Troubleshoot Data Dictionary Download and Upload

Customer Managed Applies to customer-managed instances of Alation

Error “Cannot find field for name al_datadict_item_properties”

Affected versions: 2023.3.1 and below

Problem

When users attempt to upload a data dictionary file containing the column al_datadict_item_properties, they get the error Cannot find field for name al_datadict_item_properties. Despite the error, the upload completes successfully, although it might cause confusion or concern.

Note

The issue was fixed in version 2023.3.2.

Cause

Starting in version 2023.3, Alation automatically includes the al_datadict_item_properties field in the downloaded data dictionary file. The field appears as the first column header but is not recognized by the default data dictionary upload process in versions 2023.3.1 and below.

Solution

The solution depends on the version you’re using.

Version 2023.3

You can choose one of the options below to work around the issue:

• Manually remove the al_datadict_item_properties column from the data dictionary file before uploading the data dictionary via the user interface. Users have to manually remove it every time they want to upload a data dictionary.

• Remove the al_datadict_item_properties column from data dictionary downloads by setting the alation_conf feature flag alation.feature_flags.DEV_download_data_dictionary_v2 to False. For help with alation_conf, see Using alation_conf.

Version 2023.3.1

• Activate the data dictionary upload flow in the user interface that accepts the al_datadict_item_properties column by setting the alation_conf feature flag alation.feature_flags.dev_enable_data_dictionary_redesign to True. This action requires a restart of the Django service. For help with alation_conf, see Using alation_conf.

• For other solutions, refer to the options in Version 2023.3.