Catalog Vocabulary

The Fabric Catalog introduces a vocabulary that describes the Catalog entities and the relations between them. The relations indicate the connections between the data source entities and determine their hierarchy.

The below vocabulary serves as a model for describing a Catalog and assists with processes standardization across different interface types.

The data entities are represented by nodes and the referential links between the nodes are represented by relations. Nodes and relations have predefined properties that enrich the Catalog schema.

Additionally, due to differences between the data sources, some nodes' properties are generic, while others are relevant only for specific interface types.

The following 2 tables describe the node and relation types, and how they are defined in each interface type:

Node Types

Node Type	Description
dataPlatform	Represents a Fabric interface in the Catalog data model
schema	Represents an interface schema
dataset	Represents a dataset (e.g. table) of an interface schema
class	Represents one of the following: A dataset (e.g. table) - when the class name is identical to a dataset name A complex structure - when the class name is different from a dataset name (available starting from V8.0)
field	Represents a dataset field. The field data type can be: Primitive - string, integer, blob, date, number, boolean or any. Collection - an array of primitive values.

Relation Types

Relation Type	Description
contains	The relation between the objects that belong to two hierarchy levels: dataPlatform contains schema schema contains dataset dataset contains class class contains field Example: CRM_DB contains public The direction is One To Many.
refersTo	The relation between a parent (dataset1) and a child (dataset2). The direction is Many To One (from child to parent). dataset2 refersTo dataset1 (foreign keys) Example: INVOICE refersTo CUSTOMER (customer_id) The relation key columns are included in the relation's properties.
definedBy	The relation between a field and its respective Class node (available starting from V8.0): field definedBy Class Example: ACTIVITY_JSON definedBy Activity_jsonClass