Data Lineage

The Data Lineage Designer can be used to review your Column Mappings in an easy graphical interface.

The designer provides an view of one or more relationships between Columns, referred to as source-target mappings or simply 'mappings'. This designer allows a modeler to get a quick view of mappings in a graphical interface.

The screenshot above shows the mapping from a source Object to the various target Data Vault objects.

Action Bar

Icon	Action	Description
	Save	This will persist changed made to the Objects and Columns modified in the designer.
	Discard	Pending changes made to the Objects and Columns will be discarded.
	Columns	Toggle to show the Columns for all Objects on the canvas, and display the column-level mappings. Any mappings that have an expression or formula applied will display the fx label.
	Data Types	Toggle to show the Columns for all Objects on the canvas.
	Layout	Reset the way the diagram is rendered on the screen to its default.
	Print	Creates printable image from the diagram, and opens the Windows print dialog.
	Expand Side Panel	Opens the Side Panel that enables editing of selected Objects, Columns and Relationships. This is context-aware, visible fields will depend on the selected item on the canvas.

Overview

It is possible to show a smaller Overview when working with large models. You can open this overview by clicking the Expand Overview icon (<img src="../../static/svg/expand-toggle-blue.svg width="2%" height="2%" />)in the top-right corner of the canvas. The Overview can be used to navigate the model quickly by dragging and zooming in the Overview.

On the canvas, you can zoom in and out using the mouse scroll button to get a higher level view as well. When the details become too small due to zooming out, BimlFlex will hide these and display the objects instead.

Treeview Interaction

Selecting Objects in the Treeview will add these objects to the canvas, including the objects they are receiving data from or where they themselves act as a source for a data mapping.

• If you select Objects from a Connection with a Source System Integration Stage the upstream (outgoing) objects will be displayed on the canvas
• If you select Objects where the associated Connection has the Integration Stage of Data Vault or Data Mart, then the downstream (incoming) objects will be made visible

The context-aware actions that the Data Lineage Designer allows will sometimes also check or un-check objects in the treeview to produce the right visual.

Context Specific Actions

Depending on whether you select an Object, Column or Relationship there are various convenience actions that become available.

Object Action Menu

By clicking on a ellipsis on the object, the designer will be presented with the object-level actions.

The following options are available:

Icon	Action	Description
	Object Details	This open the Object Side Panel, which will allow modification of various Object details.
	Show All Mappings	Add the Objects to the canvas that have a mapping to, or from, the selected Object. If incoming or outgoing related objects are added depends on the Integration Stage of the Connection that the selected object is associated with. Please refer to Treeview Interaction for more details.

Object Side Panel

The side panel that contains Object details can be opened by double-clicking on the Object or by using the Object Details button in the Object Action Menu.

Note

The editable information in the side panel, across all tabs, is the same as per the Object Editor. For more information on this please refer there.

The following controls are available to operate this side panel:

Icon	Action	Description
	Collapse	This will hide the side panel.
	Save	This will persist changed made to the relationship.
	Discard	Pending changes to the relationship will be discarded.
N/A	Actions (menu)	Context-sensitive menu of actions. For Column actions, please refer to the Column Editor(xref:bimlflex-column-editor).
	Excluded	Show or hide Columns that have the excluded property enabled.
	Deleted	Show or hide Columns that have the deleted property enabled.
	Pin	The side navigation panel can be pinned and unpinned from the Business Model Diagram, depending if the user wants to keep it visible or not.

Column Action Menu

Clicking on the ellipsis for any column will show the column-level action options:

Icon	Action	Description
	Column Details	This open the Column Side Panel, which will allow modification of various Column details.

Column Side Panel

The side panel that contains Column details can be opened by double-clicking on the Column or by using the Column Details button in the Column Action Menu.

Note

The editable information in the side panel is the same as per the Column Editor. For more information on this please refer there.

The following controls are available to operate this side panel:

Icon	Action	Description
	Collapse	This will hide the side panel.
	Save	This will persist changed made to the relationship.
	Discard	Pending changes to the relationship will be discarded.
N/A	Actions (menu)	Context-sensitive menu of actions. For Object actions, please refer to the Object Editor(xref:bimlflex-object-editor).
	Pin	The side navigation panel can be pinned and unpinned from the Business Model Diagram, depending if the user wants to keep it visible or not.

Relationship Side Panel

Relationships between Columns can be viewed by double-clicking on the lines between the columns. These lines represent individual column mappings. The relationship editor allows for direct manipulation of the selected relationship.

Note

Mappings that have an fx label have an Expression applied. The label provides a visual cue to highlight this.

The following controls are available to operate this side panel:

Icon	Action	Description
	Collapse	This will hide the side panel.
	Save	This will persist changed made to the relationship.
	Discard	Pending changes to the relationship will be discarded.
	Pin	The side navigation panel can be pinned and unpinned from the Business Model Diagram, depending if the user wants to keep it visible or not.

The fields visible on the relationship side panel for the source object are:

Property	Description
Source Object	The name of the Object that represents the 'source' part of the relationship at object level.
Column Name	The name of the Column for which the mapping will be created.
SQL Source Expression	SQL expression for this column is used to extend source queries. Generally used for source type casting and case statements. Example, CONVERT(VARCHAR(27), @@this, 121).
SQL Target Expression	The SQL expression used to extend target queries. Generally used for source type casting and case statements. Example, CONVERT(VARCHAR(27), @@this, 121).
Dataflow Expression	The expression used to calculate the value of the derived column via ADF. ADF expression syntax is used.
Solve Order	Used for Expressions that need to be parsed in a specific order. An example of use would be if you want to split a very complex calculation up into multiple expressions that are derived in a specific sequence.

They map to the target object, which can have the following properties as part of this relationship:

Property	Description
Target Object	The name of the Object that represents the 'target' part of the relationship at object level. This will be the Target Object visible in the Column Editor.
Column Name	The name of the Column against which the mapping will be created. This will be the Target Column visible in the Column Editor.
SQL Source Expression	SQL expression for this column is used to extend source queries. Generally used for source type casting and case statements. Example, CONVERT(VARCHAR(27), @@this, 121).
SQL Target Expression	The SQL expression used to extend target queries. Generally used for source type casting and case statements. Example, CONVERT(VARCHAR(27), @@this, 121).
Dataflow Expression	The expression used to calculate the value of the derived column via ADF. ADF expression syntax is used.
Solve Order	Used for Expressions that need to be parsed in a specific order. An example of use would be if you want to split a very complex calculation up into multiple expressions that are derived in a specific sequence.

Drag and Drop Actions

Objects can be moved on the canvas to make the layout easier to view. This can be done by hovering over the object name until the Arrow Cross mouse pointer appears.