Adding Custom Metadata Fields to Enhance Digital Hive Content

Adding Custom Metadata Fields to Enhance Digital Hive Content

Question

Looking at the properties for a report, there is metadata visible from the content systems like Tableau, PowerBI, and IBM Cognos Analytics, but is it possible to create custom metadata values on a report or dashboard. The objective is to designate whether certain content is certified, or to specify the data classification level.


Answer

Digital Hive provides the ability to define a custom metadata schema that will be applied to ALL objects across all the content accessible through Digital Hive, regardless of the source content system. When creating a Custom Field, there are different data types that can be leveraged as part of the Custom Field definition, which will expose different options/settings available. It is important to understand the differences of each type, which options are available and when they should be used. For more details about the various Custom Fields data types, please refer to this knowledge base article: https://support.digitalhive.com/portal/en/kb/articles/custom-field-data-types

Let's take a look at how to create a Custom Field that will indicate to users whether a piece of content has been certified. There are different ways to define the Custom Field and to provide the best result, it is important to understand what the desired user experience should be. For example, when a user is defining the metadata for a report, if a Boolean data type was selected for the Custom Field, then the user will have a tri-state checkbox available to them.

The default state, which means that the field is not set:
 
The selected state, which means that the value is yes:

The unselected state, which means that the value is no:


A Text data type could also be used to define the Custom Field, and the user experience would be slightly different. When metadata for an object is edited, the Text data type will display the possible options.

In this scenario, there is a negligible difference between the Boolean and Text data types, but, what if additional options were required. Perhaps, there should be an 'unknown' state because it's unknown whether the content has been certified, or it could be that the content review is still in progress. In this case, a third option may be desirable.

Or, if multi-lingual values are a requirement, the Text data type provides flexibility in how the values are displayed compared to the Boolean data type.


Creating a Custom Field

For this document, the assumption is that a Boolean data type is desired for the creation of a Certified Content Custom Field.
To define the schema, a user must be part of a role that has been granted the Manage Custom Fields capability.
  1. Launch the Digital Hive Control Center by clicking on the user avatar button and selecting Manage Digital Hive
  2. In the Control Center, expand the Content section using the down arrow beside Content
  3. Click on the Custom Fields option


  4. To create the first Custom Field, press the  button in the middle of the screen to launch the Add new field dialog
  5. Using the data type selector  , change the value from Text to Boolean 
  6. Provide a Title such as Certified Content  (you can ignore the internal data name field as this is just for internal usage purposes)
  7. Save the settings using the Save icon  which will create the new Custom Field

  8. To further define the Custom Field, click on the settings icon  to open the Boolean field settings: Certified Content dialog
  9. Since we're dealing with a Boolean data type, the options are limited but adjust the desired settings:
    Description: Provides a description for users so that they can better understand the metadata. For a certified content field, a description of "Indicates whether this content has been certified by the Enterprise Data Management team" could be used
    Value Required: Determines whether the value MUST be set when a user sets/edits metadata on an object
    Categorization: When this option is enabled, the Custom Field becomes a facet that users can leverage to filter search results
    Display in details panel: When enabled, the Custom Field is visible to end users when they're looking at the properties of an item. Normally, this value is set to Yes but this property can be used to hide the Custom Field from the properties, but still have the metadata present, in case it is required again in the future.


