects are present in the lineage metadata but don’t exist in the Alation catalog, so a record in the metadata can’t be matched with a cataloged resource. On lineage charts, temporary objects are represented with nodes with the TMP badge. By default, they are hidden from Compound Layout.
You have the ability to show or hide temporary objects:
Click the Filters button in the top left corner of the chart to open the Filter Lineage dialog.
Under the Temp Objects filter, select the Show radio button.
Click Apply. The nodes with the TMP badges will be displayed.
To hide temporary objects:
Click the Filters button to open the Filter Lineage dialog.
In the Temp Objects filter, select the Hide radio button.
Click Apply. The temporary nodes will be hidden from the chart.
Display Name or Title¶
Applies from version 2024.1.1
You can choose to display either the technical name or the title of an object on the chart:
Title is the value of the Title field on the catalog page of an object. This is an editable name given to the object by users who curate catalog pages, which can also be modified via API.
Technical name is the name of a catalog object that originates in the metadata extracted from the source. Technical names cannot be edited by catalog users.
By default, technical names are used as labels on lineage nodes.
To switch between the name or the title:
Navigate to the catalog page of an object and open the Lineage tab.
Click Use Compound Layout to switch to the compound layout view.
In the top left corner of the chart area, click Filters to open the Filter Lineage dialog.
Under Display Name or Title, choose:
Name to use technical names.
Business Title to use catalog titles.
Click Apply to update the node labels in the lineage chart. If an object doesn’t have a title, its technical name will be displayed.
Note
The label change applies to the current user and only affects the current view of the chart. Navigating away from the object’s catalog page or refreshing the page will revert the display to the default view.
Apply Metadata Layers¶
A metadata layer is an additional visual overlay on the Compound Layout view that allows for visualizing additional metadata, such as trust flag information, data quality indicators, or values of custom fields. Users apply metadata layers by selecting them from the Metadata Layer list on the chart.
By default, no metadata layers are visible.
You can select and display one metadata layer at a time. You have the following options:
Details on the currently displayed indicators are available in the Metadata Layer Summary.
Trust flags¶
Applies from version 2024.1
You have the ability to apply the trust flags information to the chart as an additional metadata layer.
To apply the Trust Flags metadata layer:
Locate the Metadata Layer list on the top left of the lineage chart in the compound layout view. By default, no metadata layers are selected.
Click the down arrow to open the list of available metadata layers.
Select a layer to display. You can display one trust flag layer at a time.
Deprecation Flags—Display the deprecation flags. Deprecation is propagated from source objects to target objects and from parent objects to child objects.
Warning Flags—Display the warning flags added directly to the object. This option doesn’t display the warnings that are propagated from deprecation flags on source or parent objects.
All Warning Flags—Display all the warning flags, including propagated warnings.
Endorsement Flags—Display the endorsement flags.
When you select a layer, it is applied to the chart.
To remove a metadata layer from the chart, open the Metadata Layer list and click the Reset link in the top right corner.
Data Quality¶
The data quality metadata layer shows the data quality values on the Data quality Tab of an object.
To apply the Data Quality metadata layer:
Click the down arrow of the Metadata Layer list to open the list of available metadata layers.
Under Data Quality, select Data Quality.
The data quality indicators will appear near the nodes where they exist for the corresponding object.
There are three types of indicators:
Alert—Red
Warning—Yellow
No quality issues—Green
For example, the screenshot below shows a data quality alert (red indicator).
Data quality propagation on lineage charts uses the same logic as the Data Quality tab.
Data Quality Propagation on Lineage Charts¶
If there exists a data quality value for an object, it is also propagated to the downstream objects. This applies only if the lineage is present when the data quality values are created. The total data quality count will be the sum of upstream data quality values and the object’s own data quality values. Propagation will happen only between source to target parent nodes (data quality values are not propagated to leaf nodes like RDBMS columns, BI datasource fields, or BI report fields).
Custom Fields (Beta)¶
Available from version 2024.3.1
The custom fields metadata layers show custom field values that were configured to appear on lineage charts. Custom Field metadata layers are not available unless they have been configured. Users with the Server Admin and Catalog Admin roles perform the configuration: Configure Custom Fields Metadata Layer (Beta).
Note
Only the Picker field type can be used as the Custom Field metadata layer.
To apply the custom field metadata layers:
Click the down arrow of the Metadata Layer list to open the list of available metadata layers.
Under Custom Fields, select the field that you want to display. Each field is displayed as a separate layer. You can display one field at a time.
You will see the field value displayed on top of the nodes where the corresponding objects have it.
Note
If the custom field value has been set via a catalog set, it won’t appear on lineage charts.
View Metadata Layer Summary¶
After you display a metadata layer on the chart, you can view more information about the corresponding indicator in the metadata summary.
To view the summary:
On the compound layout view, click on the metadata layer indicator (a trust flag, a quality indicator, or a custom field value). The summary pop-up will appear, displaying the following information:
Description
Stewards
Upstream and downstream connections
Last updated
Specific metadata layer details
From the Trust Flag layer summary, you can further explore the upstream or downstream impact of the lineage node by viewing the corresponding tabular lineage reports. To view the reports, click the report icon under Upstream Connections or Downstream Connections.
Use Tabular Lineage Reports¶
Applies from release 2021.1
You can view the downstream or upstream lineage of an object in a tabular format. See Leverage Lineage Impact Analysis.