Types of assets

You can add assets from these types of sources to a catalog:

• Files from your local system, including structured data, unstructured data, and images
• Connections to data sources. You can add connections to IBM or third-party data sources
• Data assets from a connection to a data source
• Data assets and COBOL copybooks that are imported from mainframes through the use of Data Virtualization Manager for z/OS
• Model use cases from the model inventory

For a full list of asset types, see Asset types and properties.

Asset properties

All asset types have a common set of properties. Some asset types have additional properties. See Asset properties and Adding assets to a catalog.

When you add an asset to a catalog or edit an existing asset, you specify these common properties:

• The asset name and an optional description. The asset name cannot be empty, contain Unicode control characters, or contain only blank spaces. You can include links in the description.
• Asset format. Automatically detected.
• Tags. Ungoverned metadata that makes searching for the asset easier. Tags can contain only spaces, letters, numbers, underscores, dashes, and the symbols # and @. Click to add tags.
• Data classes that are assigned to the asset and to columns in data assets.
• A classification for the data asset.
• Business terms that apply to the asset. You can also add business terms to columns in data assets.
• Relationships with other assets.

Asset access

You can control access to an asset on the Access page with the privacy level and asset membership:

• Privacy. You can choose whether to restrict access to the asset:
  • Public: Default. No restrictions on finding or using the asset.
  • Private: Only asset members can find or use the asset.
• Members. The catalog collaborators to add as members of the asset. Members are important if you restrict access to the asset.

Learn more

• Asset previews

• Finding and viewing an asset

• Adding assets to a catalog

• Downloading assets from a catalog

• Editing asset properties

• Adding asset relationships

• Controlling access to an asset

• Removing an asset

• Adding catalog assets to a project

Parent topic: Catalogs