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What Is a Field?

Components and references can have user-defined fields in Ardoq, allowing you to add critical metadata.

Kristine Marhilevica avatar
Written by Kristine Marhilevica
Updated over a month ago

A field is metadata that can be added to a component or reference to provide additional information. For example, you can add a Version Number field to an Application component to store details about the version that the application is currently on.

Ardoq metamodels come with metamodel-specific fields and references, but custom fields and references can be added as well.

Fields can be searched and filtered to help you narrow down your selection of components or references.

When to Use Fields

A field is usually used to qualify a component or provide additional context for it. For example, an Application component might have a Service Level Agreement field or a Life Cycle field.

In other cases, a field will not be enough to describe the complexities of a component. In that case, it is better to create a new component with its own descriptive fields and then create a relationship between the two components.

For example, if you have a Server component, adding a field called Operating System will not be enough to describe precisely which variant of an Operating System is running on the server. That is, the Operating System has its own version, life cycle, business criticality and so on — too many details to easily capture in a field or even a number of fields.

In this situation, we recommend creating an Operating System component with its own relevant fields and then connecting it to the Server component through a reference like Runs on.

Creating New Fields

All components have a number of built-in fields, such as type and last modified.

You can create fields in bulk when importing data using an integration.

Add New Fields from the Workspace View

You can also create fields when you are editing a component or reference by adding additional fields. You can do this by clicking the Add Field button within the field area in the Pages View. This will add the field to all components or references of that type.

You can manage and edit fields from the sidebar menu. Here you can create, edit and delete fields:

  1. Click the Menu on the top-right corner of the screen.

  2. Under the Workspace tab, under the Edit metamodel heading, click on Manage field types.

  3. Click Add field at the bottom of the sidebar.

Edit and Add Fields by Editing Components

You can also add new fields or edit existing fields while viewing a workspace in most types of views. Right-click the component to bring up the context menu then click Edit properties to bring up the component properties sidebar.

You can then use the sidebar to update existing fields or use the input field at the bottom of the sidebar to add new fields:

Field Types

Use field types to easily store different types of data about your components and references.

Field type

Description

Text

Stores alphanumeric characters of variable length.

Number

Stores numerical values

Email

Stores email addresses

Text paragraph

Stores longer pieces of text, often used for notes or descriptions

Date time

Stores a single date (e.g. creation date)

Checkbox

Stores true or false values, often used for checklists or to indicate completion of a task.

List

Allows users to select from a predefined list of options.

Select multiple list

Allows users to select multiple options from a predefined list.

User

References a user within the Ardoq platform.

URL

Stores web addresses

Date range

Stores a start and end time

Calculated field

Stores values derived from multiple inputs. E.g. Calculates and stores the health score derived from adding up the business and technical fit scores of applications. Learn more about calculated fields in this article.

File

Stores a URL linking to a file and can be used to preview the file within Ardoq. Currently limited to the SAP Signavio integration.

Number Field Formatting

Number fields are displayed according to the user's selected locale. In addition, the number field can either be formatted as a plain number or as a currency. When creating or editing a number field, there is a drop-down where the formatting can be defined.

Visualizations Adjusted By Field Values

Fields that use numerical values can change the visualizations, such as the Treemap. Click the “By custom field” and select the field from the drop-down menu. Your visualization will then automatically be recalculated according to represent the field you selected.

For fields that apply to both the parent and the child, the visualization will present the accumulated value:

Ardoq visualizations

FAQ

Are there any reserved field types?

Yes, Ardoq has several reserved field names within Ardoq that cannot be used to name your custom fields. They are listed in table below for your reference:

description
_order
last-updated
_id
children
mustBeSaved
color
parent
ardoq-entity-type
lastModifiedByName
name
createdByEmail
type
created
rootWorkspace
source
displayText
typeId
returnValue

isPublic
targetWorkspace
created-by
last-modified-by
id
shape
order
image
origin
lastModifiedByEmail
target
component-key
version
_version
ardoq
createdByName
model

icon

If you attempt to use one of these as a field name, you'll be presented with the following message:

If you have questions or need more information, browse our Knowledge Base or reach out to us from our website or using the in-app chat.

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