Issue - Search in Schema of an asset does not return columns based on attached glossary terms
In Amazon DataZone, when columns of a published asset are tagged with business glossary terms, searching for those terms in the Schema search box does not return any results.
Current behavior:
- Schema search only searches column names and column descriptions
- Glossary terms tagged at column level are not searchable
Expected behavior:
- Schema search should also return columns based on associated glossary terms
Impact:
- Business users search using business terminology, not technical column names
- This limits data discoverability and reduces the value of column-level glossary tagging
Please confirm if this is a known limitation or if support for glossary-term–based search in schema is planned.
- Newest
- Most votes
- Most comments
This behavior aligns with current Amazon DataZone design. Schema-level search only indexes technical metadata such as column names and descriptions. Glossary terms are searchable only at the catalog level, not within an individual asset’s schema view. To find assets or columns using business terminology, users should use the main catalog search and apply glossary term filters, which leverage business metadata for discovery. Column-level glossary tagging improves catalog-wide search, not schema search. If schema-level glossary search is required, it should be raised as a feature request through AWS Support or your account team.
answered 7 months ago
Based on the current Amazon DataZone search capabilities, the behavior you're experiencing appears to be consistent with how the service is designed. The search functionality in Amazon DataZone operates at different levels with specific scopes.
When searching within the Schema of an asset, the search is focused on technical metadata like column names and descriptions. However, Amazon DataZone does support searching for glossary terms - this capability exists at the broader catalog search level rather than within the individual asset's schema search box.
To search for assets and columns by glossary terms, you should use the main catalog search functionality rather than the schema-level search. The catalog search allows you to:
- Search across the entire catalog using glossary terms as search criteria
- Filter results by glossary terms that have been associated with assets and columns
- Discover assets based on business terminology through the semantic search capabilities
When glossary terms are applied to columns, they help classify and enhance the identification of those attributes during catalog-wide searches. The terms become part of the asset's business metadata and improve overall discoverability when users search from the main catalog interface.
For your use case where business users need to find data using business terminology, the recommended approach is to leverage the catalog search with glossary term filters rather than relying on the schema-level search box. This allows users to discover relevant assets and their columns based on the business glossary terms that have been associated with them.
If you need schema-level search to include glossary terms, I'd recommend submitting this as a feature request through your AWS account team or AWS Support, as this would represent an enhancement to the current search capabilities within the asset schema view.
Sources
Search - Amazon DataZone
Amazon DataZone terminology and concepts - Amazon DataZone
New business metadata features in Amazon SageMaker Catalog to improve discoverability across organizations | AWS News Blog
Search for and view assets in the Amazon DataZone catalog - Amazon DataZone
answered 7 months ago
Relevant content
- AWS OFFICIALUpdated a month ago
Thanks for the explanation, but this does not fully address the use case.
Catalog-level glossary search helps with asset discovery, but it does not solve schema-level discovery. Assets often have hundreds of columns, and business users need to find specific columns using business terms, not technical column names.
Column-level glossary tagging should be searchable within the asset schema, not only at the catalog level. Otherwise, the value of tagging columns with glossary terms is significantly reduced.
If this is by design, it should be clearly documented as a known limitation. Otherwise, this should be considered a feature enhancement to improve usability and data discoverability in Amazon DataZone.