Exporting information assets

You can export properties and custom attributes of an information asset type by using a file that is in a comma-separated value (CSV) format.

Before you begin

You must have the Information Governance Catalog Information Asset Administrator role.

About this task

You can export properties of information assets to an archive file that is in a CSV format by using either the Export or the Export Asset Values method. You can change the values of some properties by editing them in the archive file. You can also change custom attribute values that are applied to the asset itself. You cannot change custom attribute values that are inherited from a parent asset.

Use the following table to determine which export method to use.

Table 1. Information asset properties and custom attributes that are exported by each export method
Information asset type	Export	Export Asset Values
Extension mapping documents	All mapping rows in the extension mapping document Custom attributes	All properties in the Header section of the Details page of the asset: Name Short description Long Description Labels Stewards Assigned to Terms Implements Rules Governed by Rules All custom attributes in the General Information section
Extended data sources	Properties in Header section of the Details page of the asset: Name Short description All assets in the Object Types section and their children No custom attributes in the General Information section	All properties in Header section of the Details page of the asset: Name Short description Long Description Labels Stewards Assigned to Terms Implements Rules Governed by Rules All custom attributes in the General Information section
All other information assets	N/A	All properties in Header section of the Details page of the asset: Name Short description Long Description Labels Stewards Assigned to Terms Implements Rules Governed by Rules All custom attributes in the General Information section that are assigned to the asset itself No custom attributes in the General Information section that are inherited from a parent asset

For information about the supported asset types for which you can export asset values, see Asset types that you can import and export.

Procedure

Click Catalog.
Click Information Assets.
In the Select an asset type field, type in the asset type whose values you want to export. Click the icon of the asset type.
In the Browse window, select the assets that you want to export, and then select either Export or Export Asset Values from the menu.

Example

You need to import all database table assets to a different instance of IBM InfoSphere Information Governance Catalog. You export values of all information assets of type database tables to a CSV file by using the Export Asset Values method. Next, you change the steward assignments in the CSV file. All asset names, asset types, and stewards exist in the second instance. You select the merge option Replace existing values with the imported values. You note the following results of the import:

A message that states how many rows were imported is displayed.
A value that exists in the catalog, but does not exist in the imported CSV file, is not deleted from the catalog.
If the custom attribute values are the same, the custom attribute values are not imported.
Values that are the same except for their case are considered to be the same value. For example, if the value of a custom attribute is Blue in the catalog and the value blue is in the import file, the value blue is not imported.
If a property can have multiple values, the imported values are appended to any existing values in the catalog. Rows of values are displayed in the order that they were entered or imported.