Attributes

Attributes vs labels vs glossary terms

Kenseme gives you three ways to add meaning to your data: labels, custom attributes, and glossary terms. They overlap a little, and each is best at one job.

At a glance

Labels Custom attributes Glossary terms
What it is A colored chip. A typed field with a value. A defined business concept.
Attaches to Schemas. Schemas and their objects, glossary terms, process documents, ontologies and their entities. Linked to tables, columns, views, and routines.
Holds Presence only: the label is on or off. Text, numbers, dates, yes/no, choices, or a reference to another item. Definition, status, synonyms, acronyms, owners, experts, links.
Defined in Organization Settings › Labels. Governance › Attributes. Business Context › Glossaries.
Best for Scanning and grouping schemas at a glance. Structured governance facts. Agreeing what a word means.

Labels

Labels are short colored chips an administrator defines once and anyone with write access can attach to schemas. They show on the schema list and on each schema’s Info tab.

Use a label when:

  • You want to see something about a schema at a glance, such as Production, Finance, or Gold.
  • The fact is yes-or-no: the schema has the label or it doesn’t.

Labels attach only to schemas. For anything inside a schema, use an attribute. See Create and apply organization labels.

Custom attributes

Attributes are typed fields you design in groups and assign where they apply. See Custom attributes overview.

Use an attribute when:

  • The fact has a type or a fixed set of allowed values.
  • The same fact applies to many items of the same kind, such as every column or every term.
  • You want to record it on a table, column, term, process document, or ontology entity.

Examples:

  • Steward Email (String)
  • Classification (Choice (Single Select): Public, Internal, Confidential, Restricted)
  • Retention Days (Integer)
  • Last Reviewed (Date)
  • Source Term (Reference to a glossary term)

Glossary terms

Terms are business concepts in their own right, with an agreed definition, a lifecycle status, and named owners. See Business glossaries overview.

Use a glossary term when:

  • The thing you’re describing is itself a concept people need to agree on, such as “Customer Lifetime Value”.
  • You want ownership, synonyms, and acronyms tracked with the definition.
  • Several columns across several schemas represent the same concept.

Quick decision guide

You want to… Use
Mark a schema as production, gold tier, or owned by Finance Label
Record a steward, classification, or retention period on a table or column Attribute
Flag a column as containing personal data Attribute (Boolean or Choice)
Explain what “Net Revenue” means Glossary term
Point a column at the concept it represents Link the term to the column, or a Reference attribute to the term
Record a review date on a process document Attribute
Tag an ontology class with its data owner Attribute

Combine them

The three work together. A customer schema might carry the label Gold. Its email column might have the attribute Classification = Restricted. And the glossary term “Customer Email Address” might list that column among its related entities. Each layer answers a different question.