Overview
Metadata Reference Custom Fields allow you to create structured links between objects in your Validatar Catalog and Projects. Unlike free-text fields, these fields reference existing metadata objects, enabling richer documentation, relationship tracking, and automation across your data landscape.
Two types of Metadata Reference Custom Fields are available:
- Table Metadata Reference – references to tables in your Catalog.
- Column Metadata Reference – references to columns in your Catalog.
You can add either type of Metadata Reference at any level within Validatar, including:
- Catalog: Data Sources, Schemas, Tables, Columns
- Projects: Projects, Tests, Jobs, Labels
This flexibility allows you to model keys, dependencies, and other relationships directly within your metadata.
Creating a Metadata Reference Field
When creating a Metadata Reference field, you configure the following:
1. Basic Details
- Name – The display name of the field (e.g., Business Keys, Foreign Key, Source Tables).
- Reference Key – The unique key to identify the field internally.
- Description (optional) – Additional context about the field.
2. Scope Limitation
Control which metadata objects can be selected by limiting the reference to a level of your choosing:
- Any Data Source – Allow referencing any object across all data sources.
- Same Data Source – Restrict selection to objects within the same data source.
- Same Schema – Restrict selection to objects within the same schema.
- Same Table – Restrict selection to objects within the same table.
This ensures references are meaningful and appropriately scoped.
3. Value Cardinality
Decide whether the field accepts a single value or multiple values:
- Single Value – One reference per field (e.g., a foreign key column mapping to exactly one column).
- Multiple Values – Many references per field (e.g., business keys spanning multiple columns).
Examples
Example 1: Business Keys
- Type: Column Metadata Reference
- Level: Table
- Scope: Same Table
- Cardinality: Multiple Values
Use this to capture the business key columns of a table, such as AccountID and ClientID.
Example 2: Foreign Key
- Type: Column Metadata Reference
- Level: Column
- Scope: Same Data Source
- Cardinality: Single Value
Use this to document a foreign key relationship from a column in one table to a column in another table within the same data source.
Example 3: Source Tables
- Type: Table Metadata Reference
- Level: Table
- Scope: Unlimited
- Cardinality: Multiple Values
Use this to document a table’s original sources, potentially spanning multiple data sources.
Using Metadata Reference Fields
Once created, Metadata Reference Custom Fields appear alongside your other custom fields in the Catalog and Projects. When editing an object (e.g., a table or column), you can now select actual metadata objects rather than typing free text.
This enables:
- Clearer documentation of keys and relationships.
- Automation opportunities for testing and templating.
- Consistent references across Catalog and Project contexts.
For example:
- At the table level, you might document business keys (
AccountID,ClientID). - At the column level, you might document a foreign key relationship (
DimAccount.ClientID → RawAccount.ClientID). - At the table level, you might specify source tables that feed into a transformed table.
Benefits
- Consistency – Reference existing objects instead of manually retyping names.
- Automation – Drive dynamic templates tests off metadata references.
- Flexibility – Apply to Catalog or Project objects at any level.