About read-only attributes

You can mark attribute types as read-only in an asset type assignment to prevent users from creating, editing, or deleting attribute values, even if they have write permissions on the asset. This protects ingested or system-generated data from accidental modification and ensures that Collibra can serve as a reliable source of truth for those values.

The read-only flag is set per assignment, meaning the same attribute type can be read-only on one asset type and editable on another. Read-only is not supported for relation types or complex relation types.

Configure a read-only attribute type

To mark an attribute type as read-only, go to the asset type assignment configuration page and select the Read Only checkbox in the Characteristics table for the relevant attribute type.

The Characteristics table in an asset type assignment, showing the Read Only column with true and false values.
Note 
  • The Read Only option is only available for attribute types, not for relation types or complex relation types.
  • The Read Only checkbox is not available for system-managed attribute types.
  • The Read Only column is only shown in the directly-assigned characteristics table. It is not shown in the inherited characteristics view.

System-managed read-only attribute types

Some attribute type assignments ship with the read-only flag already set by Collibra. These are system-managed and administrators cannot change them.

Override the read-only flag

The following users can still create, edit, and delete read-only attribute values:

  • The System user and Workflow system users.
  • Users with a global role with the Manage all resources global permission.
  • Users with a global role with the Override read-only attributes global permission, provided they also have write access to the asset.

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