Diagram
The data flow "interactive" Analysis Diagram displays the columns/fields involved in the given data flow trace, not all the columns. The user can then select the columns/fields to be displayed to better present the business use case of that data flow. Then the user can interact within that diagram by selecting columns/fields to display its lineage. Furthermore, the Analysis Diagrams allow you to display conditional labels such as PII or Confidential SensitivityLevel, not only providing more critical information to the user, but also better visualization of the propagation of that information (e.g. PII) through the data flow lineage trace.
Please refer to the diagram visualization common features.
In addition to those general features, additionally there features specific to the classic diagram presentation.
Data Flow Diagram
In order to see data flow lineage, one must
- Define a configuration that contains all of the models potentially in the data flow
- Stitch the models together by resolving connection definitions and Build the configuration
Once the configuration is ready, then you are ready to report on lineage.
End-to-end data flow lineage across models is only available at the classifier (e.g., table) and feature (e.g., column) level. If instead, one goes to the object page for a schema or model, , as this is not classifier or feature, the data flow tab shows the overview lineage within the scope of that model only.
Steps
- Trace data flow lineage.
- Click the Analysis Diagram tab on the left side.
- From here you may
- Pick the Direction in the pull-down in the header of the diagram:
- Impact (Destination) direction
- Lineage (Sources) direction
- Any type for both data impact and lineage.
- Select which columns to display in the diagram using the Columns pull-down in the header of the diagram.
- A list of possible columns with a quick find is presented with checkboxes.
- Pick the Depth in the pull-down in the upper right.
- 1 (Adjacent) step in the lineage. Objects in the lineage that are the next items in a lineage trace.
- Pick the Direction in the pull-down in the header of the diagram:
For impact, adjacent can often be the data store (like a warehouse) that is the target of an object being loaded by DI/ETL that is the focus of the lineage. For course lineage, it can often mean the data source directly loaded from to produce the object that is the focus of the lineage.
- 2 thru 9 steps in the lineage
- Any type for both data impact and lineage.
- Click the Show actions for the selected object icon and
- Select Show/Hide Columns to show columns in the selected object, or all objects if none is selected.
- Select Expand/Collapse All to expand the display of the selected object down to the current display level (columns or tables) or collapse to the highest level. Applies to all objects if none is selected.
- Click Save an image to produce a downloadable file with a lineage image.
- Click Filters and specify lineage filter options.
- Click Display Options and specify lineage display options.
Example
Navigate to the object page for the Customer table in the Staging DW.dbo schema.
Go to the Data Flow tab and click the Diagram tab on the left side.
Pick ANY for the Direction in the pull-down in the diagram header.
The red colored pin indicating the source of the lineage and impact trace.
The diagram defaults to the classifier (table) level for performance reasons.
Click the Show actions for the selected object icon and select Show Columns.
Now columns are visible, but still not the column lines. Again, this is for reasons of performance and simplicity of presentation.
Click on the Display Options icon and click Show Conditional Labels
Here, you may pick and choose conditional labels to show in the diagram and the image shows all of them selected for display.
Click on the Display Options icon and select Show Term Definitions
Terms, like US Social Security Number (documenting the ID field), are used to document columns and tables that are in this lineage trace and this is shown in the diagram.
Show/Hide Columns
You may show or hide all columns or show specific ones.
In order for this option to be available, you must have specified Yes for COLUMN FLOW in the Data Flow Options menu.
Diagram Display Options
The 
Display Options are available.
- Show Term Definitions – Show semantic lineage back to glossary terms for those which provide definitions of objects in the data flow lineage
- Compact View – Toggles between small boxes with icons and wider boxes with more text and detail.
- Show Conditional Labels – Display conditional labels in the diagram as selected in Edit Conditional Labels.
- Edit Conditional Labels – Pick the conditional labels to display
- MAXIMUM NODE WIDTH – set the size of the object boxes.