This guide follows the Data Classifications episode of the Atlas video series. We’ll create a data module for Evergreen Landscaping called Service Properties, go through every field on its form, and look at what changes when you create a resource instead.
If you’re new to the idea, read What is a classification? first.
Start a new data module
Open Data Modules from the navigation, choose New, then Data Module. The form starts at the top.
Type
Type says what kind of classification this is. It reads Entity, which is a data module, and it’s set by where you started, so there’s nothing to choose.
Security Policy
Every classification needs a Security Policy. The description under the dropdown says what each policy does. The tutorial picks Field Crew Access. Policies are explained in Security policies explained.
Instance counts
Two optional limits come next, and both count topics.
- Min. Instance Count sets a floor. Turn it on, and Atlas refuses to archive a topic if that would leave fewer than this number.
- Max. Instance Count sets a ceiling. Once that many topics exist, creating another is refused.
For a resource, the count applies inside each parent topic — so a site survey could be required, or capped at one, for every property. Properties have no natural limit, so the tutorial leaves both off.
When to use them:
| Situation | Setting |
|---|---|
| Every property must keep at least one contact | Min. Instance Count 1 on a contacts resource |
| Each property has exactly one site survey | Min and Max 1 on a site survey resource |
| No natural limit | Leave both off |
Name, key, label and description
The details sit at the bottom of the form.
- Name is required and must be unique in your organization. The tutorial uses Service Properties.
- Key is built from the name automatically: lower case, with anything that isn’t a letter or a number turned into an underscore. You can’t edit it; it follows the name.
- Label is optional. Give one, and Atlas shows it in the File System in place of the name, so the name can stay precise while the label reads the way your team talks. The tutorial uses Properties.
- Description is required: a sentence or two, up to 256 characters, for anyone who wonders what this is for.
Tips for naming are in Naming classifications well.
Create it
Choose Create, and Atlas returns you to the File System, where the new data module is waiting. Notice it’s listed as Properties — the label, not the name. Open it, and it’s empty, ready for its first record schema, its topics, and any resources. Everything you add from here belongs to this classification.
Resources and automation
A data module can hold resources. From inside it, choose New, then Resource. It’s the same form with one addition: Automation.
Automation only applies to a classification that has a parent, and it answers one question: when someone creates a topic in the parent, should Atlas create this classification’s topics for them?
- Generate Sub-topics Automatically turns that on. The number comes from the Min. Instance Count, so a resource that requires one site survey gets one automatically for every new property.
- Override Sub-topic Count lets you choose a different number, even zero.
See Data modules and resources for when to use each.
Find it later
Every top-level classification is listed in the File System under Data Modules. Select one and a details panel opens: open it, edit it, change its security policy, or archive it.
Before you create: a short planning step
Five minutes of planning saves rework:
- Name the thing, not the task. Properties, not Inspecting.
- Decide whether it stands alone. Data module if yes; resource if each one belongs to a parent topic.
- Check for natural limits. Must every parent have at least one? At most one? That’s your instance counts.
- Choose the security policy. Which existing policy fits, or do you need a new one?
- Decide the owning user group. Every top-level data module wants a group with Manage access.
Field-by-field summary
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Set automatically | Entity for a data module; set by where you started |
| Security Policy | Yes | Every classification needs one |
| Min. Instance Count | No | Floor; blocks archiving below the number |
| Max. Instance Count | No | Ceiling; blocks creating beyond the number |
| Automation | Resources only | Create sub-topics with the parent |
| Name | Yes | Unique in your organization |
| Key | Set automatically | Lower case, non-alphanumerics become underscores |
| Label | No | Shown in the File System instead of the name |
| Description | Yes | Up to 256 characters |
After you create it
A new module is empty. The usual next steps:
- Add a record schema describing what you keep on file for each topic — see Fill a data module.
- Create a few topics for real things, and fill in their records.
- Check security. Open the classification’s Security section, review the inherited rules, and add explicit rules if this classification needs something specific.
- Assign ownership. Give a user group Manage access, and check Unassigned Topics for topics waiting for an owner.
- Add resources if some information belongs to individual topics, such as a survey per property.
Common questions
Can I rename a classification later? The name can be edited from the classification’s details panel. Remember that the key follows the name.
Why can’t I edit the key? It’s generated from the name so it stays consistent and predictable.
What’s the difference between the name and the label? The name is the precise, unique name; the label is what the File System displays. A module named Service Properties can appear as Properties.
When should I use instance counts? When a business rule sets a floor or ceiling — for example, exactly one site survey per property.
Can several classifications share one security policy? Yes, and that’s the intended use: write a policy once and apply it wherever it fits.
Next steps
Your data module is empty. Fill it with a record schema and its first topic in Fill a data module: record schemas, topics and records.
