Glossary

This section provides definitions for terms which have a specific meaning for trac.

Asset

A data or model object, plus the external asset (code or data records) to which the metadata object refers

Business segment

A user-defined classifier which forms part of Tags

Calculation-as-Contract

The execution model trac implements: the entire calculation context — models, data, parameters, and structure — is defined upfront as a calculation contract, which directly drives execution and persists as its authoritative record. Intrinsic governance follows from this model, rather than being enforced through separate procedural controls.

Calculation contract

The metadata object created when a RunModel or RunFlow job is submitted. The contract specifies the model version, input datasets, and parameter values, both driving execution and persisting as the authoritative record of what ran. Because the contract references immutable models and data, any calculation can be reproduced exactly by re-submitting the same contract.

Compute service

An external execution environment (e.g. Kubernetes, cloud batch services) which trac uses to orchestrate RunModel and RunFlow jobs

Data

Depending on context either a) collections of files or records, or b) a metadata object of the type ‘data’ which refers to and describes those files and records

Definition

The object type, unique object ID, and when the object was first created - one of the four categories of metadata attribute recorded for every object

ExportData job

A job which trac orchestrates to copy data from an internal storage location to an external storage location (not available in the Desktop edition)

External storage

A storage location to which trac has non-controlling access, from which data can be fetched via an ImportData job or to which data can be placed using an ExportData job (not available in the Desktop edition)

File

Depending on context either a) a discrete digital asset such as a document or report, or b) a metadata object of the type ‘file’ which refers to and describes that asset

Flow

A metadata object of the type ‘flow’. Flows are blueprints for complex calculations which involve more than one model represented as a graph where the nodes are models and the edges are datasets

Governance report

A pdf copy of an object summary which is downloaded for use in offline governance processes

ImportData job

A job which trac orchestrates to copy data from an external storage location to an internal storage location (not available in the Desktop edition)

Intrinsic governance

The property of the trac platform by which auditability, repeatability, and self-documentation are built into execution itself rather than enforced through separate controls. Intrinsic governance is a consequence of immutable foundations, metadata-driven orchestration, and calculation contracts.

ImportModel job

A job trac runs when a model is loaded from a repository. The job creates a metadata object to represent and reference the code in the repository

Internal storage

A data storage location to which trac alone has write access, which is used to store imported, uploaded or generated data

Job

Depending on the context either a) a metadata object of the type job, which refers to and describes a process which trac has initiated, or b) the process itself. The five job types are; ImportModel, ImportData, RunModel, RunFlow and ExportData

Metadata model

The semantic data model which trac uses to catalogue, describe and control assets, resources and jobs. The model consists of two layers; objects and tags

Model

Depending on the context either a) a block of code in a repository that has been exposed to trac via the model upload process, or b) a metadata object of the type ‘model’ which refers to and describes said block of code

Object

A single record in the metadata store. The main object types; data, model, schema, file, flow and job

Object summary

The page in the trac UI which summarises a single object, including its tags, schema, version history, and any files which have been attached to it

Repository

An external code repository from which trac can import models via an ImportModel job. The repository will store the model code and provide it when needed for a RunModel or RunFlow job

Resource

Any technical service external to the platform which trac uses to orchestrate jobs. Resource types include; internal and external storage locations, repositories and compute services

RunFlow job

A job in which trac uses a compute service to orchestrate a calculation represented by a flow, using a specific set of models, data inputs and parameter values

RunModel job

A job in which trac uses a compute service to execute a single model using a specific set of data inputs and parameter values

Schema

A metadata object of the type ‘schema’ which defines the field names, types, constraints, and relationships of a dataset. A single schema can be shared across multiple data objects

Source

System-generated tags describing an object’s lineage. The content varies by object type and creation method - one of the four categories of metadata attribute recorded for every object

Tags

Attributes assigned by users to describe an object and make it discoverable, e.g. Key, Name, Description, and business segment - one of the four categories of metadata attribute recorded for every object

Tenant

A logically separate domain within a trac deployment. Every object resides in, and can be accessed only from, a single tenant

Tenant-role

A permission level assigned to a user within a tenant, controlling which actions they are allowed to perform. The four tenant-roles - Read, Write, Manage and Admin - are inclusive, so Write implies Read and Admin implies all permissions

Traceable action

An action that a user performs on the platform which is recorded in the metadata model. Object creation and tag modification are the two types of traceable action

Upload

To make an asset available to trac by loading it directly to the UI rather than using an import job. Data, files and schemas can be uploaded

Version

Where more than one version of an object exists, the record of when a specific version was created. Taken together, these records form the object’s complete version history - one of the four categories of metadata attribute recorded for every object

Virtualised deployment

The method by which trac executes models without copying their code into the platform. Model code remains in its external repository and is fetched dynamically at runtime, using only a reference to the specific commit