Relation types

Updated: May 26, 2025

A relation is a characteristic that describes how two assets relate to each other. The relation's type defines the relation and determines which assets can be related. A relation type defines the specific connections or associations that can exist between two asset types.

When you associate relation types with asset types through an assignment, you can add relations of that type to assets of that type and build a rich, interconnected graph of your data assets, making it easier to understand dependencies, impact, and the overall lineage of information across your organization.

Certain relation types are managed by Collibra, meaning they are system-managed and you can't edit their public ID or delete them. You can, however, edit their names (for example, to translate them into your preferred language).

Elements in a relation type

A relation type has four elements.

Element	Description
Head	Asset type of assets that can be the head of the relation.
Tail	Asset type of assets that can be the tail of the relation.
Role	Description of the relation type going from the head asset to the tail asset.
Co-role	Description of the relation type going from the tail asset to the head asset.

Note Relations are bidirectional. For example, in the relation type "Table is part of/contains Database", the Table asset is part of the Database asset, and the Database asset contains the Table asset.