Sourcerelational

Sourcerelational is a concept in data engineering and information management that describes approaches for integrating data from heterogeneous sources into relational data models while preserving provenance information. The central goal is to enable relational querying over data originally stored in non-relational formats or in separate systems, without losing traceability to the source.

Key aspects include data provenance, where metadata records the origin, transformations, and ownership of each data item; schema mapping, which defines how fields from source schemas translate into relational tables and columns; and lineage, which provides a backward and forward view of data as it moves through ETL or ELT pipelines. Architectural patterns often feature source adapters, a mapping or translation engine, a relational storage layer, a provenance store, and a governance or catalog component.

Sourcerelational approaches support schema evolution by maintaining versioned mappings and applying adaptive transformations when sources change. They also emphasize query translation or pushdown where feasible, enabling analysts to write SQL against a unified relational schema while transparently accessing underlying sources.

Applications include data warehousing, business intelligence, data lake governance, and regulatory reporting, especially in environments with strict audit requirements. Benefits include enhanced traceability, reproducibility of analyses, and improved data quality, while challenges encompass complexity, performance overhead, maintenance of mappings across evolving sources, and privacy considerations.