Business Glossary

The Business Glossary provides a centralized repository where your organization can define, organize, and manage business terms that describe your data. It acts as a shared vocabulary that connects technical data assets to their business meaning, helping data consumers understand what data represents without relying on subject-matter experts for every question.

Each glossary is organized into categories, and each category contains one or more terms. A term captures the business definition of a concept — including its name, acronym, formula, and description — and can be linked to the Data Products and data assets that represent it across your environment.

Key concepts

Access the Business Glossary

To open the Business Glossary:

1. In the left navigation, select Governance.
2. Select Business Glossary from the submenu.

The Business Glossary listing page displays all existing glossaries in your namespace. Each glossary card shows the glossary name, owner, and the date it was last updated. Use the Search by glossary name field to filter the list.

Create a Glossary

1. On the Business Glossary listing page, click Create Glossary.
2. In the Create Glossary dialog, enter a Glossary Name (required).
3. Optionally, enter a Description to explain the purpose and scope of the glossary.
4. Click Create.

The glossary opens immediately after creation. The description is displayed at the top of the glossary page and can be collapsed using Show Less or expanded using Show More if it is long. Click Edit Glossary in the top-right corner to update the name or description at any time.

Manage Categories

Categories organize terms within a glossary. The Categories panel on the left side of the glossary page displays the category tree. Expanding a category shows the terms it contains.

Create a Category

1. Open a glossary.
2. In the Categories panel, click the + button.
3. Enter a category name and description.
4. Click Create.

Edit a Category

1. Select the category from the Categories panel.
2. Click Edit Category in the top-right corner of the category detail view.
3. Update the category name or description and save.

Selecting a category in the panel displays its details on the right, including its description and a list of all terms it contains. The terms table shows the term name, definition, owner, and last updated date. Click any term name to open the term detail page.

Create and manage Terms

Terms are the individual business definitions within a category. Each term captures how a business concept is defined, expressed, and used.

Create a Term

1. Open a glossary and select a category.
2. Click Create Term in the top-right corner.
3. Complete the term fields in the Create Term dialog:

4. Click Create.

The new term appears in the category’s terms table and can be opened to view its full detail page.

Edit or delete a Term

To edit or delete a term, open the term detail page and use the Edit Term or Delete Term buttons in the top-right corner. Deleting a term removes it and all its associations and relationships permanently.

Term Detail page

Opening a term displays its full detail page, organized into three tabs: Overview, Associations, and Relationships.

Overview tab

The Overview tab shows the term’s core metadata at a glance:

Associations tab

The Associations tab shows which Data Products and data assets are linked to this term. Associations connect a business definition to the technical representations of that concept in your data environment.

The tab has two sub-tabs:

• Data Products: Lists all Data Products associated with this term. Each entry shows the Data Product name, definition, owner, and last updated date. Select a Data Product name to navigate to its detail page.
• Assets: Lists data assets (tables, columns, or other asset types) linked to this term.

Terms can be associated from three places in ADOC:

• From the term detail page: Use the Associations tab to view all existing associations for a term.
• From a Data Product: Use the Terms tab on the Data Product detail page and click Add Terms.
• From an asset: Use the Business Terms section on the Asset Details page and click Add Terms.

Add Terms from a Data Product

The Data Product detail page includes a Terms tab that shows all glossary terms associated with that Data Product. The table displays the term name, category, and definition.

1. Open a Data Product from Data Products > Manage.
2. Select the Terms tab.
3. Click Add Terms.
4. In the Add Terms dialog, browse or search for terms across all available glossaries. Expand a glossary to view its terms and select the ones you want to associate.
5. Selected terms appear in the Selected Terms panel on the right. Remove any term by clicking the delete icon next to it.
6. Click Add to confirm the associations. The selected terms appear in the Terms tab.

Add Terms from an Asset

On the Asset Details page, a dedicated Business Terms section allows you to link glossary terms directly to a data asset.

1. Open an asset from Discover.
2. In the left panel, locate the Business Terms section.
3. Click Add Terms.
4. In the Add Terms dialog, browse or search for terms across all available glossaries. Expand a glossary to view its terms and select the ones you want to link.
5. Review the Selected Terms panel and click Add to confirm.

Relationships tab

The Relationships tab defines how a term connects to other terms in the glossary. Relationships help users understand context and navigate related concepts without navigating away from a term.

Four relationship types are available:

Add a Relationship

1. On the Relationships tab, select the sub-tab for the relationship type you want to add: Synonyms, Related, Children, or Parents.
2. Click Add Synonyms (or the equivalent button for the selected type).
3. Search for and select the term you want to link.
4. Confirm the relationship. The linked term appears in the table with a Relationship ID and the term name.

To remove a relationship, click the delete icon next to the entry in the relationship table. Removing a relationship only removes the link between the two terms — neither term is deleted.

Search for Terms

Within a glossary, use the Search terms field in the Categories panel to search for terms by name across all categories in that glossary. Matching terms are highlighted in the category tree.

Next steps

• Once terms are created, link them to your Data Products to make business definitions discoverable from the Marketplace.
• Use the Relationships tab to build a connected vocabulary that helps users navigate from one concept to related ones.
• Add Acronyms and Formulas to terms where applicable to ensure calculated metrics are consistently understood across teams.