52 lines
2.6 KiB
Plaintext
52 lines
2.6 KiB
Plaintext
---
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title: Field Lineage
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description: Trace where columns come from, how they are referenced, and which relationships may exist.
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---
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Field Lineage helps answer a common question: where does a column's data come from, and what might depend on it? Use it to understand complex schemas, inspect impact, and read legacy structures.
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<Callout type="info">Field Lineage is enabled for MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, SQL Server, Oracle, Redshift, DM, and GaussDB. Other engines may not expose enough relationship metadata for DBX to build useful lineage.</Callout>
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## What It Helps With
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- Before changing a column, see which tables, views, or queries may depend on it
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- Understand relationships in an unfamiliar database
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- Trace where report fields may originate
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- Discover possible relationships that are not declared as foreign keys
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## Relationship Sources
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| Source | Confidence | Details |
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| ----------------- | ------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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| Foreign keys | High | Constraints declared in the database |
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| Views | High | Field mappings analyzed from view definitions |
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| Query history | Medium | Relationships inferred from executed SQL, including `JOIN` and `WHERE` usage |
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| Same-name columns | Low to medium | Possible relationships inferred from similar column names |
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<Callout type="info">Field Lineage is an analysis aid, not a strongly governed lineage platform. For critical decisions, confirm results with database constraints, view definitions, and application code.</Callout>
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## Navigation
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- Search by table or column name
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- Filter relationships by confidence
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- Click a table or column to open data or structure views
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- Start from one column and inspect upstream or downstream relationships
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## Recommendations
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- Treat foreign key and view relationships as the strongest signals
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- Review query-history and same-name inferences carefully
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- Before changing a column, combine lineage with schema diff and application code search
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- For important business fields, add database constraints or documentation comments where possible
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## Related Features
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<Cards>
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<Card title="Schema Browser" href="/en/docs/schema-browser">
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Inspect tables, columns, foreign keys, and comments.
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</Card>
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<Card title="Schema Diff" href="/en/docs/schema-diff">
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Compare structure differences across environments.
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</Card>
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</Cards>
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