# Overview of Asset Types

The Catalog top panel shows asset-type filters as clickable pills. For example, click the **Schema** pill to show Schema assets such as schemas and folders.

![Asset type pills - UI screenshot](/files/JckOKoHgQu8tfe0TUEPz)

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### Short summary (at a glance)

* Schema: container for other assets (folders, schemas). Not a data-bearing object.
* Table: data-bearing object (tables, views, streams).
* Source: where data originates (database, BI tool).
* Chart / Dashboard: visualizations built on tables.
* Column: the smallest data element (column, JSON attribute).
* Data Job / Task: executable units that transform or move data.

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### Catalog asset definitions

* Chart
  * What: a single visualization (e.g., a Looker or Tableau chart).
  * Notes: Charts can appear on multiple Dashboards. They carry metadata such as description, owner, lineage, and documentation.
* Dashboard
  * What: a collection of charts grouped for a specific use case (e.g., executive or product dashboard).
  * Notes: Includes metadata and lineage like Charts.
* Schema
  * What: a container for other assets (for example, schemas and folders).
  * Notes: Schema assets organize items but do not contain data themselves.
* Data Job
  * What: an executable job that consumes, produces, or transforms data (examples: Airflow DAGs, dbt runs, Fivetran jobs).
  * Subtypes: DataJobRun, DataTaskRun.
* Data Task
  * What: a discrete step inside a data job or pipeline (transform, validate, enrich, move).
* Table
  * What: structured data, often tabular (tables, materialized views, streams, or files in object storage).
  * Common subtypes: Table (physical table), View (materialized or virtual), Virtual Table (logical representation).
* Source
  * What: the origin system for tables and other assets (databases, data warehouses, BI tools).
  * Common subtypes: Database, Business Intelligence (BI) tool.
* Column
  * What: the smallest logical data element (column, JSON attribute).
  * Examples: Column (physical table column), Virtual Column (from a virtual table).

#### Asset hierarchy (simple)

The following Mermaid diagram shows the top-level relationships between the common asset types.

{% @mermaid/diagram content="flowchart LR
%% Source branches for DB/warehouse, ETL, BI and jobs
Source\["Source (DB / Warehouse / ETL / BI)"] --> DBCollection\["Schema"]
DBCollection --> DBDataset\["Table / View"]
DBDataset --> Column\["Column"]

Source --> ETLCollection\["Schema"]
ETLCollection --> VirtualDataset\["Table (Virtual)"]
VirtualDataset --> VirtualColumn\["Column (Virtual)"]

Source --> DataJob\["Data Job"]
DataJob --> DataTask\["Data Task"]

Source --> Chart\["Chart"]
Source --> Dashboard\["Dashboard"]

%% visual style
classDef asset fill:#cce6ff,stroke:#222,stroke-width:1px,color:#222;
class Source,DBCollection,DBDataset,Column,ETLCollection,VirtualDataset,VirtualColumn,DataJob,DataTask,Chart,Dashboard asset;" %}

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### Glossary assets

* Glossary: a central repository of business terms and definitions.
* Term: a single glossary entry (business term) that can be linked to assets for context.
* Category: hierarchical grouping of glossary terms for easier navigation.

![Glossary diagram - UI screenshot](/files/LDfbyScjIxzC6L6s7cKU)


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