Data Discovery Glossary
candidate key
A column or a set of columns that uniquely identifies each source row in a database table.
column name rule
Reusable business logic that identifies a column by its name as belonging to a particular data domain.
column profile
A type of profile that determines the characteristics of columns in a data source, such as value frequency, percentages, patterns, and datatypes.
curation
The process of validating and managing discovered metadata of a data source so that the metadata is fit for use and reporting.
data domain
A predefined or user-defined Model repository object that represents the functional meaning of a column based on the column data or column name. Examples are Social Security number, credit card number, and email ID.
data domain discovery
The process that identifies all the data domains associated with a column based on column values or name.
data domain glossary
A container for all data domains and data domain groups in the Analyst tool or Developer tool.
data domain group
A collection of data domains under a specific data domain category.
data object profile
A repository object that defines the type of analysis you perform on a data source.
data rule
Reusable business logic that identifies a column by its values as belonging to a particular data domain.
dependent column
In a functional dependency, the column containing values that are determined by a determinant column.
determinant column
In a functional dependency, a set of columns that determines the value of the dependent column. If the determinant has zero columns, the dependent is a constant.
direct match
In a global search, a direct match is an asset that matches the entire search query. In discovery search, a direct match is a match with some or all the metadata of the asset that matches the search query.
discovery search
A type of search in the Analyst tool that identifies assets based on direct matches to the search query as well as relationships to other objects that match the search query.
documented key
A declared primary key in the source database.
enterprise discovery
The process that finds column profile statistics, data domains, primary keys, and foreign keys in a large number of data sources spread across multiple connections or schemas.
enterprise discovery profile
A profile type that you use to perform enterprise discovery.
foreign key discovery
The process that finds columns in one data source that matches the primary key columns in the parent data source.
functional dependency
The relationship between a set of columns in a given table, in which the determinant column functionally determines the dependent column.
functional dependency discovery
The process that finds functional dependency relationships between columns in a data source.
direct match
In a global search, a direct match is an asset that matches the entire search query. In discovery search, a direct match is a match with some or all the metadata of the asset that matches the search query.
inferred key
A column or a set of columns that the Analyst tool or Developer tool infers as a candidate key based on column data.
join profile
A type of profile that determines the degree of overlap between a set of one or more columns in one data source and a similar set in the same or a different data source.
metric
A column of a data source or output of a rule that is part of a scorecard.
metric group
A user-defined group of metrics.
metric group score
The computed weighted average of all the metric scores in the metric group.
metric score
The percentage of valid values in a metric.
metric weight
An integer greater than or equal to 0 assigned to a metric. A metric weight defines the contribution of the metric to the metric group score.
primary key discovery
The process to identify a column or combination of columns that uniquely identify a row in a data source.
profile
An object that contains rules to discover patterns in source data. Run a profile to evaluate the data structure and verify that data columns contain the type of information that you expect.
profiling warehouse
A relational database that stores profiling information, such as profile results and scorecard results.
rule
Reusable business logic that defines conditions applied to source data when you run a profile. Use rules to further validate the data in a profile and to measure data quality progress. You can create a rule in Informatica Analyst or Informatica Developer.
scorecard
A graphical representation of valid values for a source column or output of a rule in profile results. Use scorecards to measure data quality progress.
scorecard lineage
A diagram that shows the origin of data, describes the path, and shows how the data flows for a metric or metric group in a scorecard. In the scorecard lineage analysis, boxes or nodes represent objects. Arrows represent data flow relationships.