This description relates to graphic representations of data relationships.
Enterprises may use various complex data processing systems, such as data warehousing, customer relationship management, and data mining, to manage data. In many data processing systems, data are pulled from many different data sources, such as database files, operational systems, flat files, the internet, etc., into a central repository. Often, data are transformed before being loaded in the system. Transformation may include cleansing, integration, and extraction. To keep track of the transformations that have happened to the data stored in a system, metadata can be used. Metadata are data that describe other data's origins, histories, inter-relationships, etc. In some systems, a user interface is provided to manage metadata. Stored data items that include metadata or otherwise represent or refer to data that has been (or will be) stored in or processed by the system can be accessed using object-oriented, relational, or other techniques and structures for managing stored data. For example, a data item including metadata can include information about a table, file, or other dataset, or an application or data processing element that generates a dataset.