Skip to content

Overview of Azure Data Factory User Interface

Woman standing next to a projector showing the Azure Data Factory logo.

In the previous post, we started by creating an Azure Data Factory, then we navigated to it. In this post, we will navigate inside the Azure Data Factory. Let’s look at the Azure Data Factory user interface and the four Azure Data Factory pages.

Azure Data Factory Pages

On the left side of the screen, you will see the main navigation menu. Click on the arrows to expand and collapse the menu:

Animation of expanding and collapsing the pages menu in the Azure Data Factory user interface.

Once we expand the navigation menu, we see that Azure Data Factory consists of four main pages: Home, Author, Monitor, and Manage:

Screenshot of the Azure Data Factory user interface showing the four main pages: Data Factory, Author, Monitor, and Manage.

Home Page

The Home page is your dashboard. From here, you can do some of the most common tasks:

Screenshot of the entire Data Factory (Home) page inside Azure Data Factory.

You can also read Azure Data Factory tutorials, view Azure Data Factory videos, and find links to more resources.

Author Page

The Author page is your main development environment:

Screenshot of an empty Author page in Azure Data Factory.

This is where you will be spending most of your time during development. On the left side, you will see all your factory resources. (After we create some factory resources, that is. We’ll get back to that soon!) You also have a search bar at the very top of this page. From there, you can search for all your factory resources.

Monitor Page

The Monitor page is where you can… uh… monitor stuff 😂:

Screenshot of an empty Monitor page in Azure Data Factory.

From here, you can view the overview dashboard, monitor your pipeline and trigger runs, view runtimes and sessions, and set up alerts.

Manage Page

The Manage page, or Management Hub, was added in March 2020:

Screenshot of an empty Manage page in Azure Data Factory.

From here, you can manage connections, source control, triggers, parameters, and security.

(Oh, and… This page was added after I originally wrote this blog post series. That means that you might still see screenshots without this page, or I might be referencing things that have been moved into this page. I’m working on updating this! 😳😅)

Azure Data Factory Menu

On the top of the screen, you will see the Azure Data Factory menu. Click on the icons to open the different panes:

Screenshot of the top menu in Azure Data Factory.

Updates Pane

Your go-to for news and updates is the Updates pane.

Screenshot of the top menu in Azure Data Factory with the Updates pane open.

(Except for user interface changes. Those updates happen very frequently and isn’t always documented 😅)

Switch Data Factory Pane

If you are working with multiple Azure Data Factories, you can easily switch between them in the Switch Data Factory pane:

Screenshot of the top menu in Azure Data Factory with the Switch Azure Data Factory pane open.

Notifications Pane

Once you start doing things in Azure Data Factory, you will see the Notifications pane start to light up:

Screenshot of the top menu in Azure Data Factory with the Notifications pane open.

Settings Menu

From the Settings menu, you can change the language of the interface:

Screenshot of the top menu in Azure Data Factory with the Settings pane open.

Help Menu

If you ever get stuck on something, click on the question mark to open the Help menu. From here, you can navigate to the Documentation and Q&A:

Screenshot of the top menu in Azure Data Factory with the Help menu open.

You can also view all the keyboard shortcuts:

Screenshot of the General keyboard shortcut settings. Screenshot of the Pipeline Editor keyboard shortcut settings. Screenshot of the Data Flow Editor keyboard shortcut settings.

Feedback Pane

If you notice something odd, or something you really like, use the Feedback pane. From here, you can also navigate to the Azure Feedback Forum for Azure Data Factory:

Screenshot of the top menu in Azure Data Factory with the Feedback pane open.

(The Azure Data Factory team are really good at following up as long as you provide your email address. I usually get a reply within a day or two, and I have seen several bugs fixed after reporting them through this form. So… use it as often as you can!)

Summary

In this post, we looked at the Azure Data Factory user interface and the four main Azure Data Factory pages.

In the next post, we will go through the Author page in more detail. Let’s look at the different Azure Data Factory components!

Share or Comment?

About the Author

Professional headshot of Cathrine Wilhelmsen.Cathrine Wilhelmsen is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP, international speaker, author, blogger, organizer, and chronic volunteer. She loves data and coding, as well as teaching and sharing knowledge - oh, and sci-fi, gaming, coffee and chocolate 🤓