Data Element Definition

Data element — a particular and unique individual unit of information contained to be stored and processed within a holistic system of data structure. Each unit of data element is in critical importance to the overall structure in order to maintain functionality due to it actively representing a piece of information in the likes of numeric values or names.

In the context of meta data such an element carries a precise definition of the contained semantics. The discovery of data elements can be conducted through the inspection of software applications and its code as well as via an automated or a manual method called Application Discovery and Understanding (ADU).