Attributes

This article details the attribute types, attribute options and how to create or edit data model attributes. See Attribute references for the list of attributes each data model has.

What are attributes?

Attributes define the properties and the metadata of each data model in the Brinqa Platform.

To begin working with data model attributes, navigate to Administration on the upper-right corner and under Data, click Models. Click the data model for which you want to view or edit the attributes and click Attributes.

The attributes page allows you to create, edit, delete, or order attributes.

Attribute types

The following attribute types are available when creating new attributes or changing the type of existing attributes. The 'Supports Conversion' column indicates whether the attribute type supports source data conversion during consolidation.

Table 2: Attribute types

Type	Description	Supports Conversion
Attachments	Supports attaching files to a record.	No
Auto Number	Automatically assigns a unique number to each record.	No
BQL Predicate	A special attribute type for the SLA and Risk factor data models to ensure proper Brinqa condition language syntax.	Yes
Calculated	Performs calculation based on other values or attributes. For additional information, see Calculated attributes.	No
Comments	Captures and displays user comments.	No
Currency	Displays a number in the currency format. You can configure the length and decimal places.	Yes
Data Source	Represents the data source providing the data.	No
Date	Displays date in the dd MMM yyyy format.	Yes
Date/Time	Displays date and time in the dd MMM yyyy hh:mm aa format.	Yes
Email	Displays email addresses with a default of 320 characters.	Yes
HTML	Displays strings with a built-in HTML editor.	Yes
Labels	Displays any combination of letters, numbers, or symbols representing a tag.	No
Master Detail	Defines a parent-child relationship between datasets where the parent dataset controls certain behaviors of the child dataset. For example, when a parent dataset is deleted, its child datasets are also deleted.	No
Multiple Choice	Displays a list of choices where multiple selections are allowed.	Yes
Number	Displays a number. You can configure the length and decimal places.	Yes
Password	Displays a text field that stores passwords with one-way encryption. One-way encryption stores the password as a secure hash value that cannot be decrypted.	No
Percentage	Displays a number representing percentage. You can configure the length and decimal places.	Yes
Phone	Displays a text field that provides formatting and validation for telephone numbers.	Yes
Reference	Stores a reference to a data model. For example, the Targets attribute of the Vulnerability data model has a reference to the Host data model.	No
Single Choice	Displays a list of choices where a single selection is allowed.	Yes
Status	Displays a list of choices and default values representing statuses.	Yes
Text	Displays any combination of letters, numbers, or symbols. You can set a maximum length. The default is 256 characters.	Yes
Text Area	Displays any combination of letters, numbers, or symbols that display on multiple lines. You can set the maximum length and number of visible lines. The default is 500 characters and 3 visible lines.	Yes
Time	Displays the time of day.	Yes
True False	Provides a true or false selection.	Yes
URL	Displays a clickable Uniform Resource Locator (URL). The URL opens in a separate browser window or tab when clicked. The default length is 2048 characters.	Yes
Unique Identifier	A special attribute type to enforce uniqueness of the attribute.	No

info

While it is possible to add calculated attributes to Source Data Models (SDMs), it is generally not recommended. The primary reason is to keep the raw data from the source unmodified to ensure the integrity of the data. Modifications and calculations should typically be performed at the Unified Data Model (UDM) level, depending on the use case. However, if your specific use case requires calculated attributes at the SDM level, please consult with your Brinqa Support specialists to determine the best approach.

Reference attributes

A Reference attribute defines an outgoing relationship from one data model to another, enabling the Brinqa Platform to associate records across data models through shared context—such as linking a Host to its corresponding Person records. These associations are essential for enriching datasets with ownership, location, or other contextual information stored in separate models.

For example, the Owners attribute on the Host data model is a reference to the Person data model. This configuration enables a Host to be associated with one or more Persons through the Owners field:

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For additional information on how to create a reference attribute, see the reference attribute tutorial.

Attribute options

An attribute's metadata consists of the following options:

Table 3: Attribute options

Option	Description
Active	Marks the attribute as active. Inactive attributes do not lose their values, but they are not shown on views and are not included in calculations.
Bulk updating	Indicates where the attribute can be updated in bulk operations.
Exportable	Indicates whether the attribute can be exported to a separate data model.
Hidden	Marks that the attribute is hidden. Hidden attributes are not displayed in views.
Index	Enables full-text searching for this attribute.
Read only	Marks the attribute as read only. Users cannot edit read-only attributes.
Required	Marks that the attribute is required for the data model.

