Release Notes - expressor 3.5.2

• validate attributes
• large number of attributes
• table schema
• delimited schema
• lookup keys
• output attributes
• earlier versions
• error handling
• datascript module reference
• function rule

What's new in expressor 3.5.2

• Excel extension: Allows customers to natively read and write XLSX (Excel 2008 Workbook) and XLS (Excel 97-2003 Workbook) files. Excel connectivity in expressor no longer requires use of the Microsoft Excel ODBC driver.
  
  • The Excel Schema artifact captures the metadata for an Excel file and maps it to a Semantic Type. It handles all relevant type conversions to/from the Excel file into the semantic type model and allows users to map Excel data to a common set of metadata types and constraints. This schema can be created from an existing Semantic Type in expressor making it easy to create standard Excel data files from any expressor dataflow.
  • Read Excel and Write Excel operators can read and write XLSX and XLS files. As with all operators, many properties for these operators be set in the same manner as other substitutable properties in 3.4.
  
  

• QlikView extension: This new Extension enables reading, writing, and processing of QVX-formatted data.
  
  • The QlikView Extension can be activated and used with any licensed Studio 3.5.1 version. Dataflows can be built using components from the Extension with a free Community license, but they will not run until a Desktop or Standard Edition license is installed.
  
  

• Salesforce Dot Com extension: An expressor extension that supports reading and writing to Salesforce Dot Com databases.
  
  • Dataflows using this functionality may be developed with any expressor edition. To run dataflows using this functionality requires either Desktop or Standard licensing.
  
  

Installation

• Use the Windows Control Panel utility to uninstall expressor Studio.
• Delete the directories:
  
  • Windows 7:
    
    • C:\Usersusername\AppData\Roaming\expressor
    • C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\expressor
    • C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\expressor_software
    
    
  • Windows XP:
    
    • C:\Documents and Settings\username\ApplicationData\expressor
    
    
  
  
• Discard the download file expressorStudioInstaller.exe from prior installations.
• Delete, or rename, the Workspaces directory.
  
  • Windows 7:
    
    • C:\Users\username\Documents\expressor\Workspaces
    
    
  • Windows XP:
    
    • C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\expressor\Workspaces
    
    
  
  

The following known issues have been identified.

