Data Catalog Specification Tabs

Tabs in a Specification

DEFINITION TAB

• This is where you will list the definitions from the catalog that you want in the report.
• Definitions used in the creation of a Data Specification must be approved by the functional area that oversees the management of that data(s). Therefore, when adding definitions to the specification, ensure that you are also adding each functional area for each definition. 
• For each definition used, provide details about how the definition will appear in the report, such as:
  • How it is displayed in the report
  • Where it is located (such as, “column header”, “third row”, “centered in the document header,” “upper left,” etc.)
  • Is the field aggregated?

SELCTIONS TAB

• Specify the selection criteria for the report
• Pre-search filters, such as:
• Define a requirement that only includes information about entering admitted students. You can define the selection criteria by describing the criteria in the Description field (such as, “Select only those students who were admitted to the honors program”) or by choosing specific Data Cookbook definitions (Attribute), an Operator (such as “is true” or “equal to”), a Condition (this is free text), and whether the user is prompted for a value (a Parameter). If your selection criteria include more than one set of attributes, use the Connector (and/or) to indicate the relationship between the statements.
• Note instructions under the question mark icon
• Use multiple selection sets for complex filters
• Some specifications will not have any selection criteria.

SORT CRITERIA TAB

• Describe how you want the information sorted, such as: 
• A report of financial aid awards in progress might be sorted by the academic term and then by the financial aid fund name.

TECHNICAL TAB

Shows the technical definitions for each of the definitions added to the specification (If you need to query multiple data systems, this allows you to choose a different data system for any definition)

Also used to define the specification’s technical details such as:

The full text of the query

A techno-functional description of how the data is extracted or transformed in the context of the current specification

DISPLAY DETAILS TAB

• A sample of the deliverable needed can be provided to describe the header, body, and footer, a description of the output (including output type, such as “columnar report” or “text file”) and indicate the delimiter that should be used.

ATTACHMENTS TAB

Attach any files that might be of use when building the report, such as a sketch or mock-up to clarify the display, or a sample of another report with changes highlighted.

SHARING SPECIFICATION TAB

Individual sections of a specification can be shared with one or more communities. Selecting the public checkbox shares the definition with the broader Data Cookbook community.