  10. Save the settings using the Save icon  
  11. With the first Custom Field defined, you can see a preview of what the entire metadata schema will look like, with a sample data value, in the Preview pane
Now that the first Custom Field has been created, let's create another one to designate the classification level of the data contained within the report.
  1. To create the new Custom Field, press the  button to launch the Add new field dialog
  2. For this new Custom Field we'll keep the Text data type  
  3. Provide a Title such as Data Classification 
  4. Save the settings using the Save icon  which will create the new Custom Field
  5. To further define the Custom Field, click on the settings icon  to open the Text field settings: Data Classification dialog
  6. First thing to note, is that there are different options available when compared to the Boolean data type Custom Field like:
    Text Format: Defines what the text format will be. The options are plain text, email address, and hyperlink. Use plain text for this Custom Field
    Allow values not in the options: When enabled, this allows users to create new metadata values in addition to any default ones that are provided. Also, when enabled, it is not possible to use the Categorization option (Note: using this option can introduce inconsistency in the metadata as any values, like, sales, revenu, revenue, income, etc could be entered, which can devalue the benefit of this Custom Field)
  7. For this example, disable Allow values not in the options and enable Categorization
  8. Use Indicates the sensitivity of the data contained within the content as the Description
  9. With no custom options possible, static values must be provided for users to choose from. Press the  icon to add a new value
  10. For the Data Classification schema, we're going to use values:
    Public
    Internal
    Confidential
  11. In the Value field enter Public and leave the Display Name field empty (more on this field later on in the article)
  12. Repeat steps 9-11 for the Internal and Confidential values

  13. Save the settings using the Save icon  which will create the new Custom Field
  14. With two Custom Fields now created the Control Center should look like this:
  15. If the requirements change, or the fields were created in the wrong order, it is possible to reorder the fields by clicking, and dragging, the  icon

Setting Content Metadata Values

Once the Custom Fields metadata schema has been defined, metadata can now be set for the different objects coming from the underlying content systems.
For users to be able to set/edit values for the Custom Fields, users must be part of a role that has the Set Custom Field Values assigned
  1. From the user avatar in the upper right hand corner, launch the  tool
  2. Browse to a dashboard or report
  3. Hover over the content object and click on  and select 
  4. Move the cursor to the Details section and press the Pencil icon to edit the Custom Field values. Note the Must have required property message for Custom Fields that are set to be required

  5. Set the desired Custom Field value(s) and press the check mark to set the values

  6. With the values now set, the Details panel will display the metadata values

Leveraging Custom Fields to Filter Search Results

The use of Custom Fields can dramatically improve the efficiency of refining search results, when the Categorization option is part of the field definition. For example, if a user provides a generic search term, there could be a lot of content across all content systems returned.



With the Categorization option enabled, users performing searches would be able to select different Custom Field values to filter the search results to a more focused list.
 

Modifying the Custom Fields

Part of the normal lifecycle of an application, changes will be required. These changes could be the addition of new Custom Fields, the removal of existing Custom Fields, adding new values to fields, etc. Digital Hive enables Administrators with the ability to modify the existing Custom Fields schema to reflect the current business needs.

To remove an existing Custom Field:
  1. Launch the Digital Hive Control Center by clicking on the user avatar button and selecting Manage Digital Hive
  2. In the Control Center, expand the Content section using the down arrow beside Content
  3. Click on the Custom Fields option
  4. Locate the Custom Field to be deleted and press the corresponding icon. For example, to remove the Data Classification Custom Field:
  5. As a safeguard, a dialog will be displayed to confirm the delete action

  6. Select DELETE to continue, or CANCEL if you've changed your mind
  7. If the DELETE option was selected, and data exists for this field on content, a secondary message will be displayed to determine what to do with the existing data values. This message indicates that there are 3 objects that contain values for this Custom Field. Click Show details to see which items have values set

  8. There are three options at this point. CANCEL to stop the delete field request. AUTO REMOVE DATA, which remove the values for this Custom Field on the 3 objects that were highlighted. And WIPE DATA which will remove the values for ALL the Custom Fields, not just the field to be deleted. The Wipe Data option should ONLY be used when recreating the metadata schema where all values need to be removed. Otherwise, do not use the Wipe Data option. 
  9. After the data has been removed, the delete action will complete
A safer way to 'remove' Custom Fields is to edit the properties and change the setting. This will hide the Custom Field values from the UI, but it will still remain as part of the schema. If requirements change (again) in the future, and this field is once again necessary, changing the Display in details panel value to Yes will restore the field and values, without having to recreate the field and setting the content values again

Creating Rules Based Custom Fields

Imagine a scenario where you are trying to create metadata fields for related Custom Fields. For example, you need to associate content to a Product Line, and then an individual product. Or, a business unit, and a point of contact within that unit. If two Custom Fields were created, Product Line and Product, using the techniques so far in this article, the definitions would look like this:





While these look good and the temptation might be to deploy with this configuration, these field definitions enable an unwanted situation where a user could set inconsistent metadata values. Tents are NOT part of the Golf Equipment product line, but the way that the Custom Fields have been defined allow for this combination of values.



