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Generating Impact Analysis and Lineage Reports

Angelo Bresci
Updated

Area: Product Issues

Sub-Area: Impact Analysis and Data Lineage

Issue

Users need to generate and download impact analysis reports based on column-level or table-level lineage to understand the downstream and upstream impact of changes to their data models. This functionality helps assess the potential consequences of updating columns or tables before making changes.

You Might Be Asking

  • How can I export lineage data for impact assessment?
  • Can I download reports showing which datasets depend on a specific table or column?
  • Is there a way to get CSV exports of upstream and downstream dependencies?

Solution

Table-Level Impact Analysis

  1. Navigate to any dataset in DataHub and click on the Lineage tab
  2. Switch to the Impact Analysis view
  3. Select either Upstream or Downstream direction
  4. Apply filters as needed:
    • Degree of dependency (1-hop, 2-hop, all)
    • Entity type, platform, domain, owner
    • Any other available filters
  5. Click the Download button at the top-right of the result list
  6. Name your file and the CSV will be generated with the full filtered result set

Column-Level Impact Analysis

  1. Follow steps 1-2 above to access the Impact Analysis view
  2. Toggle the column lineage selector in the same view
  3. Select the specific column you want to analyze
  4. Apply any desired filters
  5. Use the Download button to export the results

Export Details

The CSV export includes the following information:

  • URN, name, type, and description
  • Owners (users and groups) with email addresses
  • Tags, glossary terms, domain, and platform
  • View count, unique users, row count, and size in bytes
  • Queries from the last month
  • Degree of dependency (1st-degree, 2nd-degree, etc.)

Programmatic Access for Advanced Column Lineage

For detailed column-to-column transformation paths, you can use the GraphQL API:

query {
  searchAcrossLineage(
    input: {
      query: "*"
      start: 0
      count: 100
      # other parameters
    }
  ) {
    searchResults {
      entity {
        # entity details
      }
      matchedFields {
        # field-level lineage information
      }
    }
    fineGrainedLineages {
      # detailed column transformation data
    }
  }
}

Additional Notes

The CSV export is limited to 10,000 records per export. For column-level lineage, the export captures the list of impacted entities rather than the full column-to-column transformation path. If you need detailed transformation flows, consider using the GraphQL API with custom scripting. Column-level lineage visualization is available in the UI, but dedicated column-level CSV exports may require API integration for complex use cases.

Related Documentation

Tags: impact-analysis, lineage, csv-export, downstream, upstream, column-level, table-level, reports, data-governance, dependencies

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