Data Lineage in Dataedo Portal
After you configure Data Lineage in Dataedo Desktop, you will be able to browse the interactive diagrams in Portal.
Viewing diagrams
Data Lineage diagrams are available for tables, views, structures, procedures, and functions. Aggregated diagrams are also available for data sources, Domains and Areas, and Data Products. You can find them in the Data lineage tab of an object.
Navigating through diagrams
Different object types are marked with different icons on diagrams ( , , , , , ). Additionally, we have a few tips that can help you use Data Lineage effectively:
- click an object to track its flows.
- hover over an object and click the lineage icon to open the diagram in that object's context. The preview icon opens the object's details in a side panel.
- click the blue button on the side of an object to load its next level of inflows (left) or outflows (right).
- use your mouse wheel to zoom in and out.
- drag the graph to focus on the most interesting area.
The legend in the bottom-right corner of the diagram shows how automatic and manual lineage are drawn.
Mouse, touchpad, and keyboard
Lineage diagrams share their navigation with other diagrams in Dataedo, such as ERDs or execution flows. You can use the following gestures and shortcuts:
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Mouse wheel or two-finger swipe on a touchpad | Zoom in and out around the cursor |
| Ctrl/Cmd + mouse wheel | Scroll the diagram vertically |
| Shift + mouse wheel | Scroll the diagram horizontally |
| Drag with the left mouse button over an empty area | Move the diagram |
| Drag with the right or middle mouse button, or hold Space and drag with the left mouse button | Move the diagram, even over objects |
| Ctrl/Cmd + + / Ctrl/Cmd + - | Zoom in / zoom out |
| Ctrl/Cmd + 0 | Reset the zoom to 100% |
| Alt/Option + 1 | Fit the whole diagram to the screen |
Zoom ranges from 10% to 400%. Keyboard shortcuts work when your cursor is over the diagram and you are not typing in a text field.
Loading next levels
At first, the diagram shows the objects directly connected to the object you are viewing. To load the next level of inflows or outflows for every object at the edge of the diagram at once, use the tabs on the left and right edges of the diagram. Each tab shows how many objects the next level will add.
You can also expand lineage levels of individual nodes using the small arrow next to the object's name.
While a level is loading, you will see placeholders of the objects that are about to appear, so the diagram does not jump around once the data arrives.
An object reached through several paths on the same level is drawn only once — all of its inflows lead to the same node.
Connection counters
The gray strips on the sides of an object show how many objects already visible on the diagram it receives data from (left) or sends data to (right). Hover over a counter to highlight the lines leading to those objects. Click a counter to keep the lines highlighted — they go back to normal once you click the counter again or click an empty area of the diagram.
If a side of an object still has a level to load, you will see the blue expand button instead of a counter.
Grouped objects
To keep large diagrams readable, objects from the same data source that appear on the same level of the diagram are grouped into a single tile, as long as there are at least two of them. The tile's header shows the data source, and the objects inside are divided into sections by type (for example, Tables or Views), sorted alphabetically.
An object in a group works just like a regular object on the diagram. You can load its next levels (which are grouped again), expand its columns, and see its indicators. When you hover over an object, you can open its preview or navigate to its own lineage diagram.
- click a section's header to collapse or expand it.
- a section shows its first 5 objects. Use the Show N more button below them to display the rest, 20 at a time.
- Expand all nodes and Collapse all nodes also expand and collapse the columns of grouped objects.
- when you click an object or a column, the objects its flow passes through are shown even if their section is collapsed.
Processors, the object whose lineage you are viewing, and objects you have just added using manual lineage are never grouped.
Which flows are on diagrams?
Depending on what subpage you are on, the diagram contains different objects. By "Lineage for a given object," we mean a recursive summary of all inflows and a recursive summary of all outflows.
In the example above, data flows from left to right. "Lineage for C" contains all flows marked in black and does not contain flows marked in gray.
