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attribute

An attribute defines the characteristics of data.

In an Excel spreadsheet, data is often organised into columns, where the first row is the column header. For example, a spreadsheet of customer data may have column headers Name, Address, Postcode, Phone Number and the rows below contain the data, with each row being a data record. A stream to represent customer data may have the attributes: Name, Address, Postcode, Phone Number. However, the attributes do not contain the data. Attributes contain the  information about the data. For example, it includes the type of data, for example, whether it is:

• text
• a number
• a date
• a true/false field.

The range of characteristics available depend on the context in which the attribute is being used. For example, an attribute for the same data in a:

• stream includes expressions to control how its values will be processed.
• stream view includes properties related to how it will be displayed in views, such a labels and alignment. You can even set attributes to be hidden, so although they are present in the stream, they are not shown in views.
• stream action specifies how a user interaction in an application can change the value of stream items in the stream.

See related terms:  view, stream item, action
See pages:  Understanding Streams and Pipes, Stream Attributes, Stream Action