Canvas
The Canvas gives you a visual, drag-and-drop view of your data entities and their relationships. Use it when you’d rather see and edit the data model as a connected graph than work through tables and forms — to verify entity detection early, or to inspect field-level lineage after mapping. Nexa offers two canvas views.
| Canvas | What It Shows | How to Reach It |
|---|---|---|
| Raw Canvas | Source entities and their relationships at the raw layer | Accessed via Data Flow |
| Gold Canvas | Multi-layer view: curated (purple) → consumption (green) with field-level mappings | Canvas in the sidebar |
Raw Canvas
Section titled “Raw Canvas”The Raw Canvas shows your source entities as interactive cards on an infinite, pannable workspace.
Node layout
Section titled “Node layout”Each entity node displays:
- Header — entity name with edit and delete buttons
- Attributes — scrollable list of columns with their data types
- Badges — SCD2 (slowly changing dimension type 2) indicator, primary key markers, file node indicators
- Record count — how many rows are in the source table
Node colors
Section titled “Node colors”| Color | Meaning |
|---|---|
Purple (#7366ff) |
Standard entity |
Pink (#ff6bcb) |
New or recently updated entity |
Interactions
Section titled “Interactions”| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Move nodes | Click and drag any node |
| Zoom | Scroll wheel (minimum zoom 0.01 for a full overview) |
| Pan | Click and drag the background |
| Edit entity name | Select the edit icon — an inline text input appears |
| Add attribute | Use the input fields at the bottom of a node to add a column name and type |
| Delete attribute | Select the trash icon next to any column |
| Connect entities | Drag from a handle (top, right, or bottom of a node) to another node |
| Toggle SCD2 | Mark an entity for slowly changing dimension type 2 tracking |
| Switch to table view | Toggle between Canvas View and Graph View (tabular list) using the view buttons |
Mini map
Section titled “Mini map”A mini map in the corner shows the full graph at a glance with your current viewport highlighted. It’s useful for navigating large models.
Gold Canvas
Section titled “Gold Canvas”The Gold Canvas shows the relationship between your curated and consumption layers with field-level detail. It can display up to three layers simultaneously:
Raw (source) → Curated (silver) → Consumption (gold)Node types
Section titled “Node types”| Node | Color | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Curated entity | Purple (#8B5CF6) |
Source curated tables with all columns |
| Consumption entity | Green (#10B981) |
Business-ready gold entities |
Field-level mappings
Section titled “Field-level mappings”Unlike the Raw Canvas, the Gold Canvas shows individual column-to-column connections. Dashed lines connect a curated column to a consumption column, and each mapping line carries metadata:
- Transformation type — direct, expression, or aggregate
- Auto-generated flag — indicates AI-suggested mappings
- Reason — an explanation of why the AI suggested this mapping
Interactions
Section titled “Interactions”| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Collapse/Expand nodes | Toggle the arrow to show or hide column details |
| Create field mapping | Drag from a curated column handle to a consumption column handle |
| Rename columns | Click to edit consumption column names inline |
| Delete columns | Use the remove button on consumption entity columns |
| Auto-mapping | When you rename a consumption column, the system suggests matching curated columns |
Edge types
Section titled “Edge types”The Gold Canvas uses two custom edge styles:
- Standard edges — curved paths for curated-to-consumption mappings
- Gold-to-gold edges — a special connector style for relationships within the consumption layer (connects right-side handles)
Switching between views
Section titled “Switching between views”Both canvas views support toggling between the visual diagram and a tabular list:
- Canvas View — the interactive diagram (default)
- Graph View — a structured table listing nodes and their relationships
Use the view toggle buttons in the top-right corner to switch.
- Use the Raw Canvas early to verify entity detection and relationships look correct before running AI mapping.
- Use the Gold Canvas after mapping to visually verify field-level lineage between the curated and consumption layers.
- Drag nodes to group related entities together — the layout persists for your session.
- Zoom out to see the full model at a glance, then zoom into specific areas for detail work.