Attributes

Create attribute definitions

An attribute definition describes one field inside a group: its name, what kind of value it holds, and the rules for filling it in. This page covers creating, editing, retiring, and deleting attributes.

In the app: Governance › Attributes › your group › Add Attribute

Before you start

  • Create the group first. See Create attribute groups.
  • Choose the data type carefully. You can’t change it after the attribute is created.

Create an attribute

  1. Go to Governance › Attributes and find the group.
  2. Click + on the group’s card. On an empty group, you can click Add Attribute instead.
  3. Fill in the fields below.
  4. Click Create.
[screenshot]
The Create New Attribute dialog for a Choice (Single Select) attribute, with three choices and a default selected.

Fields

Field What it does Required
Name The field’s label, up to 200 characters. Yes
Description Explains the field. It shows under the input when people fill in values. No
Data Type The kind of value. See the table below. Yes
References For Reference only: which kind of item the value points at. For Reference
Choices For the two choice types: the allowed values. Type one, then click Add. At least one is needed. For choice types
Default Value Prefills the field when an item has no value yet. Not available for Reference. No
Required People can’t save values for an item until this field has one. No
Active Clear it to create the attribute in a retired state. On by default. No

Data types

Data type Input people see Good for
String A text box. Emails, URLs, short notes.
Integer A whole-number box. Retention days, counts.
Decimal A number box. Thresholds, percentages.
Boolean A checkbox. Flags such as “Contains PII”.
Date A date picker. Review and expiry dates.
Choice (Single Select) A dropdown. Classifications and categories.
Multi-Choice (Multiple Select) A multi-select dropdown. Tags from a fixed list.
Reference A cascading picker. Pointing at a table, column, term, process document, or ontology entity. See Reference attributes.

Tip: Prefer a choice type over String whenever there’s a known set of valid values. It prevents typos and keeps values consistent.

How defaults work

A default prefills the field on any item that doesn’t have a value yet. It isn’t stored until someone saves that item’s values, so items nobody has opened show no value in read-only views.

Edit an attribute

  1. Hover over the attribute on its group’s card and click the pencil (Edit Attribute).
  2. Change what you need, then click Save Changes.

What you can and can’t change:

Setting Editable after creation
Name, Description, Default Value Yes
Data Type No, it’s shown read-only.
References No. “Reference target cannot be changed after creation.”
Choices Yes. Rename a choice, add new ones, or clear a choice’s Active box to retire it. Retired choices no longer appear in dropdowns.
Required Only while no item has a value for this attribute. Otherwise: “Cannot change — this attribute has existing values.”
Active Yes.

Retire an attribute instead of deleting it

Clear Active to retire an attribute. It shows dimmed with an Inactive badge on the Attributes page and can’t be reordered. Existing values are kept.

🚩 TODO: Confirm whether an inactive attribute is hidden from the value forms on schemas, terms, documents, and ontologies. The source doesn’t appear to filter inactive attributes out of those forms.

Delete an attribute

  1. Hover over the attribute and click the trash icon (Delete Attribute).
  2. Confirm Delete.

Warning: Deleting an attribute removes it from every item that had a value, and those values stop showing. You can’t undo this from Kenseme.