1. STU-4091
   Creating an Excel schema from a type or from the output of an upstream operator should not be selected. You must create an Excel schema from an existing Excel file.
2. STU-3946
   When a dataflow aborts while writing to an Excel file, data in the target file can be corrupted.
3. STU-3945
   The Read Excel operator cannot read formula cells in an .xslx file.
4. STU-3886
   Incorrect columns selected and mapped with SQL Query operator after modifying mapping set.
5. STU-3636
   Studio unable to connect using Teradata ODBC driver.
6. STU-3630
   Overwriting an Operator Template does not flag the Template as modified in a Repository Workspace, and as a result, the change is not committed to the Repository.
7. STU-3628
   After opening a Workspace with Studio 3.5, cannot open it in the earlier version of Studio with which it was created.
   Workaround 1: Create a backup copy of Workspaces before opening them in Studio 3.5.
   Workaround 2: In Studio 3.5, disable all Extensions in the Workspace. The Workspace can then be reopened in the version of Studio in which it was created.
8. STU-3335
   When reading large Salesforce.com objects (e.g., 1.5Mb), the Salesforce.com data type base64 produces an error. On smaller objects, it converts to the expressor String data type as expected.
9. STU-3186
   Rules Editor's type-ahead feature does not recognize changes to input parameters. It displays old input parameter names instead of the current input parameter names. [validate attributes]
10. STU-3112
    In the Rules Editor, selecting and dragging a large number of output attributes to a rule's output parameters takes a long time to process.
11. STU-3106
    Noticable delay when opening the Rules Editor for an operator that has a large number of input attributes. [large number of attributes]
12. STU-3085
    Changes to dataflows are not indicated in Deployment Packages the dataflows are contained in.
13. STU-2951
    Studio does not always activate the most permissive license installed; it sometimes activates the Studio-only license even though a more permissive license has been installed.
14. STU-2773
    Input attributes are not available in the Function Rule datascript editor if the Function Rule was created by conversion from another type of rule. Even if inputs are added manually to the rule, they do not appear when typing datascript. However, all works fine if the Function Rule is created from scratch.
15. STU-2728
    There is no validation to ensure Lookup Tables have at least one attribute that is not a key. However, if a Lookup Table does not have at least one attribute that is not a key, then it contains nothing to lookup. [lookup keys]
16. STU-2163
    No notification of lost Datascript Module reference. When a Project’s Library Reference is removed and the Library contains a Datascript Module that is used by an open dataflow, no validation error is displayed. The broken reference to the Datascript Module is not manifest until the dataflow runs and fails.
17. STU-1942
    When defining "allowed values" for a String data constraint, must include default values in list of allowed values.
18. STU-1566
    Quote character, field delimiter, and record delimiter cannot be the same in a delimited schema, but validation of the schema does not fail if they are the same.
    The characters used as the quotation mark and the field and record delimiters cannot be the same. This restriction is documented in the Create Delimited Schema topic in online help. But violation of this restriction is not indicated when the settings are specified for the schema. The conflicts will, however, cause an error when the dataflow runs.
19. PRO-2432
    Schemas for rejected records do not preserve the order of attributes when writing the rejected record output.
20. PRO-2426
    When substituting parameters on the etask command line, cannot substitute a file name with the @ character.
21. PRO-2354
    When the Read Table and SQL Query operators reject a record, the CSV representation of the rejected record in the RecordData attribute might not contain valid CSV data.
22. PRO-2333
    The utility.encrypt function incorrecly calls base64 encoding code instead of encryption code.
23. PRO-2296
    The eflowsubst command's -O option places the substitution file in the external directory under the Deployment Package instead of the Deployment Package's dataflow directory.
24. PRO-2287
    When Generate record is chosen as the On Miss action in a Lookup rule, a value must be supplied for all the output parameters in the rule, even those that are not mapped to output attributes. To work around this, a meaningless value can be assigned to the output parameters that are not mapped to output attributes.
25. PRO-2259
    The Unique key value in a Lookup Table gets changed even after an error indicates that changing a Unique key value is not allowed. [lookup keys]
26. PRO-2220
    The eflowsubst command overwrites an existing substitution file without warning.
27. PRO-2140
    When a dataflow created with expressor Studio Version 3.3 is opened in Version 3.4, the comment blocks before and after created in the Transform Editor are visible in the Rules Editor, though they are meaningless in the Rules Editor.
28. PRO-2028
    Reject options for Error handling do not work when a Write Table operator is connected to an Informix database.
29. PRO-1925
    No error is generated when reading in a decimal that contains more digits than the internal representation can handle.
30. PRO-1812
    Cannot write a nil value to a Teradata long varchar column.
31. PRO-1655
    Bulk load mode does not work when writing to a Sybase database.
32. PRO-1628
    Decimal columns in Informix databases import to Read Table operator as SMALLFLOAT data type (was Bug 5659).
33. INS-680
    Studio Version 3.5.1 will not start when installed after earlier Studio version is uninstalled. Some antivirus programs can cause this behavior when the Studio installation program is run from the administrator account.
    Workaround: uninstall Studio Version 3.5.1, turn off the antivirus program, reinstall Studio Verseion 3.5.1, and turn antivirus program back on.
34. INS-644
    Windows Registry sometimes displays error when Studio is launched after installation completes.
    Workaround: uninstall Studio and delete the expressor folder in the Program Files directory or wherever Studio was installed.
35. DOC-292
    The Create an Excel Schema topic in the online help contains two notes that indicate field data types are determined by reading the first non-data row. The row used to determine data types is the row that begins at the cell specified by the Top left cell for data setting in the Schema.
36. DOC-189
    Cannot view expressor documentation from Start Menu (expressor>expressor3>expressor Documentation) with Google Chrome browser. Chrome requires HTML files be served by a web server, not read directly on a local system.

Interoperability Issues.

