Relation types best practices
Updated
Recommendation
Break down relation types into simple components, rather than using complex relation types.
Impact
Complex relations can impact both performance and usability.
Performance:
Complex relations generate higher workloads and may impact overall Collibra performance.
Complex relations can increase import loading and indexing times.
Rendering time of traceability diagrams can increase.
Usability:
Complex relations need to be imported and exported separately from regular asset properties.
Complex relation values cannot be displayed on domain or global views.
Complex relations can make traceability diagrams difficult to read.
Best practice recommendations
Evaluate complex relations and review design requirements to convert them to simple relations wherever possible.
For example, the following case might suggest using a complex relation to capture how both the system and the region are needed in order to establish the context for this relationship:
Example
Last_Name in ERP source system hosted in the EMEA region – classification is “highly classified”.
Last_Name in CRM source system hosted in the EMEA region – classification is “not classified”.
Last_Name in ERP source system hosted in the NorAm region – classification is “restricted”.
However, the best practice is to break a complex relation such as a “Column is part of system which is hosted in Region” into simply relations:
Example
ERP.last_name is “highly classified”.
ERP.last_name is part of ERP.
ERP is hosted in EMEA.
You can use specialized child asset types to reduce any duplication of assets for each context combination.
Use the role and co-role semantically when you create your simplified relations so that they can be read properly in one direction.
Read the relationship from source asset to role to target, or from target asset to co-role to source in simple English to test if your role and co-role are set up correctly.
Some legacy complex relation types are available out-of-the-box, but our recommendation is that they are no longer employed.
Topic area
Structural Concepts (Asset model)
Criteria measurement type
Configuration:
Review the Meta Model configuration and detail each complex relation type configured and how many relations exist for each.
Run the Operating Model Reverse Engineering, or OMRE, on a regular basis to identify the existence and usage of complex relationships.
Additional information
For more information, go to the following resources: