If you're working with data in the University of Washington's Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW), understanding how to access secured views—also known as .sec views—is essential. This guide will walk you through how to structure your SQL queries to retrieve data from secured views, and where to find additional resources to better understand the data you're accessing.

What Are Secured Views in the EDW?

The EDW uses secured views to enforce data security and access rules defined by UW's Data Domain Councils. These rules ensure that sensitive information is only accessible to authorized users. When querying data in the EDW, you are not querying raw database tables directly—instead, you must use secured views.

Secured views follow a specific naming convention:

sec.TableName

• sec is the schema name indicating a secured view.
• TableName is the name of the original data table.
  
  

For example, to query the addresses table, you would use:

SELECT * FROM sec.addresses WHERE ...

You must connect using your UW NetID credentials to access EDW data securely.

Where to Find Secured Views in the EDW

After connecting to the EDW, you’ll see a list of available databases on the server. Only specific databases are available for querying—others are reserved for system management. The Servers and Databases section provides a complete list of available databases. You’ll find sec views housed in databases that reference the Data Access Control (DAC) structure.

Navigate to the views folder for the particular database you are trying to query from and look for the views that start with the '.sec' schema.

Note that attempts to query tables or views from the .dbo schema will throw authentication errors.

Need More Context? Use Knowledge Navigator

If you're unsure what a specific sec view contains or want to understand the meaning behind certain data elements, Knowledge Navigator is your go-to resource.

Knowledge Navigator helps you:

• Understand key concepts in areas like Student, Finance, HR, and Research.
• See how data is connected across systems, databases, and reporting tools like BI Portal, UW Profiles, and Data Cubes.
• Explore metadata and definitions for secured views and tables.

Summary

To work with sec views in the EDW:

• Use your UW NetID to connect.
• Query the .sec schema views.
• Follow the format: sec.TableName.
• Refer to Knowledge Navigator for data definitions and relationships.

If you have questions, contact your department's data custodian or reach out to UW-IT for support at help@uw.edu.