Associate Catalog Fields with Data Products

Alation Cloud Service Applies to Alation Cloud Service instances of Alation

Overview

Catalog fields integration connects data products to custom field metadata stored in the Alation catalog. It allows you to surface information such as data classification, domains, or sensitivity directly on a data product, helping users understand the data included in it.

Two Data Products App roles work together to configure catalog fields:

  • Marketplace Admin configures which catalog fields are available to all data products in the Marketplace and defines how values are aggregated.

  • Data Product Admin selects those fields for specific data products and determines how they appear to users.

In this topic:

Prerequisites

  • The custom fields and their values you want to use on data products exist in the Alation catalog.

  • The custom field values have been applied to the table and column objects included into data products.

Configure Catalog Fields at the Marketplace Level

Marketplace Admins define which catalog fields are available to all data products.

Add a Catalog Field to the Marketplace

  1. Access the Data Products App.

  2. In the left-side navigation, select Manage > Manage Marketplace.

  3. On the Overview tab, locate the Catalog Integration section.

  4. Click Manage.

  5. In the dialog that opens:

    1. Click +New Field.

    2. From the Related catalog field list, select a relevant field.

      Note

      Only Picker-type fields are supported and available for selection.

  6. Select an Aggregation Rule. See Configure Aggregation Rules below.

  7. Click Save, then Done.

After the fields have been added to the Marketplace, they become available to Data Product Admins in the data product settings.

Configure Aggregation Rules

Aggregation rules define how values from tables and columns are assigned to the data product.

Choose one of the following:

  • One or more assets have selected value

    • Assigns the selected value to the data product if at least one table or column has it. For example, if any of the columns have the value PII = yes, the rule will set PII = yes on the data product.

    • Select the required value from the Selected value list.

  • All values

    • Assigns all unique values found across assets to the data product. For example, if across tables and columns in the data product, the value of Business Unit is either Credits or Loans, the rule will assign both values to the data product.

    • You do not need to configure any additional settings.

  • Most assets have a value

    • Assigns a value to the data product from the specified percentage of data assets. For example, if Criticality for 80% of columns is set to High, the rule will assign the value Criticality = High to the data product.

    • Enter a percentage for the threshold (from 1 to 100) in the Threshold (%) field.

Add Multiple Fields

You can add as many fields as needed:

  1. Click +New Field again to add more fields.

  2. Repeat the rule configuration steps for each field.

Delete Catalog Fields from the Marketplace

To remove a field so it is no longer available to any data products:

  1. Access the Data Products App.

  2. In the left-side navigation, select Manage > Manage Marketplace.

  3. On the Overview tab, locate the Catalog Integration section.

  4. Click Manage.

  5. In the dialog, search for or locate the field you want to remove and expand its card.

  6. Click Delete. The field is removed from the Marketplace configuration.

  7. Click Done.

The field will no longer be available for selection in data products. Existing data product values associated with this field are also removed.

Add Catalog Fields to Data Products

Data Product Admins select and configure fields for individual data products.

Add a Catalog Field

  1. Access the Data Products App.

  2. In the App’s menu, select My Data Products.

  3. In the Data Products table, click the data product you want to assign the catalog fields to. The data product settings page opens.

  4. Open the Content tab.

  5. Open the Catalog Fields sub-tab.

  6. Click Add Catalog Field and select a field from the list. The field is added to the settings under Catalog Fields.

    Note

    This button is enabled only if the Marketplace has configured catalog fields. See Configure Catalog Fields at the Marketplace Level for details.

  7. Select a value (if required).

The aggregation rule defined at the Marketplace level is applied automatically.

View Value Details

Users can inspect field values for each asset used in the data product:

  1. On the field card under Catalog Fields, click the View details icon in the top right corner.

  2. Review:

    • Values per table and column

    • How the aggregated value is derived

This helps verify whether the rule applies correctly based on underlying data.

Remove a Catalog Field from a Data Product

To remove a field from a specific data product:

  1. Access the Data Products App.

  2. In the App’s menu, select My Data Products.

  3. In the Data Products table, click the data product you want to remove the catalog fields from. The data product settings page opens.

  4. Open the Content tab.

  5. Open the Catalog Fields sub-tab.

  6. Locate the field you want to remove.

  7. Click Delete on the field card. The field is removed from the data product. The field no longer appears on the data product page.

View Catalog Fields on the Data Product Page

To see the associated fields on the data product’s page:

  1. Open the data product from the Marketplace.

  2. The associated catalog field values appear on the right side of the page. Each field shows the assigned value and a Details view with per-table and per-column breakdown.