Alation Catalog Custom Fields

Overview

The Alation - Catalog Custom Fields set adds an Alation section to the Validatar catalog at data source, schema, table and column level. These fields hold what Alation knows about each object: its Alation key and link, title, description, tags, domains, stewards and trust flag.

The Alation metadata script fills the fields from Alation. The Alation Data Source Template reads two of them when it publishes Validatar results to Alation Data Health. Both are part of the Alation Integration.

Marketplace: Alation - Catalog Custom Fields

Alation descriptions and tags land in their own fields. Validatar's own Description and Tags are never touched, so nothing your team maintains in Validatar is overwritten.

Fields

Level	Field	Reference key	Type
Data source	Alation Data Source ID	`alation_data_source_id`	Short text
Data source	Alation Data Source Link	`alation_data_source_url`	Short text
Data source	Alation Connector	`alation_connector`	Short text
Data source	Alation Data Source Synced	`alation_data_source_synced`	Date
Schema	Alation Schema Key	`alation_schema_key`	Short text
Schema	Alation Schema Link	`alation_schema_url`	Short text
Schema	Alation Schema Description	`alation_schema_description`	Paragraph
Schema	Alation Schema Domains	`alation_schema_domains`	Tag list
Schema	Alation Schema Synced	`alation_schema_synced`	Date
Table	Alation Key	`alation_key`	Short text
Table	Alation ID	`alation_id`	Short text
Table	Alation Link	`alation_url`	Short text
Table	Alation Title	`alation_title`	Short text
Table	Alation Description	`alation_description`	Paragraph
Table	Alation Tags	`alation_tags`	Tag list
Table	Alation Domains	`alation_domains`	Tag list
Table	Alation Steward Names	`alation_steward_names`	Paragraph
Table	Alation Stewards	`alation_stewards`	User/group list
Table	Alation Trust Flag	`alation_trust_flag`	Dropdown: None, Endorsement, Warning, Deprecation, Multiple
Table	Alation Flag Reason	`alation_flag_reason`	Paragraph
Table	Alation Last Synced	`alation_last_synced`	Date
Table	Publish Scores to Alation	`alation_publish_scores`	Dropdown: Yes, No
Column	Alation Column Key	`alation_column_key`	Short text
Column	Alation Column Link	`alation_column_url`	Short text
Column	Alation Column Description	`alation_column_description`	Paragraph
Column	Alation Column Tags	`alation_column_tags`	Tag list
Column	Alation Column Synced	`alation_column_synced`	Date

Table fields have the short names, and the fields at every other level name their level. Validatar requires a custom field's name and reference key to be unique across all catalog levels, so the schema's key field is alation_schema_key rather than a second alation_key.

What fills each field

The Alation metadata script fills every field except two. You choose which fields it sends, and whether it covers columns, at the top of the script.
Alation Stewards is a user/group field. The script fills it only when you list the stewards who are Validatar users, because Validatar rejects a whole run that names an unknown user. Alation Steward Names carries every steward as text.
Publish Scores to Alation is set by your team, not by the script. Set it to No on a table to keep that table out of Alation Data Health when Validatar publishes.
Alation Key on a table is how the batch publishing macro finds the table in Alation when it is filled. Without it, the macro matches schema and table names inside the Alation data source that the template's connection map names.

The Alation section on a table in the Validatar catalog

Import the fields

You need Govern Edition and the Global Custom Metadata Admin role.

From the marketplace (recommended)

In Validatar, open Marketplace and find Alation - Catalog Custom Fields.
Choose Get, then Import Directly. Validatar opens Settings > Catalog Custom Fields with the Alation section ready to import.
Choose Import All, then Save.
Check the Data Source, Schema, Table and Column levels on that page. Each should now have an Alation section with the fields listed above.

From the downloaded file

If a level has no Alation section after the marketplace import, or you are moving the set between Validatar instances:

Choose Get, then Download XML.
In Settings > Catalog Custom Fields, open the level, choose Import, select the file and choose Next.
Choose Import All, then Save. Repeat for each level.

Note: Import before the first run of the metadata script. Validatar ignores a script column whose field does not exist, so the run succeeds but the value is not stored.

Add your own Alation fields

To bring another Alation custom field across, such as Data Owner, add a table-level field in the Alation section with a reference key that no other level uses, for example alation_data_owner. Then name it in the metadata script:

ALATION_CUSTOM_FIELDS = {
    "Data Owner": "alation_data_owner",
}