Create a new attribute

Users with the Configurator or System administrator role can create new attributes. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Administration on the upper-right corner and under Data, click Models.

2. Locate and click the data model to which you want to add an attribute.

3. Click Attributes on the navigation menu.

4. Click Create.

   • Title: The title of the attribute.

   • Name: The name populates using the attribute's title. The name can only contain alphanumeric characters and must be unique for a given data model. It must begin with a letter and not include spaces, symbols, or underscores.

   • Description: The description of the attribute.

   • Help: The text that appears on the list pages.

   • Type: The type of the attribute. Select an attribute type from the list. See Attribute types for additional information.

   • Default renderer: The default renderer for the attribute. The renderer determines how the attribute displays on the list or show page.

   • Options: The options available for the attribute. See Attribute options for additional information.

5. Click Create.

The attributes page reloads and you can drag the newly created attribute up or down on the table to set the order. Attribute order is used when performing calculations.

Edit or delete an attribute

BEFORE YOU PROCEED

Editing or deleting an attribute can have unintended consequences in the Brinqa Platform, such as loss of historical data, impact on relationships and queries, errors in dashboards and reports, or issues with data integration(s) and orchestration syncing successfully. Before making any modifications, it is strongly recommended to review the changes carefully and consult with your Brinqa Support team.

You can edit or delete existing attributes regardless of whether the data model extends another model. Hold the pointer over the entry and click Edit or Delete to modify an existing attribute.

When a data model extends another data model, the attributes exist on the parent data model, so you cannot edit the attributes in the child data model. You can, however, use the Override option to change the behavior of that attribute for the child.

Tutorial: Create a reference attribute to link Code projects to Code repositories

This tutorial demonstrates how to create a reference attribute on the Code project data model to establish a relationship with its corresponding Code repository. Creating the attribute and defining the relationship type gives the Brinqa Platform the ability to recognize and traverse between the two models.

Users with the Configurator or System administrator role can create new reference attributes. To create this reference attribute, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Administration > Data > Models.

2. Locate and click the Code project data model.

3. Click Attributes in the navigation menu.

4. Click Create.

   Complete the following fields:

   • Title: Type "Repository Link"

     The name field automatically populates using the attribute's title in camel case ("Repository Link" = "repositoryLink").

   • Description: Type "Establishes a relationship between code projects and code repositories".

   • Help: Type "Reference to the code repository that contains this project".

   • Type: Click the drop-down and select Reference.

   • Default renderer: Leave this option as is.

5. Under Default value, leave this field blank.

6. In Related to, click the drop-down and select Code repository.

7. In Relationship type, type "BELONGS". This is the BQL relationship keyword that will be used in BQL queries to traverse between the two data models.

   You can use BELONGS or BELONGS TO in the BQL query. Prepositions such as TO can be used after relationship keywords for fluidity, but they are ignored in terms of query processing. Thus, BELONGS and BELONGS TO are functionally identical.

   IMPORTANT

   The Relationship Type keyword must be in all caps. For example, use BELONGS instead of Belongs. For additional information, see Query for relationships in BQL.

8. In Association, select One to one.

   This is appropriate because each code project typically belongs to a single code repository. Since we are creating this reference from the Code project model, selecting one to one ensures that each project links to only one repository.

   Alternatively, you can select One to many if a code project is associated with multiple repositories. This is less common but valid in cases such as projects that reference multiple upstream repositories. Choose the option that best reflects your data and how you intend to query across the relationship.

9. Under Options, select Active and Exportable.

10. Leave all other unmentioned settings as is and click Create.

    

The Attributes page reloads, and your new reference attribute is listed. You can now use BQL to traverse the relationship between your code projects and code repositories.

Before we defined the relationship, the following query returned an error:

FIND CodeProject AS c
THAT BELONGS TO CodeRepository AS c2

After creating the reference attribute, the same query is now valid and can return data:

Additionally, the relationship is bi-directional. You can query from Code Repository to Code Project using the same BELONGS relationship keyword:

You might notice that the query doesn’t reference the repositoryLink attribute we created for this tutorial. In the Brinqa Platform, BQL uses the relationship type defined by a reference attribute, not the attribute’s name, to determine how to traverse between data models.

Because of this, you should avoid defining multiple reference attributes that use the same relationship type to point to the same data model. If you do, the Brinqa Platform won’t know which attribute to follow when evaluating a query that includes that relationship type. However, you can reuse a relationship type within the same data model if each reference points to a different target model.