In Google Cloud Dataplex, the Catalog is a key component for organizing and managing metadata for data assets. Here’s how Tags, Aspects, and Entity Details are used in the Dataplex Catalog:
1. Tags
Tags in Dataplex Catalog are metadata annotations that help categorize and provide additional context to assets. They are often used for:
• Data classification (e.g., “PII”, “Confidential”)
• Ownership & Governance (e.g., “Finance Team”, “Compliance Required”)
• Quality indicators (e.g., “Verified”, “Needs Review”)
Tags can be assigned at different levels, such as tables, files, and entities, to help in searching, filtering, and managing metadata effectively.
2. Aspects
Aspects represent specific metadata categories or attributes that describe a data entity. They help structure metadata into different dimensions. Examples include:
• Technical aspects (e.g., schema, data format)
• Business aspects (e.g., data owner, usage policies)
• Operational aspects (e.g., freshness, update frequency)
Aspects provide a structured way to enrich metadata, making it easier to discover and manage assets in Dataplex.
3. Entity Details
An Entity in the Dataplex Catalog represents a logical abstraction of a data asset. The Entity Details include:
• Type: Table, File, Stream, etc.
• Location: Cloud Storage, BigQuery, or another storage system
• Schema: Columns, data types, and descriptions
• Lineage & Relations: Connections to other datasets
Entity details help in data discovery, governance, and integration across different Google Cloud services.
Would you like to explore how these concepts fit into your data governance strategy?