When you configure the Microsoft Azure Blob Storage catalog source, you define the settings for the metadata extraction capability and other optional capabilities.
The metadata extraction capability extracts source metadata from external source systems. You can also configure other capabilities that the catalog source includes.
You can save the catalog source configuration at any point after you enter the connection information. After you save the catalog source, you can choose to run the catalog source job. To run the job once, click Run. To run metadata extraction and other capabilities on a recurring schedule, configure schedules on the Schedule tab.
Configure metadata extraction
When you configure the Microsoft Azure Blob Storage catalog source, you choose a runtime environment, define filters, and enter configuration parameters for metadata extraction.
1In the Connection and Runtime area, choose a serverless runtime environment or the Secure Agent group where you want to run catalog source jobs.
Note:
Serverless runtime environment options are available if the catalog source works with a serverless runtime environment.
2Choose to retain, delete, or deprecate objects that are deleted from the source system in the catalog with the Metadata Change Option.
- Retain. Retains objects that are deleted from the source system in the catalog. If you update or add a filter, the catalog retains objects extracted from the previous job and extracts additional objects that match the current filter. Objects deleted from the source system are not deleted from the catalog. Enrichments added on deleted objects and relationships are retained.
- Delete. Deletes metadata from the catalog based on objects deleted from the source system and changes you make to the filter. Enrichments added on deleted objects and relationships are also permanently lost. Objects renamed in the source system are removed and recreated in the catalog.
- Deprecate. The lifecycle of objects imported into the catalog moves to Obsolete based on objects deleted from the source system and changes you make to the filter. This does not impact enrichments added on deprecated objects and relationships. Objects renamed in the source system are removed and recreated in the catalog. When you run the catalog source job again for other capabilities such as data classification, relationship discovery, or glossary association, the job doesn't consider obsolete objects. Obsolete objects remain in the catalog until they are purged when you run a Purge Obsolete Objects job on the Explore page.
Note:
You can also change the configured metadata change option when you run a catalog source.
3In the Filters area, define one or more filter conditions to apply for metadata extraction:
aSelect Yes to view filter options.
bFrom the Include/Exclude list, choose to include or exclude metadata based on the filter parameters.
cFrom the Object type list, select an object type, depending on the object that you want to extract metadata from.
dEnter the path to the object as the filter value.
The following image shows the filter condition options:
eTo define an additional filter with an OR condition, click the Add icon.
4In the Configuration Parameters area, enter the configuration parameters.
The following table describes the properties that you can enter in the Catalog Source Configuration Options section:
Parameter
Description
Extract Group Elements from Hierarchical Files
Select one of the following options to extract group or leaf elements from hierarchical files:
- Yes. Extracts group elements from hierarchical files with the complete hierarchy of hierarchical fields. You can view the hierarchy of hierarchical files in the Hierarchy tab of assets in Data Governance and Catalog.
- No. Extracts only leaf elements from hierarchical files without the complete hierarchy of hierarchical fields.
You can extract group elements from hierarchical files for the following file types:
- AVRO. Extracts and groups hierarchical files and hierarchical fields.
- Parquet. Extracts and groups hierarchical files and hierarchical fields.
- JSON. Extracts and groups hierarchical files and hierarchical fields.
- XML. Extracts and groups elements and attributes. For XML file types, a maximum depth of 1000 elements is permitted within a single element in the hierarchy.
- XSD. Extracts and groups elements and attributes.
If you modify the
Extract Group Elements from Hierarchical Files
field and run the catalog source again, the asset page doesn't display the hierarchical elements in the correct hierarchy groups. If you modify the property value, purge the catalog source before you run it again.
Enable Extension-Based File Type Detection
Select one of the following options to detect file types by file extensions or by parsing the file contents:
- Yes. Detects file types by file extensions.
- No. Parses the file contents to detect file types.
Note:
You can detect file types by file extensions for the following file types:
- CSV
- TSV
- TXT
- XML
Use First Row as Header of Delimited Files
Select one of the following options to use the first row as the header or detect headers automatically for delimited files:
- Yes.
Detects column headers based on the following rules:
- Duplicate headers get suffixed with ‘#’ followed by a number, for example, ABC#1, ABC#2. The detection is not case-sensitive.
- Empty column header values appear as UnknownColumn<position>, for example UnknownColumn2.
- The header row in the file is detected even if it has a different number of columns than the data rows.
- No. Detects headers automatically for delimited files.
Headers of Delimited Files
Specify values to determine headers of delimited files. Separate multiple values by commas. If any value from the list is found in the first row of the delimited file, then the first row is used as the header.
