System objects

The Data Catalog uses four default system objects to organize and manage metadata across your data source systems:

• System metadata
• Schemas
• Tables
• Columns

Overview of System Types

You can manage systems in two ways:

1. Linked System (With External Database Connection)
   Connect to an external database to automatically extract and populate schemas, tables, and columns.
2. Custom System (Without Database Connection)
   Manually define your system’s structure and link Datasets to populate the Columns metadata.

Create a Linked System (With External Database Connection)

Follow these steps to connect to an external database and automatically extract metadata:

1. Go to Systems and click Create new System.
2. Enter a Name and Description.
3. Set Define connection to Yes.
4. Configure the JDBC External System connection. Refer here for connection setup instructions.

5. Click Save.
6. Submit the system for Approval. Refer here for more details.
7. Once approved, open the system’s hamburger menu and select Refresh System Metadata.

8. Review the extracted Schemas, Tables, and Columns.
9. Once the table(s) has been synced, you can link a dataset to it. To do so, locate the table record, click on the hamburger menu, and select Link Dataset.

Create a Custom System (Without Database Connection)

Follow these steps to manually define a system, for example when working with datasets from external sources such as flat files:

1. Go to Systems and click Create new System.
2. Enter a Name and Description, then click Save.
3. Navigate to Schemas and click Create new Schema.
4. Enter a Schema Name, select the System you just created, and provide a Description. Click Save.
5. Go to Tables and click Create new Table.
6. Enter the Table Name, select the System and Schema, and provide a Description and Type. Click Save.
7. Locate the newly created table, click the hamburger menu, and select Link Dataset.
8. Choose the Space where the dataset is stored, then select the Dataset.
9. Click Link.
10. Navigate to Columns to view the auto-populated columns from the linked dataset.

Delete a System

Follow these steps to remove a system and all its associated metadata:

1. Navigate to Systems.
2. Click the hamburger menu of the system you want to delete and select Delete.

Profile Datasets in the Data Catalog

Once a dataset has been linked to a table, you can generate a data profile to assess data quality, understand column characteristics, and support ongoing analysis.
The profiling results are stored within the table record for tracking and comparison over time.

Follow these steps to run a profile:

1. In the Tables view, locate the table you want to profile.
2. Click the hamburger menu on the right and select Profile Table. Alternatively:
   • Click the Table Name to open the table record.
   • Navigate to the Profile tab.
   • Click Run Profile.

The profile results are stored for future reference, allowing you to analyze, compare, and monitor data quality over time.