1. STU-3635
   Using an ODBC driver for an old Excel format (.xls) to connect to a later version Excel file produces an error message and might cause Studio to stop working.
   Workaround: use the Excel Extension (available in expressor 3.5.2) to read and write Excel files, both .xls and .xlsx.
2. STU-3566
   Oracle Table Schema fields with the NUMBER data type can generate constraints on Composite Type Attributes that cause valid data from the table to be rejected. The constraints are the result of the ODBC driver's interpretation of NUMBER when precision and scale are not defined. For Attributes mapped to Oracle Table Schema fields that have the NUMBER data type, users should set the constraints manually to ensure they match the table data.

The following issues identified in earlier product releases have been resolved.

1. DOC-269
   Version 3.5 uses a new method to encrypt passwords. Encrypted values saved in substitution files from earlier versions of expressor software must be regenerated with Version 3.5.
2. STU-3920
   Studio crashes when an Operator Template is created and then the operator from which was created is deleted.
3. STU-3773
   When creating a delimited schema, Studio can't distinguish between LF and CR+LF. This problem presents when CR+LF is used as the record delimiter, and LF is present as a valid non-delimiting character in the record data. Note that this is not a problem in the Engine.
4. STU-3770
   Need to use CR alone as a delimiter when creating a Delimited File Schema.
5. STU-3753
   An ExpressionRequires statement remains after the Expression Rule that uses the statement to call a Datascript Module is changed to a Function Rule.
6. STU-3737
   The option to create a new Schema from Upstream Output does not display on the Write Salesforce operators's Schema property drop-down menu.
7. STU-3707
   Editing mapping between Salesforce Schema fields and attributes is not allowed, but the Edit and Edit Mapping buttons are not disabled.
8. STU-3701
   Read Salesforce Reject Record error handling set causes dataflow to fail when run.
9. STU-3699
   Selected objects for Salesforce Schema creation are deselected if wizard Back button is used.
10. STU-3696
    Studio crashes when the Copy Results button is used to copy a very large number of messages.
11. STU-3695
    No error message from Studio when Salesforce password has expired. Salesforce Connection simply does not connect to Salesforce.com.
12. STU-3690
    Documented that String values that contain commas are converted to null values when mapping Salesforce.com data types to expressor data types.
13. STU-3666
    Syntax highlighting in Rules Editor does not show mismatches correctly. No runtime error reported, but data loss results.
14. STU-3661
    Dataflow continutes to run in Studio even though referenced Datascript Module has been removed.
15. STU-3618
    Join operator not picking up changed new Library References in the Project containing the dataflow.
16. STU-3585
    When a joiner function in a Join operator changes the data type of a parameter, the new data type is correctly assigned to the mapped Attribute. But the Dataflow's Message panel displays an error indicating that data types do not match. The same error is displayed when a Join operator output Attribute does not have the same data type as an identically named Attribute on Input1, even though the two Attributes are not mapped to one another.
17. STU-3517
    Dataflow continutes to run in Studio even though referenced Datascript Module has been renamed.
18. STU-3358
    Dataflow that uses Salesforce Extension will not run if the Salesforce Extension is enabled after the dataflow was opened in Studio.
19. STU-2776
    Join operator in Studio 3.4 does not always run as expected in dataflows created with earlier versions of Studio.
20. PRO-2407
    eflowsubst command generates substitution files that produce errors when used with etask command.
21. PRO-2406
    Failure of etask command with unhandled exception-the file already exists might require tmp directory to be cleared. If problem persists, check for other file system problems.
22. PRO-2403
    Funnel operator not processing both inputs.
23. PRO-2402
    Constraints on datetime attributes are not maintained when running a dataflow with a Read Salesforce operator.
24. PRO-2399
    Data Processing Engine must check that all inputs to Funnel operator have identical Composite Types.
25. PRO-2294
    Running a dataflow containing a Write Parameters operator in a Free Studio Edition produces vague error message. Error message should indicate that the Write Parameters operator cannot be used with Free Studio.
26. INS-688
    Studio installation fails without producing error message.
27. INS-684
    Installation program crashes if user clicks X to close window instead of Retry button after entering an incorrect password for the Repository.
28. DOC-284
    References to Hotfix 967328 changed because the hotfix is no longer available on the Microsoft web site.
29. DOC-283
    Obsolete documentation for datascript.optimize.flag removed.