Note:
This parameter appears only if you choose No for the
Use First Row as Header of Delimited Files
parameter.
Treat Files Without Extension As
Select one of the following options to identify files without an extension:
- Parquet
- Avro
- JSON
Enter File Delimiter
Specify the file delimiter if the file from which you extract metadata uses a delimiter other than the following list of delimiters:
- Comma(,)
- Horizontal tab ( \t)
- Semicolon (;)
- Colon (:)
- Pipe symbol (|)
Enclose the delimiter in single quotes. For example, '$'. Use a comma to separate multiple delimiters.
Note:
Adding a custom delimiter overrides the default list of delimiters. When you add a custom delimiter, include the list of applicable default delimiters.
Files to be excluded during partition discovery
Specify the regular expression of the files that you want to exclude during partition discovery.
Enclose each regular expression in double quotes. For example, ".*json","Customer.csv","Parquet.*". Use a comma to separate multiple regular expressions.
Expand the Partitioned File Configuration section.
The following table shows the parameters that you can configure for custom partition detection and partition pruning:
Parameter
Description
Custom Partition Detection Configuration File
The configuration file in JSON format to detect custom partitions in the source system. The configuration file defines the pattern of the non-Hive style custom partitions.
Note:
The system automatically detects partitions if the date format of the partition key is in any of the following formats:
- dd-MM-yy
- dd-MM-yyyy
- dd-MMM-yyyy
For example, the system interprets dd-MM-yyyy as the partition format and extracts
Customer
as a hierarchical file instead of a folder in the following partition pattern:
The system doesn't automatically detect partitions with other patterns, such as MM-dd-yyyy. If the pattern is different, you need to define it in JSON format. For example,
To detect the epoch time format, define it in JSON format as:
Partitioned Pruning Configuration Options
The configuration file in JSON format for partition pruning that contains additional information to identify partitions and determine the relevant schema in the source system.
Enable Partition Detection
Specify if you want to enable partition detection.
Enable Partition Pruning
Applicable if you enable partition detection. Specify if you want to enable partition pruning.
Default is Yes.
5Optional. In the Configuration Parameters area, enter additional settings.
The following table describes the property that you enter for additional settings:
Note:
The
Additional Settings
section appears when you click
Show Advanced
.
Property
Description
Expert Parameters
Enter additional configuration options to be passed at runtime. Required if you need to troubleshoot the catalog source job.
Caution:
Use expert parameters when it is recommended by Informatica Global Customer Support.
6Configure additional capabilities for the catalog source by clicking on the tabs.
Filter guidelines and examples
You can add metadata extraction filters when you configure the catalog source. To create a filter, you can use choose from file names, folder names, or paths.
Consider the following rules and guidelines when you enter filter values:
•Filters are case-sensitive.
•Use an asterisk to represent multiple characters in a folder name, file name, and a single folder level in a folder hierarchy. For example, A* matches A, Ab, ABC.
•For file filters, specify only the file name.
•If a file name contains an asterisk, the filter considers it as a wildcard and not a special character. To ignore an asterisk as a wildcard, enclose it in double quotes (“) in the filter.
•Use a forward slash as a separator in path hierarchies. You can add a path in folder and path filters.
•Use an asterisk as a path placeholder in folder and path filters. For example, folder1/*/folder3. Here, the filter includes all folders under folder1.
•Use two asterisks to indicate zero or more levels of folders in folder and path filters. The pattern with two asterisks is recursive. The processing time is longer as the data volume increases.
Important:
It is recommended that you either use only a path filter or use a combination of a folder and a file filter.
Examples
You can include or exclude metadata from folders, files, or paths.
Folder filters
Folder filters apply to folders included in the source system.
For example:
- To include or exclude metadata from 'Folder2' located inside 'Folder1', select Folder as the object type and enter Folder1/Folder2 in the value field.
- To include or exclude metadata from 'Folder2' located in any folder under 'Folder1', select Folder as the object type and enter Folder1/*/Folder2 in the value field.
- To include or exclude metadata from 'Folder2' located two levels under 'Folder1', select Folder as the object type and enter Folder1/*/*/Folder2 in the value field.
- To include or exclude metadata from 'Folder2' located at any level under 'Folder1', select Folder as the object type and enter Folder1/**/Folder2 in the value field. This is a recursive search, and therefore the processing time can be longer.
File filters
File filters apply to the files included in folders that you filter. The file filter is recursive. If you don’t provide any folder filters, the file filters apply to the entire folder hierarchy.
