data_object

ArchiMate 3.2 Equivalent: Data Object (Application Layer - Passive Structure)

Represents a business data entity, domain schema, database table, message event, or informational asset.

Visual Styling

To apply custom shapes, colors, or CSS to data objects, use a Style Rule (e.g. style data_object where classification == "Restricted" { custom_css "fill: #7f1d1d;" }).

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Syntax

data_object <id> "<Display Name>" {
    description "<text>"
    owner "<team>"
    tags ["tag1", "tag2"]
    classification "Public" | "Internal" | "Confidential" | "Restricted"
    pii true | false
    phi true | false

    security {
        confidentiality Low | Medium | High | Critical
        integrity Low | Medium | High | Critical
        availability Low | Medium | High | Critical
    }

    relationships { ... }
}

---

Properties

Property	Type	Allowed Values	Description
description	string	Free text	Explanation of data fields, schema, and purpose
owner	string	Free text	Data steward or business domain team
tags	string[]	Array of strings	Categorization tags
classification	enum / string	"Public", "Internal", "Confidential", "Restricted"	Information security data classification tier
pii	boolean	true | false	Contains Personally Identifiable Information
phi	boolean	true | false	Contains Protected Health Information

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Allowed Relationship Verbs & Targets

Verb	ArchiMate Relation	Allowed Target Entity Types
flows_to	Flow	system, app, component, process, data_object, agent
governed_by	Governance	policy, standard

---

Complete Example

data_object data_customer_record "Customer Profile & KYC" {
    description "Master record containing customer PII, verified identity documents, and contact details"
    owner "Customer Master Data Team"
    classification "Restricted"
    pii true
    phi false
    tags ["gdpr-regulated", "pii-core"]

    security {
        confidentiality Critical
        integrity High
        availability High
    }

    relationships {
        this flows_to sys_analytics "Streams sanitized profile events to data lake"
        this governed_by pol_gdpr_compliance "Subject to GDPR Article 17 (Right to Erasure)"
    }
}