Skip to main content
Version: 3.2

2.6 Model

The Model is where you define the structure of the knowledge graph. It is the central component of the Data Context Hub: a visual workspace where you design the entities, connections and data sources that make up your graph. You work with the Model in the DCH application, under Model in the sidebar.

A Model is built from three kinds of element:

  • Target Entities: the data structures that become node types in the knowledge graph. Each entity maps properties from a data source into the graph schema.
  • Relationships: the connections between Target Entities, which become the edges of the graph.
  • Data Sources: the link to external data, through Containers (from Connectors) or Intake Agents.

Sessions and the Model → Build flow​

Work in the Model happens inside a Session. Each session takes you through two steps, shown at the top of the workspace:

  1. Model: choose and curate the part of the graph you want to work on.
  2. Build: process the selected Target Entities into the knowledge graph.

Sessions let you keep separate pieces of work side by side, so you can focus on one part of a large Model without losing your place in another.

Isolating a subset​

A Model can contain hundreds of Target Entities and Relationships, so the canvas does not load the whole Model at once. Instead, you isolate a subset, the part of the Model you want to see and build:

  • Use the Search field and the Target entities, Relationships and Data sources tabs to find and select the elements you need, then confirm to bring them onto the canvas.
  • Or begin from one of the Starting points (all Target Entities, Relationships or Data sources) to jump straight in.
  • Choose Add new to start from an empty canvas and create elements from scratch.

Isolation only changes what is displayed; it never removes anything from the Model. Once your subset is on the canvas, you can inspect and edit its elements and then continue to Build.

The Model workspace: the Model to Build stepper at the top, the isolated-subset list on the left, and the model on the canvas with Target Entity cards linked by a Relationship node

The canvas​

On the canvas, each element is a node and the connections show how data flows between them:

  • 🟦 Target Entities: shown as cards; the node types that will be built into the graph
  • 🟩 Relationships: shown as nodes that link Target Entities
  • 🟪 Data Sources: where data enters the Model (shown when you enable Data Source nodes)

The canvas provides controls to lay out and navigate the subset: switch between a Layered and a Force layout, show or hide Data Source nodes, zoom in and out or fit the view, and download the current canvas as a PNG image.

To open an element, double-click its node (or its row in the list). Its details open in a panel on the right, where you can edit it (see Target Entities, Relationships and Data Sources).

tip

If the canvas looks empty, no subset has been isolated yet. Select a few Target Entities from the list, or pick a Starting point, to populate it.