Attribute Metadata

Reference for all metadata fields that control how attributes are transformed into SQL, including data types, transformations, and security policies.

Attribute Metadata Fields

Attributes contain extensive metadata that controls how they're transformed into SQL. This metadata is stored in two main tables:

core.datasource_attribute — Core attribute information
core.datasource_attribute_polymorphic_version — Version-specific metadata

Core Attribute Fields

Attribute Path (ATTRIBUTE_PATH)

The full path to the attribute in the source data
Example: customer.contact.email
Used to reference the attribute in source queries

Attribute Path Embedded (ATTRIBUTE_PATH_EMBEDDED)

Path for attributes found within embedded/stringified JSON
Tracks nested JSON structures within string fields

Attribute Name (ATTRIBUTE_NAME)

The leaf name of the attribute
Example: For path customer.contact.email, the name is email

Attribute Level (ATTRIBUTE_LEVEL)

The nesting depth of the attribute
Root level attributes have level 0
Each nested level increments the count

Attribute Order (ATTRIBUTE_ORDER)

Ordering information for attributes at the same level
Used for consistent presentation

Parent Object (PARENT_OBJECT)

The parent object path containing this attribute
Example: For customer.contact.email, parent object is customer.contact

Parent Array (PARENT_ARRAY)

The parent array path if this attribute is within an array
Example: For orders[0].order_id, parent array is orders
Used for foreign key relationship configuration

Parent Array Embedded (PARENT_ARRAY_EMBEDDED)

Parent array path for attributes within embedded JSON arrays

Record Status (RECORD_STATUS)

'active' - Attribute is active and can be used
'inactive' - Attribute is deactivated

Attribute Type (ATTRIBUTE_TYPE)

'Discovered' - Found during scanning
'Schema' - Created from schema sample
'Virtual' - User-created custom attribute

Attribute Schema Component Type (ATTRIBUTE_SCHEMA_COMPONENT_TYPE)

Classifies the schema component type
Used for internal organization

Is Primary Key (IS_PRIMARY_KEY)

Boolean indicating if this attribute is part of the primary key
Used for metadata table generation and relationship tracking

Date Active (VERSION_STATUS_DATE)

Timestamp when the attribute was first discovered or created
Used for tracking attribute lifecycle

Polymorphic Version Fields

Type Information

Source Data Type (SOURCE_DATA_TYPE)

The inferred data type from the source data
Examples: string, number, boolean, object, array, null

Polymorphic Attribute Name (POLYMORPHIC_ATTRIBUTE_NAME)

Unique name for this polymorphic version
Format: {attribute_name}_{type} or {attribute_name}_array_{array_type}

Version Status (VERSION_STATUS)

'active' - Version is active and included in code generation
'inactive' - Version exists but is not currently active

Is Array (IS_ARRAY)

Boolean indicating if this version is an array type

Array Type (ARRAY_TYPE)

'object' - Array contains objects
'primitive' - Array contains primitive values
'primitive,object' - Array contains both primitives and objects (polymorphic array)

Array Primitive Type (ARRAY_PRIMITIVE_TYPE)

For primitive arrays, the data type of array elements
Examples: string, number, boolean

Has Embedded Content (HAS_EMBEDDED_CONTENT)

Boolean indicating if this attribute contains embedded/stringified JSON
Triggers recursive parsing of the embedded content

Sample Value (SAMPLE_VALUE)

A sample value from the source data
For string types, defaults to "string value" for privacy/security
Helps users understand the data content

Snowflake Data Type Configuration

Data Platform Data Type (DATA_PLATFORM_DATA_TYPE)

The Snowflake data type to use for this attribute
Examples: VARCHAR, NUMBER, TIMESTAMP_NTZ, BOOLEAN, VARIANT
Editable — Users can change the inferred type

Data Platform Data Type Precision (DATA_PLATFORM_DATA_TYPE_PRECISION)

For numeric types, the precision (total number of digits)
Editable — Users can adjust based on known data requirements

Data Platform Data Type Scale (DATA_PLATFORM_DATA_TYPE_SCALE)

For numeric types, the scale (number of decimal places)
Editable — Users can adjust based on known data requirements

Data Platform Data Type DateTime Format (DATA_PLATFORM_DATA_TYPE_DATETIMEFORMAT)

Comma-separated list of valid Snowflake datetime formats
Used for accurate datetime parsing
Editable — Users can specify formats if inference is incorrect
See Snowflake datetime formats documentation: https://docs.snowflake.com/en/sql-reference/data-types-datetime#date-and-time-formats

Use DateTime Format (USE_DATETIME_FORMAT)

Boolean determining whether datetime formats are used in Dynamic Table SQL generation
If FALSE, uses try_to_{data_type} with AUTO detection
If TRUE, uses specified formats for more accurate parsing

Use Number Format (USE_NUMBER_FORMAT)

Boolean for number format handling (similar to datetime format)

Column Naming

Alias Name (ALIAS_NAME)

Custom column name alias for the generated Dynamic Table column
Overrides the default polymorphic attribute name
Useful for creating more readable column names

Code Generated Column Name (CODE_GENERATED_COLUMN_NAME)

