Entries and entry groups

Entries and entry groups are key concepts in Data Catalog.

Note: This document describes entries and entry groups for Data Catalog. For information about Dataplex Catalog entries and entry groups, see Manage entries and ingest custom sources and Dataplex Catalog versus Data Catalog.
For information about transitioning your Data Catalog content and usage to Dataplex Catalog, see Transition from Data Catalog to Dataplex Catalog.

The following illustration depicts how entries and entry groups fit in the Data Catalog data model.

Figure 1. Entry groups organize different data sources and assets.

Entries

Data Catalog entries represent data resources:

• Google Cloud resources, such as a BigQuery dataset or table, Pub/Sub topic, for example.
• Custom resources with custom data types.

You can create, search, and manage your entries. For more information, see Create custom Data Catalog entries for your data sources.

Entry groups

Entries are contained in an entry group. An entry group is a set of logically related entries together with Identity and Access Management policies that specify the users who can create, edit, and view entries within an entry group.

Data Catalog automatically creates entry groups for Google Cloud resources, such as BigQuery (@bigquery) and Pub/Sub topics (@pubsub).

The BigQuery and Pub/Sub entry groups are unique because you cannot run API functions that typically work on custom entry groups. Some examples of such functions are retrieving the list of entry groups in a project, retrieving basic information about an entry group, and creating or deleting a tag.

You can create your own entry group to contain your Cloud Storage fileset entries and the IAM policies associated with those entries. For more information, see Surface files from Cloud Storage with fileset entries.

Entry groups, similar to entries, are searchable.

Map data assets to entries and entry groups

Refer to the following tables to see how Data Catalog maps data assets from different Google Cloud products.

Map Dataproc Metastore to Data Catalog

Dataproc Metastore resource	Data Catalog resource
Service	Entry and entry group
Database	Entry
Table	Entry

Map Dataplex to Data Catalog

Dataplex resource	Data Catalog resource
Lake	Entry and entry group
Zone	Entry
Table	Entry
Fileset	Entry

Map Pub/Sub to Data Catalog

Pub/Sub resource	Data Catalog resource
Topic	Entry inside a Pub/Sub entry group

Map Bigtable to Data Catalog

Bigtable resource	Data Catalog resource
Instance	Entry and entry group
Cluster	Attribute inside an instance entry
Table	Entry inside instance entry group
Column families	Attribute inside a table entry

Map BigQuery to Data Catalog

BigQuery resource	Data Catalog resource
Dataset	Entry inside a BigQuery entry group
Linked dataset	Entry inside a BigQuery entry group
Table	Entry inside a BigQuery entry group
View	Entry inside a BigQuery entry group
Model	Entry inside a BigQuery entry group
Routine	Entry inside a BigQuery entry group
Connection	Entry inside a BigQuery entry group

Map Vertex AI to Data Catalog

Vertex AI resource	Data Catalog resource
Model	Entry inside a Vertex AI entry group
Dataset	Entry inside a Vertex AI entry group
FeatureGroup	Entry inside a Vertex AI entry group
FeatureOnlineStore	Entry inside a Vertex AI entry group
FeatureView	Entry inside a Vertex AI entry group