To avoid this situation, Custom Fields can be configured with some 'rules' that drive which metadata values are displayed. Leaving the top level Product Line definition intact, let's delete the Product Custom Field and create a new Custom Field.
  1. Launch the Digital Hive Control Center by clicking on the user avatar button and selecting Manage Digital Hive
  2. In the Control Center, expand the Content section using the down arrow beside Content
  3. Click on the Custom Fields option
  4. To create the new Custom Field, press the  button to launch the Add new field dialog
  5. For this new Custom Field we'll keep the Text data type  
  6. Provide a Title such as Golf Equipment 
  7. Save the settings using the Save icon  which will create the new Custom Field
  8. To further define the Custom Field, click on the settings icon  to open the Text field settings: Golf Equipment dialog
  9. Enable Advanced mode by changing the setting to 
  10. Change the Show when: value to Field "Product Line" and using the Condition dropdown, select Golf Equipment
  11. Create selection values for Putters and Drivers

  12. Save the settings using the Save icon  which will create the new Custom Field
  13. Notice that the newly created Custom Field is indented under the 'parent' Product Line field
This process created a Custom Field that will only display when the Product Line Custom Field value is set to Golf Equipment. To complete the process, repeat steps 4-12 with these settings:

Custom Field Title           Data Type       Show When                       Condition                              Values
Outdoor Accessories      Text                  Field "Product Line"          "Outdoor Accessories"         Tents, Hiking Shoes
Alpine Equipment           Text                  Field "Product Line"          "Alpine Equipment"               Skis, Boots

The final result would like this.


                       
When users set the metadata values on content now, the UI would end up dynamically changing the options for Product when Product Line is changed. When editing the metadata, the Product Custom Field isn't displayed until a Product Line option is selected. Selecting Golf Equipment provides an accurate list of Golf Equipment items, while selecting Alpine Equipment provides a different list of items.



What if another level of detail was required? For example, there is a Tent Brands that category that just applies to Outdoor Accessories - Tents. The same process would apply but instead of the Show when value being Field "Product Line", the value would be Field "Outdoor Accessories" with a condition of "Tents". Examining the Custom Fields hierarchy, the result would be:



Editing the metadata values, the UI would only display the Tent Brands field when Tents was selected as the product.


Looking back at the previous examples, you can see that the Product field currently displays the name of the Product Line. In other words, there is some inconsistency with the Product field name due to the way that the Custom Fields were created. To provide some consistency to the UI, the Custom Fields for Products could be changed to a single label. The labels can be modified through this view, without having to open the properties for each Custom Field.



The reason that this is possible, is that the Custom Fields were first created with unique names. When a Custom Field is created, an internal name is created and that internal name can't be modified.







Once the labels have been changed, the metadata schema is a lot more consistent for users. Notice how regardless of which Product Line is selected, the label Product is displayed.



Changing Custom Field Values

Requirements evolve over time, much to the dismay of application administrators. One such change could be the metadata values that are required for a particular Custom Field. When new values are required, this is an easy enhancement to satisfy as a new value can be added to the list of available Custom Field values. If an existing value is no longer required, then that single value can be removed from the list of available values for a Custom Field. When a value is deleted, a prompt will appear to Auto Remove Data. If that value is selected, it will remove the value from all objects that have been configured with that value.

