Skip to content

Authoritative Definitions

Authoritative Definitions are an essential part of the data product. They allow to delegate the definition or authority to a third-party system like an enterprise catalog, repository, etc. The structure describing authoritative definitions is shared between all Bitol standards and follows the ODCS Authoritative Definitions structure. This block is available in many sections.

Back to TOC

Example

authoritativeDefinitions:
  - url: https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/air-quality
    type: businessDefinition
    description: Business definition for the dataset.
  - id: vid-001
    url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq6SxdsIHHE
    type: videoTutorial
    description: Discover what a data product is.
  - url: https://example.com/glossary/customer
    type: glossary
    description: Glossary entry backing the customer concept.
  - url: https://github.com/bitol-io/open-data-product-standard/blob/main/docs/examples/customer-data-product.odps.yaml
    type: canonicalUrl
    description: Data product's latest version.

Field Descriptions

Key Type UX label Required Description
authoritativeDefinitions array Link No A list of type/link pairs for authoritative definitions.
authoritativeDefinitions[].description string Description No Optional description.
authoritativeDefinitions[].id string ID No A unique identifier for the element used to create stable, refactor-safe references. Recommended for elements that will be referenced.
authoritativeDefinitions[].type string Definition type Yes Type of definition for authority. See the recommended values below.
authoritativeDefinitions[].url string URL to definition Yes URL to the authority.

The type field is open (any string is technically valid), but the following values are recommended for interoperability across tools. Values are sorted alphabetically.

Value Where allowed Description
businessDefinition Any section Link to a business glossary entry, ontology, or other source describing the business meaning of the element.
canonicalUrl Root only At the root level of a data product, marks a reference to the canonical/latest version of the data product itself (e.g., its source URL).
glossary Any section Link to a business glossary entry defining the term or concept (RFC-0038).
implementation Any section Link to a code-level implementation, library, or reference that fulfils or interprets the element.
ontology Any section Link to an ontology describing the concept and its relationships (RFC-0038).
taxonomy Any section Link to a taxonomy classifying the element (RFC-0038).
transformationImplementation Any section Link to the implementation that produces the data (e.g., a dbt model, Spark job, SQL view definition, or pipeline reference).
tutorial Any section Link to a written tutorial, walkthrough, or how-to guide.
videoTutorial Any section Link to a recorded video that explains the element or how to use it.

Custom type values are allowed; tooling that does not recognise a custom value should treat the entry as an opaque link with a description.

Back to TOC