Agile Data Engine's metadata-driven approach has three core concepts:
- Entities - metadata object combining the data model and data loads into one. Information like keys and physical types are combined with permissions and load schedules.
- Packages - collections of entities. A Package is also the unit of commit and deployment, flowing through the CI/CD pipeline.
- Workflows - generated automatically based on logical data lineage and schedules. Entity loads are logical mappings between entities (and transformations), and the scheduling defines how often data is loaded.
Everything is designed in the same web-based user interface and an environment shared by all developers and teams working with your data warehouse.
The data models, load definitions, and other information about the data warehouse content are stored in a central metadata repository with related documentation.
The actual physical SQL code for models and loads is generated automatically based on the design metadata. Also, load workflows are generated dynamically using dependencies and schedule information provided by the developers.
More complex custom SQL transformations are placed as Load Steps as part of metadata, to gain from the overall automation and shared design experience.