Do NOT use the Wipe Data option as this will remove ALL custom metadata applied to all objects

The challenge with managing Custom Field values is when an existing label changes. For example, working with the previous Data Classification Custom Field, a new value of Restricted needs to be added, and Public needs to be changed to External.
  1. Launch the Digital Hive Control Center by clicking on the user avatar button and selecting Manage Digital Hive
  2. In the Control Center, expand the Content section using the down arrow beside Content
  3. Click on the Custom Fields option
  4. To further define the Custom Field, click on the settings icon  to open the Text field settings: Data Classification dialog
  5. Press the  icon to add a new value
  6. Provide the value of Restricted
  7. Save the settings using the Save icon  
 Now, what is the best way to deal with the label change from Public to External? We could delete the Public value and create a new called External, but this would remove all of the Public classifications from the content and force users to reclassify the data. Instead, we can take advantage of the Display Name field. Within the Text field settings: Data Classification dialog enter External for the Public Display Name.


These changes will modify the schema so that when a user goes to set or view the values, the Data Classification Custom Field will be displayed like this.


If the requirements change again, and Public is the 'new' value to be displayed, removing the Display Name will return the label to Public. If the new requirement is to replace External with "Cleared for broad usage" then once again modifying the Display Name will yield the desired results.


Setting Custom Field Values on Multiple Objects 

Usually, contents within a folder contain similar metadata properties. In Digital Hive, it is possible to set Custom Field values at a folder level and then push those values down to the contents within the folder structure. To accomplish this:
  1. Edit the values on a folder
  2. Once the values are et, instead of pressing the usual 'Apply' button , press the  button to show some additional values

  3. Select the  option
  4. Accept the warning that any existing metadata will be overwritten (if this desired, otherwise CANCEL) by pressing Save Recursively

  5. This operation could take quite a while depending on how much content is contained within the folder structure
Don't select a starting point that is high up in the structure as the operation could take a long time to complete, and chances are the metadata values will need to be changed afterwards. It is highly recommended to start setting values at lower level folders to promote metadata accuracy

The options in Step 2 above also enable users to clear all of the recursive values as well as to clear the values for the object that is currently being edited.

Exporting Custom Field Data and Schema

Once the schema has been defined and matches all of the (current) requirements, it is advisable to take a back up of the schema definition.
  1. Launch the Digital Hive Control Center by clicking on the user avatar button and selecting Manage Digital Hive
  2. In the Control Center, expand the Content section using the down arrow beside Content
  3. Click on the Custom Fields option
  4. In the page header, select the  option which will download a json file called MetadataSchema.json
  5. Save this file for future reference
After users have been configuring metadata values, it is suggested that the Custom Field values be exported as a way of backing up the metadata.
  1. Launch the Digital Hive Control Center by clicking on the user avatar button and selecting Manage Digital Hive
  2. In the Control Center, expand the Content section using the down arrow beside Content
  3. Click on the Custom Fields option
  4. In the page header, select the  option which will download a json file called Exported_Metadata_Archive.json
  5. Save this file for future reference

Importing Custom Field Data and Schema

It is possible to leverage the exported schema definition as well as the exported metadata values to restore the data on a new server, or on the original server is somebody inadvertently deleted the schema/data.

When importing either the schema or values to a new server, the internal IDs for each content system connector has to match otherwise the process will fail. 


To import the metadata schema:
  1. Launch the Digital Hive Control Center by clicking on the user avatar button and selecting Manage Digital Hive
  2. In the Control Center, expand the Content section using the down arrow beside Content
  3. Click on the Custom Fields option
  4. In the page header, select the  option and browse to the MetadataSchema.json file
Running these steps will transform your empty schema to a completed one.




To import the Custom Field values:
  1. Launch the Digital Hive Control Center by clicking on the user avatar button and selecting Manage Digital Hive
  2. In the Control Center, expand the Content section using the down arrow beside Content
  3. Click on the Custom Fields option
  4. In the page header, select the  option and browse to the Exported_Metadata_Archive.json file
  5. This process may take some time based on the amount of data items to import

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