Versions Compared

Key

  • This line was added.
  • This line was removed.
  • Formatting was changed.

...

Excerpt

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 table 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 table 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 streamtable, they are not shown in views.
  • stream table-action specifies how a user interaction in an application can change the value of stream items records in the stream.
See related terms view, stream item, action
See pages:  Understanding Tables and PipesAttributeStream Action
  • table.