How to view lineage

The lineage graph in Atlan provides a granular view of the data flows and transformations for your assets. To learn how to use the lineage graph, complete the following steps.

View the lineage graph

To view the lineage graph:

1. From the left menu of any screen in Atlan, click Assets.
2. (Optional) In the Filters menu on the left, expand the Properties menu and then click Has lineage to filter for assets with data lineage.
3. Select an asset, and from the top right of the asset card, click the View lineage icon to open the lineage graph.
4. On the lineage graph, the home icon indicates the base asset:
   • Click the + button to the left of the base asset to view upstream assets.
   • Click the + button to the right of the base asset to view downstream assets.
5. (Optional) Hover over any asset to view the metadata popover for more context on the selected asset — including asset type, database and schema names, owners, usage and popularity metrics, announcements, and Monte Carlo and Soda data quality details for supported assets. From the popover, you can also:
   • Click the View impact button to view impacted assets.
   • Click the Download impact button to download the lineage report for the asset.
   • Click the outward-facing arrow icon to open lineage in a new tab.
6. (Optional) Hover over the + button to the right of any asset and then click the Expand all button to view assets further upstream or downstream horizontally.
7. (Optional) Click any circular process button to view more details about the lineage process in the sidebar.
8. (Optional) Click Show all to view more upstream or downstream assets vertically. If there are more than 100 assets, a popup will appear asking you to scroll to the bottom of the list and click Show all again to view all dependencies.
9. (Optional) For any asset on the lineage graph, click the view columns menu to expand the columns view:
   • The default view shows 10 columns. Click Show more columns to view the full list of columns.
   • Use the search bar to search for specific columns.
   • View a total count of columns that have lineage.
   • Next to the search bar, click the sort icon to sort columns in an alphabetical or reverse alphabetical order, ascending or descending order, or by last updated in Atlan.
   • Hover over any column name and then click the curved downward arrow to view impacted assets or click the downward arrow to download the lineage report directly from the column.
   • Select a column, and then from the column sidebar, click the Lineage tab. From the Lineage tab:
     • Click View impact to view and download impacted assets directly from the sidebar.
     • Click the eye icon to customize your view of column-level lineage in the sidebar:
       • For Depth, select the level of depth up to Max Depth for column-level lineage.
       • Turn on Show process nodes to view lineage processes in the sidebar.
       • For Show hierarchy, keep the default view of child assets or toggle it off.
10. For any asset on the lineage graph, from the sidebar, click the Columns tab. From the Columns tab:
    • You can view a list of columns for the selected asset. Click Show columns with lineage to only view columns with lineage:
      • For any column with lineage in the sidebar, click the play button to locate that asset on the lineage graph.
11. (Optional) To collapse the sidebar, to the left of the sidebar, click the rightward arrow.
12. (Optional) From the top right of the lineage graph:
    • Click the Find in canvas search bar to search for any specific assets on the lineage graph.
    • Click the downward arrow to view more options:
      • Click View impact to view impacted assets.
      • Click Download impact to download the lineage report for the asset.
      • Click Download lineage as image to download an image of the lineage graph.
    • Click the eye icon to set preferences for the lineage graph:
      • For Additional metadata, show or hide the following context for your assets — schema name, database name, asset type, announcements, data quality, or popularity metrics.
      • For Order columns and fields, order assets on the lineage graph alphabetically, in an ascending or descending order, or by last updated in Atlan.
      • For Line arrows, show or hide the arrows that indicate data flows on the lineage graph.
      • For Pin metadata sidebar, toggle on the slider to pin the sidebar open on the lineage graph.
    • Click the question mark icon to share feedback or view documentation.
13. (Optional) From the bottom right of the lineage graph:
    • Toggle the Visibility slider to customize the visibility of assets not included in your selected lineage path.
    • Click the refocus icon to refocus your view of the lineage graph to reset to the default view, selected node, or back to the base asset.
    • Click the minimap icon to view an abridged version of the lineage graph.
    • Click the information icon to view the map legend.
    • Click the fullscreen icon to expand the lineage view to fullscreen mode.
    • Click the minus or plus icons to zoom out or zoom in on the lineage graph, respectively.