Context and details
You can tell that you are in the context of an object because it is marked with the Base tag. You can expand objects to see a detailed lineage view or click a lineage line to highlight connected objects:
| Context | What is visible? |
|---|---|
| Table, view, procedure, function, structure | Lineage for the selected object. |
| Data source | Lineage for all objects in the selected data source. |
| Domain, Area | Lineage for all objects linked to a Domain or Area (including nested Areas, if Include nested areas is selected). |
| Data Product | Lineage for all objects linked to a Data Product. |
Data source, Domain, Area, and Data Product diagrams
On aggregated diagrams, all objects of the data source, Domain, Area, or Data Product are placed inside a frame marked with the Base tag. Objects outside it, which send data into the frame or receive data from it, are placed on both sides of the frame. Just like on an object's diagram, you can load their next levels.
To keep the frame readable, only the objects through which the data enters or leaves the frame are shown right away. Other objects are grouped (and hidden) into two sections:
- Pass-through objects — objects that participate in the lineage that goes beyond the scope you are viewing (either via an inflow or an outflow). In other words, objects in collapsed flows are intermediaries in the data flow, pushing and pulling mostly unchanged data before it finally leaves or after it enters the scope you are in. A very common occurrence in this section can be, for example, Data loops that feed the data between each other, before it can be transferred in the lineage.
- Internal flows — lineage flows between objects in the scope you are viewing that never go beyond it. One way to think of it is as local lineage — flows between objects within the data source or Data Product that never go further.
Click a section to show the objects grouped within it. Clicking the section's header or the arrow next to it hides them again. Just like with other nodes in data lineage, you can click the nodes and links within the flow groupings to highlight their lineage.
Objects from outside the frame
If data flows out of the frame, through an object from another data source, and then back into the frame, that object is placed inside the frame, on the path of the data. It is marked with the Outside this data source tag (or Outside this domain, Outside this area, Outside this data product). The same applies to processors from other data sources when you use the via processors lineage view.
Data loops
If data flows between objects in a cycle — for example, two tables feed each other — the objects of the loop are marked with the Data loop badge. Hover over the badge to see the whole round of the loop: its objects, the processes that move the data on, and the way back to the start. You can open the lineage of each object or process directly from the tooltip.
Domains, Areas, and Data Products
Domains, Areas, and Data Products have their own Data lineage tab. Their diagrams work just like data source diagrams — all linked assets are placed in a frame marked with the Base tag, with the objects sending data to them or receiving data from them on both sides. There are a few differences:
- the frame contains assets linked directly, as well as assets of Data Products linked to a Domain or Area.
- in Domains and Areas, assets of nested Areas are included only if the Include nested areas option is selected.
- since the assets can come from different data sources, each group tile in the frame is named after its data source, and each object shows the data source it belongs to.
- if a whole data source or Data Product is linked to a Domain, Area, or Data Product, it is shown as a separate block inside the frame. The block's header shows its name and the number of its assets. Collapse a block to show it as a single card, or expand it to see all of its assets, together with its own Collapsed flows and Flows that stay inside.
- if an asset belongs to several Data Products on the diagram, it is marked with their names. Hover over them to see the full list.
- objects from outside the Domain, Area, or Data Product that the data passes through between its assets are marked with the Outside this domain, Outside this area, or Outside this data product tag.
- like the other aggregated diagrams, these diagrams cannot be edited — use the diagrams of individual objects to add manual lineage.
Domain and data product lineage
Lineage settings
Lineage diagrams have an options section that lets you manually edit lineage and decide what information you want to see. Those options can be accessed by clicking the gear icon on the diagram.
Lineage mode
Switching from View to Edit mode allows you to manually edit Data Lineage in Portal. This option is available only on diagrams of individual objects.
Lineage view
Decide whether the diagram shows only the objects the data flows between (Direct) or also the processors that move the data (via processors).
Columns shown
This option decides whether only relevant columns or all columns of an object are displayed when you expand its node.
Layers
In the Layers section, you can use the toggles to decide whether lines between columns are drawn (Column lines), and which Data Lineage indicators you want to display on your diagrams.
Processes views
You can also switch between a lineage diagram and a Processes view. This is possible using the tabs in the top-left corner.
There is also a supplementary third view, which is available for some objects. This view is the External Processes view, showing a list of all processes your object participates in either as an inflow or an outflow, but not the processor itself.