For example:
- To include or exclude metadata from all files with the name 'File1.csv' located in the source directory, select File as the object type and enter File1.csv in the value field. Metadata Command Center recursively searches for files that match the filter criteria in all folders in the source directory.
- To include or exclude metadata from all files with names that start with 'File' and end with 'ame.csv', select File as the object type and enter File*ame.csv in the value field.
- To include or exclude metadata from all files with names that end with 'File.csv', select File as the object type and enter *File.csv in the value field.
- To include or exclude metadata from all files with the name 'File' and files that start with the name 'File' followed by one or more characters, select File as the object type and enter File* in the value field.
- To include or exclude metadata from all files with names that contain the word 'File', select File as the object type and enter *File* in the value field.
- To include or exclude metadata from all files with the name 'Fi*le.csv', select File as the object type and enter Fi”*”le.csv in the value field.
Path filters
Path filters apply to the files and folders in the path that you filter. The path filter is non-recursive. If you provide only the file or folder names, the path filters apply to the first level files or directories.
For example:
- To include or exclude metadata from files and folders with names that start with 'Item1' in the first level directory, select Path as the object type and enter Item1* in the value field.
- To include or exclude metadata from the 'File1' file in the 'Folder1' folder, select Path as the object type and enter Folder1/File1 in the value field.
- To include or exclude metadata from files or folders with names that contain the word ‘Subfolder’ in the ‘Folder1’ folder, select Path as the object type and enter Folder1/*Subfolder* in the value field.
- To include or exclude metadata from files or folders with the name 'File1' in any subfolder of the 'Folder1' folder, select Path as the object type and enter Folder1/*/File1 in the value field.
- To include or exclude metadata from all files and subfolders in the 'Folder1' folder, select Path as the object type and enter Folder1/* in the value field.
- To include or exclude metadata from files or folders with the name ‘File1’ located at any level in the ‘Folder1’ folder, select Path as the object type and enter Folder1/**/File1 in the value field. This is a recursive search, and therefore the processing time can be longer.
Configure data classification
Enable the data classification capability to identify and organize data into relevant categories based on the functional meaning of the data.
1Click the Data Classification tab.
2Select Enable Data Classification.
3Choose one or both of the following options:
- Generated Data Classifications. CLAIRE automatically generates data classifications for the data elements.
- Data Classification Rules. Choose from predefined or custom data classifications.
1Click Add Data Classification. The Select Data Classifications dialog box appears.
2Select the data classifications that you want to use.
3Click OK.
Configure glossary association
Enable the glossary association capability to associate glossary terms with technical assets, or to get recommendations for glossary terms that you can manually associate with technical assets in Data Governance and Catalog.
Metadata Command Center considers all published business terms in the glossary while making recommendations to associate your technical assets.
1Click the Glossary Association tab.
2Select Enable Glossary Association.
3Select Enable auto-acceptance to automatically accept glossary association recommendations.
4Specify the Confidence Score Threshold for Auto-Acceptance to set a threshold limit based on which the glossary association capability automatically accepts the recommended glossary terms.
Note:
Specify a percentage from 80 to 100. If the score is higher than the specified limit, the glossary association capability automatically assigns a matching glossary term to the data element.
5Select Enable Below-threshold Recommendations to receive glossary association recommendations below the auto-acceptance threshold. If you enable auto-acceptance, you can enable below-threshold recommendations to receive glossary recommendations below the auto-acceptance threshold.
6Specify the Confidence Score Threshold for Recommendations to set a threshold based on which the glossary association capability makes recommendations
If you enable auto-acceptance, specify a percentage from 80 to the selected auto-acceptance threshold. You can accept or reject the recommended glossary terms that fall within this range in Data Governance and Catalog.
If you disable auto-acceptance, specify a percentage from 80 to 100 inclusive.
7Choose to automatically assign business names and descriptions to technical assets. You can then choose to retain existing assignments and only assign business names and descriptions to assets that don't have assignments, or allow overwrite of existing assignments.
By default, existing assignments are retained.
8Optional. Choose to ignore specific parts of data elements when making recommendations. Select Yes and enter prefix and suffix keyword values as needed.
Click Select to enter a keyword. You can enter multiple unique prefix and suffix keywords. Keyword values are case insensitive.
9Optional. Choose specific top-level business glossary assets to associate with technical assets. Selecting a top-level asset selects its child assets as well. Select Top-level Glossary Assets and specify the assets on the Select Assets page.
10Optional. Choose to use abbreviations and synonym definitions from lookup tables for accurate glossary association. Select Yes to enable, and then click Select to upload a lookup table.