Resource Lineage

Last updated: 2026-06-03 18:18:10

Overview

Resource Lineage is an important concept in the data lifecycle. It describes the origin of data and its full path to the current point, helping users manage data more efficiently. In Guandata BI, typical resources include datasets, dashboard pages, applications, and Cards. Field Lineage focuses on specific fields within resources and tracks the flow of those fields across different data resources.

Through the Resource Lineage entry on different resources, users can understand overall lineage from a global perspective. They can also inspect Field Lineage in a more fine-grained way to understand the impact of field-level changes.

• Looking upstream: identify where the current object came from through Lineage Analysis.
• Looking downstream: identify who depends on the current object through Impact Analysis.

Resource Lineage

Through Resource Lineage, users can easily see the relationships among data applications, analytical dashboards, ETL flows, datasets, and other resources. This makes it easier to understand upstream and downstream dependencies, assess deletion or modification risk, and troubleshoot issues by tracing critical nodes upward or evaluating downstream impact from metric changes.

View Resource Lineage

Resource Lineage can be accessed from Data Account lists, dataset lists and details, Cards, pages, applications, large screens, and ETL lists and details.

Analyze the Resource Lineage of a Dataset

1. Open Data Center > Datasets, then click the View Resource Lineage button in the action bar on the right.

   

2. Resource types include Data Account, Dataset, ETL, Dashboard, Large Screen, and Application. On the lineage page, users can also select Lineage Analysis and Impact Analysis to see complete lineage information.

   

3. By default, the lineage canvas expands two levels upward and downward. Clicking a node expands the lineage further.

   

4. When the lineage chain is complex, canvas aids can be used to help locate nodes.

   

5. When tracing a database dataset upward, users can identify the source database tables associated with the dataset.

   

Analyze the Resource Lineage of a Card

1. In the data analysis interface, click the View Resource Lineage button for a Card.

   

2. On the lineage page, Cards and Dashboards can be used as the analysis object, and both upstream and downstream lineage are displayed.

   

View Node Information

On the Resource Lineage page, users can view an overview of lineage nodes to understand basic information about upstream and downstream resources and their owners.

1. Click a node to highlight its border. Overview information appears on the right, including the resource name, creation time, location path, status, and owner. Click the view button at the bottom of the panel to open the resource details page.

   

2. For ETL and Dataset nodes, the most recent update time and status are also visible.

   

Note

Users with the Resource Lineage feature permission can view overview information for upstream and downstream nodes on the lineage canvas without having resource permissions for those nodes. Opening resource details or performing operations such as viewing, using, or editing a resource still requires the corresponding resource permissions.

Switch Analysis Objects

Click ... on any node and choose Switch Analysis Object to use that node as the current analysis target and display its upstream and downstream resource lineage.

Note

Currently, node switching is visible only to administrators. This permission scope may be optimized further in later versions.

Batch Operations

Batch operations are supported for resource nodes, mainly including batch deletion and application unbinding.

• Batch Deletion

  Note

  Currently, the batch deletion feature is visible only to administrators. This permission scope may be optimized further in later versions.

  1. Click Batch Operations to display the selection boxes for nodes, then select multiple resources.

     

  2. Click Batch Delete to delete all selected nodes. Deleted Dashboards are moved to the recycle bin, while other resources are not recoverable.

     

  3. If a node still has downstream dependencies, it cannot be deleted. The failed nodes are shown in the Delete Failed dialog.

     

  4. Click Show Backward Lineage to inspect the related downstream resources. After confirming their importance, click Delete Lineage Tree to delete all deletable nodes in the current operation area.

     

  5. If deletion succeeds, the node appears faded and dashed, and disappears after refresh. Deletion is irreversible.

     

• Unbind Applications

  If users need to delete certain dashboards but keep their related applications, they should first unbind the applications from the dashboard node.

  Click the ... button on the dashboard resource node and choose Unbind All Related Applications.

  

  After unbinding, the dashboard no longer appears in the application. It can be added again from the application details if needed. The application is also removed from the downstream lineage tree of that dashboard, so users can later delete only the dashboard itself.

Field Lineage

In the past, when data consumers found a metric on a dashboard that did not match historical expectations, data developers had to manually trace from the problematic Card to the related dataset, then step through upstream ETL flows and data sources one by one. If the root cause originated outside the BI platform, they had to continue tracing up to the source database table. This process was cumbersome and inefficient.

To solve this problem, Guandata BI provides Field Lineage. Based on lineage, users can locate upstream and downstream datasets, ETL flows, and Cards related to a specific field or metric, trace the root cause upward, and assess downstream impact when the metric logic changes.

Preparation

If an ETL node is involved in the lineage chain, the ETL must run at least once before field lineage information can be generated.

View Field Lineage

1. During troubleshooting, if users want to inspect the lineage of a specific field, they can switch to the Field Lineage tab.

   Note

   Only datasets and Cards support Field Lineage viewing.

2. Select the fields to analyze in the field list on the left, and the corresponding lineage and impact analysis results are shown on the canvas on the right.

   

3. Switch to the Resource List tab to see all resources involved in the currently selected fields.

   

4. On the edit page of a Smart ETL flow, click an operator node to analyze the field lineage at the node level. After selecting a field, the full lineage path of the current field is highlighted on the canvas, and related lineage field names are shown on the relevant nodes.

   

Note

• At present, only datasets and Cards support Field Lineage viewing.
• Field Lineage for ETL Output Datasets is refreshed each time the ETL runs. If it is missing or incorrect, rerun the ETL and check the lineage again.

Export Model Documentation

Guandata BI can automatically export basic dataset-level and field-level documentation based on platform data lineage. Use the resource-lineage export entry in the upper-right corner of the Resource Lineage canvas, or the model-structure export entry on the Field Lineage canvas.

For resource lineage, the export traverses all ETL output datasets on the canvas. For each output dataset, it identifies the corresponding ETL flow and its input datasets, then lists the inputs individually.

For field lineage, the export uses the current analysis object as its starting point and traverses all fields one level upstream and downstream. It identifies each field's source fields and source input information, then lists the inputs for each field individually.

Audit Log Support for Lineage Access Records

Audit logs support access records for Resource Lineage and Field Lineage, mainly recording information such as access time and accessing user.