The final column name used in generated SQL
Combines alias name (if provided) with polymorphic attribute name

Transformation Configuration

Null Value Expression (NULL_VALUE_EXPRESSION)

SQL expression for handling null/missing values
Default: NULL
Can use {attribute_name} placeholder to reference the polymorphic version
Not applicable if transformation type is 'SQL Expression'

Example:

COALESCE({attribute_name}, 'N/A')

Transformation Type (TRANSFORMATION_TYPE)

'No Transformation' - Use the attribute as-is with null value expression
'SQL Expression' - Apply a custom SQL transformation expression

Transformation Expression (TRANSFORMATION_EXPRESSION)

SQL expression used for Dynamic Table column definition when transformation type is 'SQL Expression'
Can use {attribute_name} placeholder to reference the polymorphic version
Applied during materialization process

Examples:

UPPER({attribute_name})
-- or
CASE WHEN {attribute_name} IS NULL THEN 'Unknown' ELSE {attribute_name} END

Transformation Expression Comment (TRANSFORMATION_EXPRESSION_COMMENT)

Documentation/comment for the transformation expression
Helps users understand the transformation logic

Code Generation Control

Include In Code Gen (INCLUDE_IN_CODE_GEN)

Boolean determining if this polymorphic version is included in SQL code generation
TRUE - Attribute will appear in generated Dynamic Tables
FALSE - Attribute is excluded from code generation

Parent Include In Code Gen (PARENT_INCLUDE_IN_CODE_GEN)

Boolean indicating if the parent attribute/array is included in code generation
Child attributes are only generated if parent is included

Semantic Layer Fields

Include In Semantic Layer (INCLUDE_IN_SEMANTIC_LAYER)

Boolean for including this attribute in semantic layer views

Semantic Layer Expression (SEMANTIC_LAYER_EXPRESSION)

Additional transformation expression for semantic layer views
Applied on top of materialized Dynamic Table columns

Semantic Layer Expression Comment (SEMANTIC_LAYER_EXPRESSION_COMMENT)

Documentation for semantic layer transformation

Semantic Layer Alias Name (SEMANTIC_LAYER_ALIAS_NAME)

Custom alias for semantic layer views

Security Policy Fields

Include In Security Row Level Policy (INCLUDE_IN_SECURITY_ROW_LEVEL_POLICY)

Boolean for row-level security policy integration

Masking Policy Name (MASKING_POLICY_NAME)

Name of column masking policy to apply

Masking Policy Parameters (MASKING_POLICY_PARAMETERS)

Parameters for the masking policy

Foreign Key & Relationship Fields

Attribute Foreign Key Columns (ATTRIBUTE_FOREIGN_KEY_COLUMNS)

Comma-separated list of foreign key column names
Used for nested array relationships

Array Relationship Fields (for array attributes)

Array Relationship Name (ARRAY_RELATIONSHIP_NAME)

Name of the relationship for this array

Array Relationship Description (ARRAY_RELATIONSHIP_DESCRIPTION)

Description of the relationship

Array Relationship Type (ARRAY_RELATIONSHIP_TYPE)

'many_to_one' or 'one_to_one'

Array Relationship Join Type (ARRAY_RELATIONSHIP_JOIN_TYPE)

'left_outer' or 'inner'

Cortex Analyst / Semantic Model Fields

W Question Category (W_QUESTION_CATEGORY)

Category for Cortex Analyst semantic model
Values: '', 'dimensions', 'facts', 'filters', 'metrics', 'time_dimensions'
Used to classify attributes in semantic models

Gen AI Semantic Model Expression (GEN_AI_SEMANTIC_MODEL_EXPRESSION)

Expression for Cortex Analyst semantic model
Used when W_QUESTION_CATEGORY is set

Include In Gen AI Semantic Model (INCLUDE_IN_GEN_AI_SEMANTIC_MODEL)

Boolean for including in Cortex Analyst semantic model

Attribute Version Comment (ATTRIBUTE_VERSION_COMMENT)

Description/comment for the attribute version
Used in data dictionary and semantic models

Attribute Synonyms (ATTRIBUTE_SYNONYMS)

Comma-separated synonyms for the attribute
Used in Cortex Analyst for natural language querying

Additional Metadata Fields

Is Enum (IS_ENUM)

Boolean indicating if this version contains only enum values
Useful for validation and documentation

Has All Unique Values (HAS_ALL_UNIQUE_VALUES)

Boolean indicating if all values in this version are unique
Useful for identifying potential primary keys

Has All Null Values (HAS_ALL_NULL_VALUES)

Boolean indicating if all values are null
Useful for identifying unused attributes

Add To Cluster By (ADD_TO_CLUSTER_BY)

Boolean for adding to CLUSTER BY clause in Dynamic Tables
Improves query performance for large tables

Consolidation Fields

Schema Insert Regular Expression Search (SCHEMA_INSERT_REGULAR_EXPRESSION_SEARCH)

Regex pattern for attribute consolidation
Used to find portions of paths to replace

Schema Insert SQL Expression (SCHEMA_INSERT_SQL_EXPRESSION)

SQL expression for attribute consolidation
Uses regex matches to produce unified attribute paths

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Last updated 11 hours ago

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