With this feature, users can reference objects from one project to another. Referenced objects are included as read-only and help to modularize business domain separation and dependencies. Users in referencing projects are notified of any changes made to objects in parent projects. This functionality is not limited to projects of the same database type—objects from various databases/data warehouses can be visualized on the same diagram!

Selective sharing is also possible with the ability to exclude objects from a Global Project individually or at the schema level. 

Enabling Global Modeling visibility for a project

Designating a project as Global Modeling-enabled grants everyone in the organization view access and the ability to reference its objects in their own projects. For this reason, projects are not automatically enrolled in Global Modeling and must opt-in.

To enable Global Modeling for a project:

• Go to the three dots on the dashboard

• Toggle the Global modeling switch

  

   

• Observe that the "Global" label is applied to Global-enabled projects on the dashboard.

Selective Sharing 

When enabling Global Modeling on a project, all objects are enabled for sharing by default. It is possible to exclude objects from sharing individually or at the schema level if you do not wish them to be available for discovery and reference by other projects. 

Exclude Individual Objects

When Global Modeling is enabled for a project, all objects are shared by default and will display a configurable property to control this setting. 

To exclude an object from Global Modeling and ensure it can not be seen or referenced by other projects, select the object and uncheck the "Include in global reference" option in the properties panel. 

Exclude Objects by Schema

To exclude objects in bulk from Global Modeling, the "Include in global reference" option can be set or unset at the schema level. 

Setting this option for a given schema will affect all objects in that schema accordingly. 

Note that the object-level option can still be configured independently of the schema; however, selecting the schema option will automatically set all related objects to that schema value and override any existing object-level configurations.

Referencing Global Objects

Once a Global-enabled project becomes available to everyone in the organization, its objects become visible and eligible for referencing in other projects.

Referencing an object does the following:

• A read-only version of the object is added to the child project

  • This feature is not limited to projects of the same database type

  • This feature is not limited to tables. Views, functions, and procedures can be referenced.

  • The child project does not have to also be a Global Project

• The child project can include the referenced object in diagrams and create relationships.

• Physical relationships between global and local projects of like database types are supported.

• Virtual relationships between global and local projects are supported across any database type.

• Members of the child project team receive email notifications if changes are made to the referenced object

• Members of the child project team can update the referenced object to its latest version (and their dependent objects)

• Referenced object updates are included in the revision of the child project

Adding Global References to a project

To add a Global Reference to a project, follow the steps below.

• Right-click on the canvas or find the "Global objects" menu in the Database or Diagram Explorer.

• Select the object(s) from the list of Global-enabled projects that you wish to add.

• Observe the Global Object added to your project.

  1. Global Objects are visible under their related parent projects in the Explorer menu

  2. Global Objects on the diagram are displayed with a dotted outline and:

     1. The icon of the Global Project database type

     2. The name of the Global Project

     3. The Global Project revision (i.e., v3) when at which the reference was made

        1. (see below for identifying changes to global objects)

• Add relationships to existing objects.

Global Objects can form relationships to existing project objects. This can be used to document lineage and dependencies.

Reacting to Global Object updates

To stay current and ensure consistency, project teams will receive notifications if the objects they reference are modified in the parent project, allowing them to anticipate and react to upstream changes.

When a referenced object is updated in the parent project, an email alert is sent to all members of the referencing project teams. Within the referencing projects, indicators also alert users that updates to the model are required.

Alerts

Once a referenced Global Object is changed, an email alert will be sent to all members of the referencing project teams.

Members of the referencing project teams can follow the links in the email to open their projects and make the necessary adjustments.

Updating the child project

Upon receiving the email alert or opening a project with non-current Global Objects, users will see indicators alerting them of the updates that need to be made.

Global object change indicators include:

• A refresh icon in the "Global objects" explorer menu

  • When multiple changes exist, they can be applied simultaneously by pressing the refresh icon at the object, object type, or project level.

• An asterisk is displayed next to the Global Object version on the diagram.

• A refresh icon is displayed next to the Global Object on the diagram.

Once the object is refreshed, the Global Object will be updated to its current version, and its revision number will reflect that of its (latest) parent Global Project. The user project revision will be incremented as with any project change.

See also

• Global Modeling - overview