About attribute types

Attribute types define the specific characteristics or properties that an attribute can contain.

You can add an attribute to an asset if the attribute's type is in the relevant assignment of the asset's type. When you associate an attribute type with an asset type through an assignment, you can add attributes of the assigned attribute type to the assets of the given asset type, enriching the information of the asset.

Certain attribute types are managed by Collibra, meaning they are system-managed and you can't edit their public ID or delete them. You can, however, edit their names (for example, to translate them into your preferred language).

Important 

Choose an option below to explore the documentation for the latest user interface (UI) or the classic UI.

Examples of attributes and attribute types

The following table describes some of the attribute types, along with examples of attributes.

Attribute type

 Description

Example of an attribute
Definition Shortest possible description that clearly defines the purpose of the asset.

Customer Definition: A person, company or organization that purchases a commodity or service.

Last Review Date

Date on which the asset was last reviewed.

02/05/2020

Frequency

Rate at which an asset changes over a specific period of time.

Daily

Rows Failed

Number of rows that failed a rule.

15

Personally Identifiable Information

Boolean field to indicate whether an asset contains personally identifiable information or not.

True

Kinds of attribute types

The kind of an attribute type defines what type of information it can contain, for example, date, number, or text. The following table describes the kinds available for an attribute type.

Kind Description
Date

Used for selecting a date from a date picker.

Note The date format shown in the user interface can be different depending on the language settings in your user profile, for example, dd/mm/yyyy or yyyy/mm/dd.
Multiple Selection

Used for selecting multiple values from a predefined list.

You can specify which values are available in the list by entering each value in the with values field.
Number

Used for entering a numeric value such as an integer (whole number) or decimal, using a period as the decimal separator.

If you want only whole numbers to be allowed, select the Only integers checkbox.

Note Numeric values are stored as floating-point values based on the IEEE 754 standard, which can't represent all numbers accurately. This technical constraint can cause rounding issues for both negative and positive numbers. The chance of rounding issues increases as the number of digits grows, whether before or after the decimal separator.

If you want to make this attribute type a metric, select the Metric checkbox. This allows you to assign the attribute type as a metric when creating a data quality rule.
Selection

Used for selecting a single value from a predefined list.

You can specify which values are available in the list by entering each value in the with values field.
Text

Used for entering formatted text.

If you want to disable formatting, clear the Plain text checkbox.

Note An attribute can contain up to 1,500 characters.
True/False

Used for selecting either True or False.

If you want to make this attribute type a metric, select the Metric checkbox. This allows you to assign the attribute type as a metric when creating a data quality rule.