Entity Overlay and Property Inspection
Understand how the entity overlay works. Inspect property details, type resolution, key indicators, and relationship pills for any entity in a data view.
The entity overlay is the main property inspector in data views. When you click an entity node on the canvas, the overlay opens as a side panel showing every property in the entity along with its type, constraints, and metadata. The overlay is identical in both the editor and the published viewer, so what you see during design is exactly what your audience sees.
Opening the Overlay
Click any entity node on the data view canvas. The overlay slides in from the right, showing the entity name at the top and a scrollable list of properties below. Click another node to switch the overlay to that entity, or click the canvas background to close it.
Property Details
Each property row in the overlay shows the following information:
Type Resolution
The overlay resolves types through the active profile. This means the same entity can display different types depending on whether you are viewing a persistence or search data view:
| Model Type | PostgreSQL Profile | Azure Search Profile |
|---|---|---|
| string | VARCHAR(255) | Edm.String |
| integer | INTEGER | Edm.Int32 |
| boolean | BOOLEAN | Edm.Boolean |
| date-time | TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE | Edm.DateTimeOffset |
| uuid | UUID | Edm.String |
Relationship Pills
When a property is a foreign key, the overlay shows a relationship pill next to it. The pill displays the name of the related entity. Clicking the pill navigates the canvas to that entity and opens its overlay, making it easy to traverse relationships.
Property Drilldown
For properties with additional configuration (descriptions, constraints, governance metadata, derivations), a chevron icon appears on the property row. Click it to expand the drilldown section, which shows all configuration grouped into named sections such as Type and Constraints, Governance, Persistence, and Search.