Attributes

Custom attributes overview

Every organization tracks facts that no product captures out of the box: who stewards a table, how sensitive a column is, when a policy was last reviewed, which system a term comes from. Custom attributes are the fields you define for those facts. You design them once on the Attributes page, choose where they apply, and fill in values on the objects themselves.

In the app: Governance › Attributes

[screenshot]
The Attributes page with two groups expanded, each attribute showing its data type badge and Required or Default badges.

Why it matters

  • Consistent governance. Everyone records classification, ownership, and retention the same way, with the same allowed values.
  • Typed, not free text. A Choice field can’t be misspelled, a Date is always a date, and a Reference points at a real object.
  • One design, many places. The same attribute group can apply to schemas, glossary terms, process documents, and ontologies.
  • Portable. Glossary exports can include attribute values.

How the pieces fit

Custom attributes work in three layers.

  1. Attribute groups bundle related fields, such as “Governance” or “Data Quality”. You create them on the Attributes page.
  2. Attributes (attribute definitions) are the fields inside a group. Each has a name, a data type, and optional choices, default, and required flag.
  3. Assignments decide where a group applies. You assign a group on the object that hosts it, and choose which kinds of item it covers there.

Values are then filled in item by item.

Host Where you assign groups What can carry values Where you fill in values
A schema The schema’s Settings tab › Attribute Groups The schema, tables, columns, views, stored procedures, functions, and scripts. You pick which. Each object’s Attributes tab.
A glossary The glossary’s Attribute Groups button Every term in the glossary. Each term’s Attributes tab.
Processes The Processes page’s Attribute Groups button Every process document in the organization. Each document’s Attributes tab.
An ontology The ontology’s More › Attribute groups The ontology, and its classes, relationships, attributes, and instances. You pick which. The ontology’s Attributes panel and each entity’s Custom attributes section.

Because groups are assigned per schema, per glossary, and per ontology, one schema can use a “Governance” group while another doesn’t.

Data types

Type Use it for
String Free text such as an email address or a URL.
Integer / Decimal Numbers such as retention days or an expected row count.
Boolean Yes-or-no flags such as “Contains PII”.
Date Dates such as “Last reviewed”.
Choice (Single Select) One value from a fixed list, such as a data classification.
Multi-Choice (Multiple Select) Several values from a fixed list, such as applicable regulations.
Reference A link to another item in Kenseme, such as a table, a glossary term, a process document, or an ontology class. See Reference attributes.

Where to start

  1. Read Attributes vs labels vs glossary terms to confirm attributes are the right tool.
  2. Create attribute groups.
  3. Create attribute definitions inside each group.
  4. Assign the group and fill in values:

Note: While your organization is read-only, you can see attribute groups and values but can’t create, edit, reorder, assign, or save them. See Account states and read-only mode.