Column descriptions in dbt - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Adding Column Descriptions in dbt

📖 Scenario: You are working on a data project using dbt. Your team wants to make the data models easier to understand by adding clear descriptions to each column in the model.

🎯 Goal: You will add column descriptions to a dbt model's schema.yml file. This helps everyone know what each column means without guessing.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a dbt model schema.yml file with a model named orders

Add column descriptions for the columns order_id, customer_id, and order_date

Use the exact description texts provided in the instructions

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

In real data projects, adding column descriptions makes data models easier to understand and maintain by everyone on the team.

💼 Career

Data analysts and engineers often write and maintain dbt models with clear documentation to improve collaboration and data quality.

1

Create the initial schema.yml file with the model name

Create a file named schema.yml and define a model with the name orders inside the models list.

dbt

# Your code here

Need a hint?

Start by writing version: 2 at the top, then add models: and define the model name orders.

2

Add columns list with column names

Inside the orders model, add a columns list with the column names order_id, customer_id, and order_date. Do not add descriptions yet.

dbt

version: 2
models:
  - name: orders
    columns:
      # Your code here

Need a hint?

List each column under columns: with - name: column_name.

3

Add descriptions to each column

Add a description field for each column with these exact texts: order_id: "Unique ID for each order", customer_id: "ID of the customer who placed the order", order_date: "Date when the order was placed".

dbt

version: 2
models:
  - name: orders
    columns:
      - name: order_id
        # Your code here
      - name: customer_id
        # Your code here
      - name: order_date
        # Your code here

Need a hint?

Indent the description under each column name and use the exact text given.

4

Display the final schema.yml content

Print the entire content of the schema.yml file as a string.

dbt

# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use a print statement with triple quotes to show the full YAML content exactly.