Custom attributes

Custom attributes are properties that you create to use with assets. You create custom attributes when the standard properties of assets, such as name and description, are insufficient or do not meet your business needs.

Overview

Each custom attribute has a name, a description, and asset types that the custom attribute can be applied to. The data type of the value of the custom attribute can be text, predefined values, date, number, or relationship. By default, a custom attribute contains a single value. Alternatively, you can choose to allow multiple values. The custom attribute values can be predefined for the user to select from.

Custom attributes can be applied to glossary assets, information assets, and collections. Custom attributes of glossary assets and of information assets can be imported, exported, edited, and deleted. You can edit the custom attribute values of an asset when you edit the asset.

Some information assets can have child assets. When you assign a custom attribute to such an asset, you can choose to apply the custom attribute to all of the child assets. For example, the hierarchy of the child assets of host is: database, schema, database table, column. If you assign a custom attribute to a database table, you can choose to display the custom attribute to all columns of that database table.

Relationship type

Custom attributes can be used to define a relationship between assets. As an example, you need to distinguish between business owners, data scientist owners, and security owners of catalog assets. The asset type steward does not differentiate between these types. You create a custom attribute of type Relationship. The custom attribute name is Has Security Owner. The custom attribute is applied to the asset type term, and to the asset type host and all of its child assets. The name of the custom attribute to define the reverse relationship is Is Security Owner Of. The custom attribute is applied to the asset type steward. In the Details page of a host asset, the custom attribute Has Security Owner is shown with the stewards that are security owners of the host asset. In the Details page of the steward, the custom attribute Is Security Owner Of is shown with the terms, hosts, database schemas, database tables, and database columns that the steward is the security owner of.

Restrictions

You can create a restriction and apply it to an asset type when you do not want a custom attribute to be available for all assets of the selected type. For example, you create a custom attribute Data Sensitivity, but you want to apply it only to terms which contain word document in the name. You create a restriction with a condition that name must contain document. As a result, the Data Sensitivity custom attribute is available only for the terms which have document in name. In the relationship type, you can also add restrictions for the target relationship asset types.

When you modify an existing restriction, custom attribute values already assigned to assets are not deleted, even when the asset to which they are assigned do not match the new restriction. You can configure settings so that the values are validated when you modify restrictions and deleted when they do not match the new restrictions. Go to the IS_install_path\ASBServer\bin directory and run the following command:
  • Windows:
    iisAdmin.bat -set -key com.ibm.iis.gov.vr.setting.cleanCAValuesAfterRestrictionUpdate -value true
  • Linux
    iisAdmin.sh -set -key com.ibm.iis.gov.vr.setting.cleanCAValuesAfterRestrictionUpdate -value true
After you run the command, restart IBM® WebSphere® Application Server.
As a result, when you modify the existing restriction and save the changes, when a value is assigned to an asset that no longer matches the new restrictions, such value is deleted from the asset, and the custom attribute is no longer available for this asset.
Important: The values are deleted only when a definition of a custom attribute is modified. When the assets that you use for the conditions of a restriction change, values are not deleted. For example, when Data Sensitivity custom attribute that is mentioned earlier is applied to term Bank 2 Documents, and you change the name of the term to Bank 2 Files, even though the term name no longer matches the restriction name contains document , the value of the custom attribute is not deleted. If you do not want the Data Sensitivity custom attribute to be assigned to term Bank 2 Files, you must remove it manually.
Note: Restrictions cannot be exported and imported.

Translations

You can create translations for your custom attributes by using REST API. For details, see the PDF file REST API: Tips, tricks, and time-savers.